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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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 & Humanities > Research Institutes > An Foras Feasa Faculty of Arts & Humanities > 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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