Writing Lives

Clementine Krämer, who is relatively unknown today, was a prolific German Jewish writer and leader of the women's movement who experienced at first hand the First World War and the rise to power of the National Socialists. This book makes an important contribution to the scholarship by revealing a fresh perspective on this tumultuous time.

This book introduces the works of a German Jewish female author and provides a detailed analysis of the early twentieth century as she witnessed it. Although a prolific writer and leader in the women's movement, Clementine Krämer (18731942) is relatively unknown today. Krämer's life and works offer a fascinating insight into a challenging period for this community, as she experienced at first hand moments of enormous significance for Germany's history: the First World War, the German Revolution of 1918, the polarisation of German political life and
the growth of the far right, and the rise to power of the National Socialists in the 1930s. Rather than focusing on one period, this book examines the full range of Krämer's writings to uncover continuities and changes over her lifetime.

The book explores the following questions: how did Krämer understand herself and her role in light of her German Jewish identity? How did she challenge societal expectations for women and what limits did she perceive? How did she respond to the violence facing German Jews during this time? This important contribution to the scholarship reveals a fresh perspective on this tumultuous time in German history.

Autorentext

Corinne Painter completed her PhD in the German Department at the University of Leeds. She is presently working on women s life writing and the German Revolution of 1918/1919.

Zusammenfassung
«Written over four decades, Clementine Krämer's extraordinary body of work bears witness to German history at its most turbulent and unpredictable. Krämer's writings reflect her hybrid identity as a German Jewish feminist, offering a new and unique insight into everyday life for women in early twentieth-century Germany. Corinne Painter's clearly written and thoroughly researched account of Krämer's life and work reclaims this important voice and gives scholars of literature, gender and cultural history access to an invaluable historical resource.» (Ingrid Sharp, Professor of German Cultural and Gender History, University of Leeds)

Inhalt

CONTENTS: Who Was Clementine Krämer? Context and Concepts Encounters with Eastern European Jewish Women Contested Spaces Motherhood and Education The First World War Legacies of War Fragmentation: The Third Reich