Gen(d)eration Next: Prose by Julia Franck and Judith Hermann

Abstract

adopted a term in Der Spiegel that subsequently dominated public discussions about new German literature by female authors-"Frauleinwunder."'He uses it collectively for "the young women who make sure that German literature is again a subject of discussion this spring."Hage asserts that they seem less concerned with "the German question," the consequences of two German dictatorships, and prefer instead to thematize "eroticism and love" in their texts.Hage finds that in doing so they are "less fussy" and tell their stories "in a far less inhibited manner" than their male colleagues (7, 245).Hage's use of the term "Frauleinwunder" is problematic because it is at base a belittling one.Adding to Peter Graves' recent criticism (2002), I want to point out a few of the underlying issues.Most apparent is the term's patronizing undertone.It im- plies in an avuncular manner that the authors in question-who, in reality, are well beyond a "Fraulein" age-are still immature.Consequently, the expression seems to suggest, one cannot hold their texts to the same high literary standards that apply to an Ingo Schulze or a Thomas Brussig.More troubling, one should notice that the labeling process pertains only to female authors.Their male counterparts, instead of being categorized by others, invent themselves and form their own "Knabenclubs" ("boys clubs"), as Felicitas Hoppe has called them (206).The "Frauleinwunder" discussion reveals that a generation of middle- 1 Biendarra: Gen(d)eration

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