Anne Pollock (University of Mainz)

Abstract

In my talk, I want to explore the writings on the vocation of woman by several women at the turn of the century, and ask whether they have the potential to contribute to a ‘female enlightenment’. We have a few treatises explicitly concerned with the vocation of woman. Among those, Marianne Ehrmann’s “Philosophie eines Weibs” takes a rather moralizing stance that mainly argues against female cunning and naivete (instead of setting the men right). In contrast, the treatises by Caroline Pichler, Betty Gleim, Susanne Bandemer, and Amalia Holst concentrate on female Bildung as a preparation for adequate autonomy. In a similar vein to the editors of journals for women (among those Sophie La Roche, Marianne Ehrmann, and Charlotte Hezel), they conceptualize the need of women to fulfill their vocation even if they cannot become a wife (and subsequently a housewife and a mother) by offering the means for women to educate themselves, or at least develop an understanding of the various areas of knowledge and agency.  As emancipatory as some arguments sound – ultimately, within the framework of a vocation centered around a male narrative, no convincing argument can be made for true female autonomy, as their essence is always seen as centered on care-giving, not thinking or genuine agency. My suggestion is that the true innovative potential lies in the fascinating forms that these treatises and journals take, as a new way to envisage female self-formation.