Sophie Von La Roches Zeitschrift Pomona Für Teutschlands Töchter Und Der Literarische Markt Der 1780er Jahre Im Lichte Unveröffentlichter Briefe
Year: 2020
Type: article
Abstract: This article presents an edition of letters by the readers of Sophie von La Roche's journal Pomona für Teutschlands Töchter (1783–4). In the introductory commentary, I examine the extent to which the letters provide evidence of women participating actively in the literary market as readers and writers and consider how far the correspondents were constrained by ideological discourses of the period. The article demonstrates how La Roche's interaction with readers shaped her self‐representation and her writing career beyond Pomona. It questions the view that La Roche's interactive relationship with her readers was a unique innovation by La Roche and demonstrates that its origins in fact lay in a competitor journal, the Magazin für Frauenzimmer, on which La Roche had previously collaborated. The article also examines the extent to which La Roche was responsible for giving her correspondents and readers the courage to publish. While some older correspondents showed considerable reluctance to appear in print, for other, younger writers La Roche served as a role model, while still others had little need of La Roche's encouragement and protection. Finally, the article shows that the scope and reach of the journal exceeded that of a literary women's group, and that La Roche relied on a network of supporters of both sexes.
Source: German Life and Letters
DOI: 10.1111/glal.12259
Author: Elystan Griffiths
Institution: University of Birmingham
Language: English
Subfield: Literature and Literary Theory
Field: Arts and Humanities
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W2997275162