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Warring Pleasures and their Price: Sex in the City in Irmgard Keun'S Das Kunstseidene Mädchen and Andrea Maria Schenkel's Kalteis
Author(s) -
Boa Elizabeth
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
german life and letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.1
H-Index - 12
eISSN - 1468-0483
pISSN - 0016-8777
DOI - 10.1111/j.1468-0483.2009.01468.x
Subject(s) - pleasure , reading (process) , representation (politics) , popular fiction , aesthetics , art , literature , gender studies , psychology , sociology , philosophy , political science , law , linguistics , psychotherapist , politics
This essay explores connections between the literary representation of women's pleasure, the aesthetic evaluation of fiction perceived as pleasurable reading for women, and sex/gender discourse stretching back to the eighteenth century as the age which saw the beginnings of a recognisably modern literary market. These reflections provide a framework to consider the kinds of pleasure offered by two novels, one from the last century and one recent best‐seller, which portray pleasure‐seeking women in the city and what happens to them.