Overview

This book analyzes daughter-father relationships in five father books written by daughters in the late 1970s: Elisabeth Plessen's Mitteilung an den Adel, Ruth Rehmann's Der Mann auf der Kanzel, Brigitte Schwaiger's Lange Abwesenheit, Schutting's Der Vater, and Barbara Bronnen's Die Tochter. Moffit investigates each daughter's relationship to her father on three separate levels: on the personel level within the context of family dynamics, on the metaphorical level of gendered socialization in a patriarchical society, and on the socio-political level of the father's involvement in National Socialism. Although these daughter memoirs deal with personal family stories, they are considered collective autobiographies that uncover larger cultural patterns in German-speaking countries and thus represent a counterpart to official history.

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9780820420141

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Reviews

Gisela Moffit's ground-breaking study ... should be required reading for both American and German-speaking teacher-scholars and students. Moffit sheds light on paternal influences on daughters under Nazism through her rich feminist, multidisciplinary critique of these neglected memoirs ... Moffit treats these memoirs as eloquent, rebellious countrepoints to official history, an interpretation which should also help all of us better understand present-daypolitical and cultural struggles in Germany and Europe. (Joyce R. Ladenson, Michigan University) How inspiring to watch Moffit utilize noncanonical literary works to illuminate significant aspects of post-war German-life! Those wondering how German studies should be done can look to Moffit's book as a model, as it explores the textual record for insight into familial relationships, maturation strategies, and cultural beliefs that may be specific to German families of the late twentieth century. (Patrick M. McConeghy, Michigan State University)

Author Information

The Author: Gisela Moffit is Professor of German at Central Michiagan University, Mt. Pleasant, Michigan. Raised in Germany, she received her M.A. in Comparative Literature from the University of Michigan and her Ph.D. in German Literature from Michigan State University. Her research interests include contemporary German literature, young adult literature, second language acquisition, and pedagogy.

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