Nach der verdienstvollen und materialreichen Arbeit von Christine Touaillon (1919) erfolgte eine gezielte Hinwendung zum deutschen Roman von Frauen um 1800 erst wieder im Zusammenhang der literaturwissenschaftlichen Frauenforschung seit etwa 1980. Der vorliegende Band ist das Ergebnis einer ZusammenfA1/4hrung derjenigen WissenschaftlerInnen, die in den vergangenen Jahren zu dem thema gearbeitet haben und hier neue Untersuchungen vorlegen.

The present collection of conference papers focuses on a notorious lacuna in research on autobiography, as autobiographies by women have in the past been neglected to an unconscionable degree. The papers employ a variety of approaches and many of them draw upon new source material. Their subject is autobiography narratives by women between the 17th and 20th centuries, with specific reference to development and changes in the areas of life portrayed, in stylistic and narrative patterns and publication routines. The studies concur in concluding that female autobiography centres around discussion of and reflection upon the relations between and the way these have changed in the course of history. The volume thus provides new insights on the general theory and history of autobiography as a genre.

The letters from 1812 to mid 1815 document a period of historical upheaval (the wars of liberation and the spread of nationalist thought in Germany) as well as incisive changes in the life of Therese Huber and her family (the failure of Luise's marriage to Emil von Herder and the collapse of Therese Huber's value system and self-image). She wrote articles for Cotta's -Morgenblatt fur gebildete Stande- and gained increasing public acclaim as an author. Other topics are reading matter, the death of Therese's father Christian Gottlob Heyne, and plans for an educational institute."

In the years 1804 to late 1807, the concerns expressed in the letters of Therese Huber centre around incisive changes in her private life. The most notable of these are the death of Ludwig Ferdinand Huber, the move to rural surroundings, the arrival of Emil von Herder in her immediate family circle and the departure of Victor Aime Huber for the Fellenberg Educational Institute in Hofwil (Switzerland). In addition, the letters provide insights into Huber's engagement with a variety of issues: anonymous authorship, the collection of letters written by Huber and Georg Forster for use in their biographies, new professional and private contacts, and, on a broader plane, the major political restructurings in Europe as a result of the Napoleonic wars."