'Sie ist so ferne ihm, und doch so nah': Reciprocity and Exchange in the Lyric Poetry of Sophie Mereau. (March 2015)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Lee, Charlotte
• Is Part Of: Publications of the English Goethe Society. Volume 84:Number 1(2015)
• Page Start: 63
• Page End: 75
• Publication Date: 2015-03
• Subjects: Women writers, -- lyric poetry, -- Goethezeit, -- integration / marginalization, -- feminist scholarship; German literature -- 18th century -- History and criticism -- Periodicals; German literature -- 19th century -- History and criticism -- Periodicals; Criticism and interpretation -- Periodicals; 830.9006
• DOI: 10.1179/0959368314Z.00000000048
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0959-3683

Abstract

Abstract : The marginalization of women writers in the Goethezeit has received considerable attention; yet recent feminist scholarship has also emphasized the degree of integration into the public sphere which some women achieved. This article considers the lyric poetry of Sophie Mereau in the context of that critical debate, pointing up parallels (and contrasts) with the work of other writers, female and male. Reciprocity is examined here, both as a contextual issue and a motif in Mereau's work, and the article highlights the intellectual independence with which she treats themes which were 'in the air' around 1800.