ICTS Webinar Series Spring 2022 –
“On the Gender Gap in Literary History: Ruth Klüger and Nicole Seifert’s FrauenLiteratur (2021) and https://nachtundtag.blog”, Sandra Binnert (Justus Liebig University of Gießen), 23 Mar 2022 @ 1pm (IST)

The question of whether there is such a thing as female writing or reading has been a recurrent topic in literary studies. Research shows that canonical literature is defined in masculine terms and that these are passed on through our reading habits and educational systems. The same applies to contemporary book markets. My lecture discusses the perspectives of two female literary scholars on the issue: Ruth Klüger, who looks at how literatures are being read, and Nicole Seifert, whose book FrauenLiteratur, published in 2021, is currently a bestseller in the German-speaking countries. In it Seifert not only rediscovers ‚forgotten‘ women writers and exposes structures in the literary industry that still put female authors at a disadvantage, but also challenges the term ‚forgotten‘ in this context. Furthermore, I will look at the way Seifert is using social media and her blog to raise awareness for international women writers.

Sandra Binnert is working on a PhD on “Unterdrückte Narrative – zu Leben und Werk Karl Gerbers“ (Suppressed Narratives – on the Life and Work of Karl Gerber) at the Centre for Holocaustliteratur of the Justus Liebig University of Gießen (JLG). She teaches on programmes for international students at the JLG’s Department of English and is currently visiting the Department of German Studies at MIC as part of an ERASMUS+ staff exchange.

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The ICTS Spring series of lunchtime webinars focusing on “Digital Spaces and Transnational Femininities” is presented in association with the Institute of Irish Studies, MIC, and the Irish Women’s Writing Network.