German literature during the era of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1770-1820) was dominated by men. Women were discouraged from reading, and scorned as writers; Friedrich Schiller saw female writers as typical ‘dilettantes’. But the attempt to exclude did not always succeed, and the growing literary market rewarded some women's determination. This interdisciplinary study takes as its starting point the presence (rather than absence) of women writers in German cultural life, combining archival research, literary analysis, and statistical evidence to give a sociological-historical overview of the c ... More

German literature during the era of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1770-1820) was dominated by men. Women were discouraged from reading, and scorned as writers; Friedrich Schiller saw female writers as typical ‘dilettantes’. But the attempt to exclude did not always succeed, and the growing literary market rewarded some women's determination. This interdisciplinary study takes as its starting point the presence (rather than absence) of women writers in German cultural life, combining archival research, literary analysis, and statistical evidence to give a sociological-historical overview of the conditions of women's literary production. Highlighting many authors who have fallen into obscurity, and examining women as authors, correspondents, and readers, this study tells the story of women who managed to write and publish at a time when their efforts were not welcomed in Germany. Although 18th-century gender ideology is an important pre-condition for women's literary production, it does not necessarily determine the praxis of their actual experiences, as this study makes clear. Using a range of examples from a variety of sources, the real story of women who read, wrote, and published in the shadow of Goethe emerges.