Faculty Research Fellows Talk with Alys George

Alys George: "The Rubble Women: War, Gender, and the Novel in Austria, 1945–1955"

War stories are not typically women’s stories. More often than not, they are written by men, about men, and, in many cases, for men. How might we begin to see military conflicts and their aftermaths differently when women tell the story? This lecture offers an overview of a research project which constellates over a dozen mostly forgotten Austrian novels written by women between 1945 and 1955 about World War II and its fallout. By refusing silence and escapism, and instead bearing witness to war’s ruinous bequest, these writers undercut widespread, tenacious postwar myths: the “Zero Hour,” the possibility of reconstruction, the impossibility of expression, and the notion of Austrian national “victimhood” among them. These novels record, remember, and resist. Taken together, they have the potential to reshape how we understand the canon of postwar German-language literature.

Alys George is Assistant Professor of German Studies.

Clayman Faculty Affiliates are welcome to attend the lunch seminars.  All Stanford academics are eligible to become Clayman Institute Faculty Affiliates. Please RSVP to Lea Gottlieb (lgottlie [at] stanford.edu (lgottlie[at]stanford[dot]edu)) if you wish to attend.