Replicas of a Female Prometheus
Subtitle: The Textual Personae of Bettina Von Arnim (North American Studies in Nineteenth-Century German Literature)
Publisher: Peter Lang Pub Inc
Published: December 2000
Language: eng
Format: Hardcover
Number of pages: 260
ISBN-13: 9780820449623
Subjects: Ancient and Classical; Essays; German Prose; Special Subjects In Literature; Literary Collections; 1785-1859; 19th century; Arnim, Bettina von,; Authors, German; Biography; Feminism and literature; Literary Criticism
Description: "The relationship of the writer Bettina von Arnim (1785-1859) to the protagonists of her letter and conversation books has long intrigued readers and critics. The first sustained reading of Arnim's six major texts written in English, this book investigates the relationship of Arnim to her literary Bettine-figures and the roles - including those of child, friend, lover, mother, writer, and genius - that she assigned to these textual personae.

Employing feminist theories of positionality, it demonstrates how Arnim developed various subject positions for both herself and her protagonists. Further, it shows how Arnim's increasing public stature over the course of the 1840s strongly influenced the transformation of her literary namesakes from childlike figures who focus primarily on the development of the self into mature women who concern themselves first and foremost with issues of politics and social justice."--BOOK JACKET.