| Willful Girls: Gender and Agency in Contemporary Anglo-American and German Fiction Contributor(s): Jeremiah, Emily (Author) |
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ISBN: 1640140085 ISBN-13: 9781640140080 Publisher: Camden House (NY) OUR PRICE: $94.05 Product Type: Hardcover Published: January 2018 |
| Additional Information |
| BISAC Categories: - Literary Criticism | Women Authors - Literary Criticism | European - German - Literary Criticism | American - General |
| Dewey: 813.609 |
| LCCN: 2017040200 |
| Series: Women and Gender in German Studies |
| Physical Information: 0.63" H x 6" W x 9" (1.06 lbs) 210 pages |
| Themes: - Sex & Gender - Feminine - Cultural Region - Germany |
| Descriptions, Reviews, Etc. |
| Publisher Description: What does it mean to "become woman" in the context of neoliberalism and postfeminism? What is the role of will in this process? Willful Girls explores these questions through an analysis of the depiction of girls and youngwomen in contemporary Anglo-American and German literary texts. It identifies four sets of concerns that are vital for an understanding of gendered subject formation in the contemporary context: agency and volition; body and beauty; sisterhood and identification; and sex and desire. The book examines numerous nonfiction feminist texts as well as novels by Helene Hegemann, Caitlin Moran, Charlotte Roche, Emma Jane Unsworth, Kate Zambreno, and Juli Zeh, among others. These texts illustrate the complex processes by which female subjects become women today. Failure, refusal, disgust, and anger are striking features of these becomings. Drawing on the work of Sara Ahmed (Willful Subjects) and thinkers including Simone de Beauvoir, Rosi Braidotti, and Elizabeth Grosz, the book demonstrates the significance of willfulness for understandings and assertions of female agency. In addition, it proposesa view of literary works themselves as instances of willfulness. The book will be of interest to scholars working in comparative literature, English, German studies, and feminist, gender, and queer studies. Emily Jeremiah is Senior Lecturer in German and Gender Studies at Royal Holloway, University of London. |