Pushing at Boundaries presents approaches to women writers who have recently had a big impact in shaping the contemporary literary field in Germany. The opening chapters offer the first extensive consideration of Karen Duve’s work, including an excerpt from her latest novel, the romance parody Die entführte Prinzessin, a fascinating commentary by her translator Anthea Bell, and essays on her acclaimed novel Regenroman, her subversive take on West German youth culture in the 1980s in Dies ist kein Liebeslied, and explorations of the witty echoes of fairy tales and myths in all her novels and stories. Other writers compared with Duve or discussed independently include Anne Duden, Jenny Erpenbeck, Julia Franck, Michael Fritz, Kerstin Hensel, Julia Schoch, Malin Schwerdtfeger, and Maike Wetzel. A final essay explores Berlin, as capital city and urban jungle, in recent novels by Sibylle Berg, Tanja Dückers, Alexa Hennig von Lange, Judith Hermann, Unda Hörner, Inka Parei, Kathrin Röggla, Antje Stelling, and Antje Rávic Strubel.
Readers will find many cross-connections and contrasts reflecting the heterogeneous and often conflict-ridden culture in Germany today. Topics include the subversion of gender stereotypes; the merging of 'high' and 'low' culture; the invasion of cultivated spheres by 'wild' nature; post-Wende border crossings between East and West; and the highly charged relationship between lust and disgust.
Table of Content:
Introduction
Karen DUVE: Die Mummel
Anthea BELL: Translating Karen Duve into English with a few peripheral observations on translation in general
Peter J. GRAVES: The Novels of Karen Duve: just ‘chick lit with [...] grime’ (and dragons)?
Teresa LUDDEN: Nature, Bodies and Breakdown in Anne Duden’s ‘Das Landhaus’ and Karen Duve’s Regenroman
Elizabeth BOA: Lust or Disgust? The Blurring of Boundaries in Karen Duve’s Regenroman
Elisa MÜLLER-ADAMS: ‚De nymphis, sylphis, pygmaeis et salamandris’ – zur Verwendung eines Motivkreises in Texten von Michael Fritz, Julia Schoch und Karen Duve
Heike BARTEL: Von Jonny Rotten bis Werther: Karen Duves Dies ist kein Liebeslied zwischen Popliteratur und Bildungsroman
Lucy MACNAB: Becoming Bodies: Corporeal Potential in Short Stories by Julia Franck, Karen Duve, and Malin Schwerdtfeger
Katie JONES: ‘Ganz gewöhnlicher Ekel’? Disgust and Body Motifs in Jenny Erpenbeck’s Geschichte vom alten Kind
Lyn MARVEN: ‘Nur manchmal mußten sie laut und unverhofft lachen’: Kerstin Hensel’s Use of Märchen
Petra M. BAGLEY: Granny Knows Best: The Voice of the Granddaughter in ‘Grossmütterliteratur’
Franziska MEYER: ,und dabei heißt es immer aufbruchstimmung’. Das Verschwinden einer Metropole in ihren Texten
Notes on Contributors
Readers will find many cross-connections and contrasts reflecting the heterogeneous and often conflict-ridden culture in Germany today. Topics include the subversion of gender stereotypes; the merging of 'high' and 'low' culture; the invasion of cultivated spheres by 'wild' nature; post-Wende border crossings between East and West; and the highly charged relationship between lust and disgust.
Table of Content:
Introduction
Karen DUVE: Die Mummel
Anthea BELL: Translating Karen Duve into English with a few peripheral observations on translation in general
Peter J. GRAVES: The Novels of Karen Duve: just ‘chick lit with [...] grime’ (and dragons)?
Teresa LUDDEN: Nature, Bodies and Breakdown in Anne Duden’s ‘Das Landhaus’ and Karen Duve’s Regenroman
Elizabeth BOA: Lust or Disgust? The Blurring of Boundaries in Karen Duve’s Regenroman
Elisa MÜLLER-ADAMS: ‚De nymphis, sylphis, pygmaeis et salamandris’ – zur Verwendung eines Motivkreises in Texten von Michael Fritz, Julia Schoch und Karen Duve
Heike BARTEL: Von Jonny Rotten bis Werther: Karen Duves Dies ist kein Liebeslied zwischen Popliteratur und Bildungsroman
Lucy MACNAB: Becoming Bodies: Corporeal Potential in Short Stories by Julia Franck, Karen Duve, and Malin Schwerdtfeger
Katie JONES: ‘Ganz gewöhnlicher Ekel’? Disgust and Body Motifs in Jenny Erpenbeck’s Geschichte vom alten Kind
Lyn MARVEN: ‘Nur manchmal mußten sie laut und unverhofft lachen’: Kerstin Hensel’s Use of Märchen
Petra M. BAGLEY: Granny Knows Best: The Voice of the Granddaughter in ‘Grossmütterliteratur’
Franziska MEYER: ,und dabei heißt es immer aufbruchstimmung’. Das Verschwinden einer Metropole in ihren Texten
Notes on Contributors