Antislavery discourses in nineteenth-century German American women’s fiction

Abstract

ABSTRACTThe essay discusses the transatlantic as well as the gendered perspectives on US American slavery in the works of two nineteenth-century German immigrant women writers, Therese Robinson (writing under the pseudonym Talvj, 1797–1870) and Mathilde Franziska Anneke (1817–1884). I will argue that German immigrant women were not only critical observers of the practice of slavery in the USA but they used antislavery discourses to negotiate German women’s efforts to assimilate to American culture. In nineteenth-century transatlantic culture, German immigrant women engaged in and commented upon intersecting discourses on antislavery, Americanization, and womanhood. With regard to discussions of gender, race, and slavery in nineteenth-century US American fiction, writings of German immigrant women or literary representations of German immigration to the USA have rarely been considered. This essay thus shows how fiction written by German immigrant women expands the scope of US American antislavery literature. Its discussion of two lesser known German immigrant women authors contributes to the research on German American literary culture and transatlantic women’s history.