Humor and Irony in Nineteenth-Century German Women's Writing

(T)his well-researched study, which includes an extensive list of "works cited," is an important step in reevaluating a topic typically ignored in nineteenth-century German-language literature ... and uses a solid methodological approach to do so. MONATSHEFTE Students . often bemoan the dearth of comic characters and plots in canonical German literature. Heroines, in particular, appear destined for death. A very different picture emerges, however, from Helen Chambers' new book.. (The) study is an important contribution to nineteenth-century women's literature.. GERMAN STUDIES REVIEW For scholars and students of nineteenth-century German and Austrian women's writings, this volume is a "must have." . In each of four chapters we meet two writers whose intent and strategy bear commonality: Annette von Droste-Hulshoff and Ida Hahn-Hahn, Ottilie Wildermuth and Helene Bohlau, Ada Christen and Clara Viebig, Isolde Kurz and Ricarda Huch. For example, the chapter on Christen and Viebig steers us to "Laughter and Pain in the World of Work," that on Kurz and Huch to "The Humor of Skeptical Idealism." Maria von Ebner-Eschenbach alone is accorded an entire chapter due to her singular use of satire and physical comedy. . It is hoped that this study will serve as inducement to expand the project of translating these writers' works. H-NET