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The politics of ambiguity

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TypeOfResource
Text
TitleInfo (ID = T-1)
Title
The politics of ambiguity
SubTitle
representations of androgynous women in early 19th century German-language literature
TitleInfo (ID = T-2); (type = alternative)
Title
Representations of androgynous women in early 19th century German-language literature
Identifier
ETD_1860
Identifier (type = hdl)
http://hdl.rutgers.edu/1782.2/rucore10001600001.ETD.000051411
Language (objectPart = )
LanguageTerm (authority = ISO639-2); (type = code)
eng
Genre (authority = marcgt)
theses
Subject (ID = SBJ-1); (authority = RUETD)
Topic
German
Subject (ID = SBJ-2); (authority = ETD-LCSH)
Topic
German literature--19th century--History and criticism
Subject (ID = SBJ-3); (authority = ETD-LCSH)
Topic
Women in literature
Abstract
My dissertation investigates the tension between political inertia and change in early 19th-century German-language texts through the representation of the female androgynous title figure. My analysis includes other border figures--political, geographical, temporal, epistemological, and aesthetic Grenzfiguren--which are all formulated in terms of the feminine in these texts. I argue that while each text attempts to contain the androgynous, emancipated or emancipating woman and by extension tries to stabilize the other ambiguous border figures, every attempt at containment is undermined by the text itself, thereby demonstrating that political stasis is neither possible nor desirable. Thus, women's emancipation is inextricably linked to political progress.
Paradoxically, the numerous literary representations of strong, independent, and politically successful women in German-language literature of the early 19th century stand in stark contrast to contemporaneous theoretical discussions of gender that declared women to be naturally weak, subservient, and only suited for wifehood and motherhood. These literary representations call natural or essential femininity into question, thereby challenging the social and political mechanisms that kept women contained in the private sphere. This paradox informs my reading of Friedrich Schiller's Maria Stuart (1800), Johann Wolfgang von Goethe's Die natürliche Tochter (1803), Friedrich Hebbel's Judith (1841), and Adalbert Stifter's Brigitta (1844/1847). Each of these texts was written in and is historically situated at a time of political upheaval and change. My analysis uncovers an intimate connection between the strategies used to contain these transgressive women and to stabilize the political volatility present in each text.
PhysicalDescription
Form (authority = gmd)
electronic resource
Extent
v, 282 p.
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application/pdf
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text/xml
Note (type = degree)
Ph.D.
Note (type = bibliography)
Includes bibliographical references (p. 262-281)
Note (type = statement of responsibility)
by Rebecca Elaine Steele
Name (ID = NAME-1); (type = personal)
NamePart (type = family)
Steele
NamePart (type = given)
Rebecca Elaine
NamePart (type = date)
1975
Role
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author
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Rebecca Elaine Steele
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Helfer
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Martha
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chair
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Advisory Committee
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Martha B Helfer
Name (ID = NAME-3); (type = personal)
NamePart (type = family)
Levine
NamePart (type = given)
Michael
Role
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internal member
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Advisory Committee
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Michael Levine
Name (ID = NAME-4); (type = personal)
NamePart (type = family)
Ciklamini
NamePart (type = given)
Marlene
Role
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internal member
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Advisory Committee
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Marlene Ciklamini
Name (ID = NAME-5); (type = personal)
NamePart (type = family)
Downing
NamePart (type = given)
Eric
Role
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outside member
Affiliation
Advisory Committee
DisplayForm
Eric Downing
Name (ID = NAME-1); (type = corporate)
NamePart
Rutgers University
Role
RoleTerm (authority = RULIB); (type = )
degree grantor
Name (ID = NAME-2); (type = corporate)
NamePart
Graduate School - New Brunswick
Role
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school
OriginInfo
DateCreated (point = ); (qualifier = exact)
2009
DateOther (qualifier = exact); (type = degree)
2009-05
Place
PlaceTerm (type = code)
xx
Location
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NjNbRU
RelatedItem (type = host)
TitleInfo
Title
Rutgers University Electronic Theses and Dissertations
Identifier (type = RULIB)
ETD
RelatedItem (type = host)
TitleInfo
Title
Graduate School - New Brunswick Electronic Theses and Dissertations
Identifier (type = local)
rucore19991600001
Identifier (type = doi)
doi:10.7282/T3W66KZ3
Genre (authority = ExL-Esploro)
ETD doctoral
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RightsDeclaration (AUTHORITY = GS); (ID = rulibRdec0006)
The author owns the copyright to this work.
Copyright
Status
Copyright protected
Availability
Status
Open
RightsEvent (AUTHORITY = rulib); (ID = 1)
Type
Permission or license
Detail
Non-exclusive ETD license
AssociatedObject (AUTHORITY = rulib); (ID = 1)
Type
License
Name
Author Agreement License
Detail
I hereby grant to the Rutgers University Libraries and to my school the non-exclusive right to archive, reproduce and distribute my thesis or dissertation, in whole or in part, and/or my abstract, in whole or in part, in and from an electronic format, subject to the release date subsequently stipulated in this submittal form and approved by my school. I represent and stipulate that the thesis or dissertation and its abstract are my original work, that they do not infringe or violate any rights of others, and that I make these grants as the sole owner of the rights to my thesis or dissertation and its abstract. I represent that I have obtained written permissions, when necessary, from the owner(s) of each third party copyrighted matter to be included in my thesis or dissertation and will supply copies of such upon request by my school. I acknowledge that RU ETD and my school will not distribute my thesis or dissertation or its abstract if, in their reasonable judgment, they believe all such rights have not been secured. I acknowledge that I retain ownership rights to the copyright of my work. I also retain the right to use all or part of this thesis or dissertation in future works, such as articles or books.
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ETD
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application/pdf
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application/x-tar
FileSize (UNIT = bytes)
1515520
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