Mary Astell – die ‘erste englische Feministin’ in Deutschland

Damrau, Peter (2024) Mary Astell – die ‘erste englische Feministin’ in Deutschland. Germanisch-Romanische Monatsschrift , ISSN 0016-8904. (In Press)

Abstract

This is the first study of the reception of Mary Astell (1666-1731) in Germany. Astell wrote an influential program for women's self-education, which was plagiarised by Richard Steele (1672-1729). It was only through Steele’s plagiarism and a subsequent French translation, that this text was ultimately published anonymously in Germany. The following article demonstrates how the blending of Anglicanism and rationalist philosophy was applied to theologically justify equality between the sexes. This early attempt at emancipation encouraged women to aspire to higher education and to become writers. Inspired by John Locke (1632-1704), Astell provides rhetorical instructions for improving female communication in order to gain access to public discourse. Her treatise, which was recognized in contemporary German reviews, is placed in the context of other female writers. Astell's collaboration with the travel writer Lady Mary Wortley Montagu (1689-1762) also reveals that the translation literature of these previously neglected English authors served as an important role model in 18th century Germany for the education and writing activities of German women.

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