Realities and Fantasies of German Female Leadership

From Maria Antonia of Saxony to Angela Merkel

Elisabeth Krimmer editor Professor Patricia Anne Simpson editor

Format:Paperback

Publisher:Boydell & Brewer Ltd

Published:7th Mar '23

Should be back in stock very soon

This paperback is available in another edition too:

Realities and Fantasies of German Female Leadership cover

A collection of essays achieving a deeper understanding of the historical roots and theoretical assumptions that inform the realities and fantasies of German female leadership. The Western tradition of excluding women from leadership and disparaging their ability to lead has persisted for centuries, not least in Germany. Even today, resistance to women holding power is embedded in literary, cultural, and historical values that presume a fundamental opposition between the adjective "female" and the substantive "leader." Women who do achieve positions of leadership are faced with a panoply of prejudicial misconceptions: either considered incapable of leadership (conceived of as alpha-male behavior), or pigeonholed as suited only to particular forms of leadership (nurturing, cooperative, egalitarian, communicative, etc.). Focusing on the German-speaking countries, this volume works to dismantle the prevailing disassociation of women and leadership across a range of disciplines. Contributions discuss literary works involving women's political authority and cultivation of community from Maria Antonia of Saxony to Elfriede Jelinek; women's social activism, as embodied by figures from Hedwig Dohm to Rosa Luxemburg; women in political film, environmentalism, neoliberalism, and the media from Leni Riefenstahlto Petra Kelly to Maren Ade; and political leaders Hillary Clinton and Angela Merkel. Contributors: Dorothee Beck, Seth Berk, Friederike Brühöfener, Margaretmary Daley, Aude Defurne, Helga Druxes, Sarah Vandegrift Eldridge, Anke Gilleir, Rachel J. Halverson, Peter Hudis, Elisabeth Krimmer, Stephen Milder, Joyce Marie Mushaben, Lauren Nossett, Patricia Anne Simpson, Almut Spalding, Inge Stephan, Lisa Fetheringill Zwicker. Elisabeth Krimmer is Professor of German at the University of California, Davis. Patricia Anne Simpson is Professor of German at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.

Krimmer and Simpson bring together literary, historical, political, and media analyses to chart the shifting parameters for women's societal contribution and leadership since the eighteenth century. . . . [T]he contributions provide valuable insights into the strategies that women throughout German history have adopted to legitimate themselves amongst skeptical audiences. . . . German Studies scholars with interests in the history of women's writing and contemporary politics will find this volume particularly valuable; its historical and thematic depth promise new insights to any reader. -- Katharine Stone * GERMAN QUARTERLY *

ISBN: 9781640141568

Dimensions: unknown

Weight: 1g

400 pages