Women and National Socialism in Postwar German Literature: Gender, Memory, and Subjectivity

In recent years, historians have revealed the many ways German women supported National Socialism - in political organizations, as teachers, frontline auxiliaries, and nurses. In mainstream culture, however, the women of the period are still predominantly depicted as the victims of a violent twentieth century whose atrocities were committed by men. They are frequently imagined as the post hoc redeemers of the nation, as "rubble women" who spiritually and literally rebuilt the nation.
This book investigates why women's complicity in the Third Reich has struggled to capture the historical imagination. It explores how female authors from across the political and generational spectrum (Ingeborg Bachmann, Christa Wolf, Elisabeth Plessen, Gisela Elsner, Tanja Dückers, Jenny Erpenbeck) conceptualize women's role in the Third Reich. As well as offering innovative re-readings of celebrated works, this book provides instructive interpretations of lesser-known works that nonetheless enrich our understanding of German memory culture.

Katherine Stone is a Government of Ireland Postdoctoral Research Fellow at Maynooth University.