Gerede und Arbeit im Dorf

Abstract

This contribution addresses gossip and rumors in a nineteenth-century Upper Bavarian village from a practice-oriented perspective that situates specific forms of „talk“ or „chat“ in the everyday life and the work of peasants. It demonstrates how gossip about extramarital pregnancies and births was embedded within the semantics of work practices and hierarchical social relations within the village. An analysis of the court records of one particular but exemplary case is illuminating different social and institutional contexts in which female delinquency and honor were negotiated.