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    Mediating the Mommy Wars in Contemporary Germany


    Heffernan, Valerie (2014) Mediating the Mommy Wars in Contemporary Germany. In: Stay-at-Home Mothers: Dialogues and Debates. Demeter Press, Bradford, ON, pp. 129-139. ISBN 978-1-927335-44-4

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    Official URL: http://demeterpress.org/StayatHome.html


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    Abstract

    This chapter focuses on Kerstin Gier’s Mütter-Mafia trilogy and its popularity amongst the German readership. Firstly, it critically assesses the novels’ reenactment of what the media have dubbed the ‘mommy wars’, the battle between the stay-at-home moms and the career mothers, and in particular the way in which this battle is fought out via a somewhat intimidating mommy blog. Secondly and in close connection with this, it discusses how the novel’s one-dimensional characterisation of mothers reflects media-fuelled (mis)conceptions of mothers. Finally, it relates the enormous popularity of the novels to broader trends in women’s literature, and in particular the growing popularity of so-called ‘mommy lit’, that grown up and more domesticated version of chick lit.

    Item Type: Book Section
    Keywords: The Mommy Wars; Contemporary Germany;
    Academic Unit: Faculty of Arts,Celtic Studies and Philosophy > Research Institutes > An Foras Feasa
    Faculty of Arts,Celtic Studies and Philosophy > School of Modern Languages, Literatures and Cultures > German
    Item ID: 5447
    Depositing User: Valerie Heffernan
    Date Deposited: 02 Oct 2014 11:30
    Publisher: Demeter Press
    Refereed: Yes
    URI:
      Use Licence: This item is available under a Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial Share Alike Licence (CC BY-NC-SA). Details of this licence are available here

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