In this broad-ranging study of German fiction by women 1770-1914, Anna Richards adds a new dimension to existing debates on the association of women and illness in literature. Drawing on a number of primary medical sources, she constructs a history of women's self-starvation, eating behaviour, and wasting diseases in particular, and examines the portrayal of the 'wasting heroine' in works by female and selected male authors in this context. It becomes clear that though the wasting heroine sometimes reinforces popular notions of female fragility, in certain works she represents a rejection of a traditionally female role or allows her author to make a socially critical point about women's status in society. As well as shedding light on many unduly neglected women writers, Richards offers a valuable insight into the literary and historical origins of a modern phenomenon.
| ISBN: | 9780199267545 |
| Publication date: | 15th January 2004 |
| Author: | Anna , Lecturer in German at Birkbeck College, University of London Richards |
| Publisher: | Oxford University Press |
| Format: | Hardback |
| Pagination: | 236 pages |
| Series: | Oxford Modern Languages and Literature Monographs |
| Genres: |
Literary studies: fiction, novelists and prose writers Literary studies: c 1600 to c 1800 Literary studies: c 1800 to c 1900 Literary studies: c 1900 to c 2000 Gender studies: women and girls |
In this broad-ranging study of German fiction by women 1770-1914, Anna Richards adds a new dimension to existing debates on the association of women and illness in literature. Drawing on a number of primary medical sources, she constructs a history of women's self-starvation, eating behaviour, and wasting diseases in particular, and examines the portrayal of the 'wasting heroine' in works by female and selected male authors in this context. It becomes clear that though the wasting heroine sometimes reinforces popular notions of female fragility, in certain works she represents a rejection of a traditionally female role or allows her author to make a socially critical point about women's status in society. As well as shedding light on many unduly neglected women writers, Richards offers a valuable insight into the literary and historical origins of a modern phenomenon.
The Wasting Heroine in German Fiction by Women 1770-1914 features in the following genres: Literary studies: fiction, novelists and prose writers, Literary studies: c 1600 to c 1800, Literary studies: c 1800 to c 1900, Literary studies: c 1900 to c 2000, Gender studies: women and girls
The Wasting Heroine in German Fiction by Women 1770-1914 is available in Hardback
The Wasting Heroine in German Fiction by Women 1770-1914 was written by Anna , Lecturer in German at Birkbeck College, University of London Richards and published by Oxford University Press
The Wasting Heroine in German Fiction by Women 1770-1914 has 236 pages
Yes it is part of Oxford Modern Languages and Literature Monographs series