Copyright by Angela Dionne Ferguson 2013 The Dissertation Committee for Angela Dionne Ferguson certifies that this is the approved version of the following dissertation: Women’s Writing and Writing Women in the Seventeenth Century: An Examination of the Works of Sibylle Schwarz and Susanne Elisabeth Zeidler Committee: Peter Hess, Supervisor Kirsten Belgum Marc Pierce Sandra Straubhaar Jeffrey Smith Women’s Writing and Writing Women in the Seventeenth Century: An Examination of the Works of Sibylle Schwarz and Susanne Elisabeth Zeidler by Angela Dionne Ferguson, B.A., M.A. Dissertation Presented to the Faculty of the Graduate School of The University of Texas at Austin in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy The University of Texas at Austin December 2013 Dedication This dissertation is dedicated to my parents, Robert and Diane Ferguson and to my grandmothers Bonnie Caudle and Elfreda Hughes, whose quiet strength inspired me. Acknowledgements This dissertation would not have been possible without the support of many people. I first wish to express my deep gratitude to my supervisor, Peter Hess, who offered invaluable assistance, support and guidance throughout the duration of this project, and who consistently encouraged me to continue in the work. His research in the area of seventeenth-century poetry and poetics provided inspiration and insight to guide this project. Special thanks also go to the many friends who have supported me throughout the long journey of completing my dissertation, and especially to friends and colleagues at Samford University for their untiring support. I would also like to convey thanks to the University of Texas and faculty in the Department of Germanic Studies for providing the financial means to conduct research on this project in Germany in the form of an exchange to the Free University of Berlin (2000-2001) and a University Fellowship (2003-2004). Further, I would like to express my thanks to the many people and institutions in Germany who supported my research on this project, including Professor Herbert Jaumann at the Ernst-Moritz-Arndt University in Greifswald and the librarians in the Germanistik Institut at the University of Erlangen. Finally, I wish to express my love and gratitude to my beloved family for their constant support and love. v Women’s Writing and Writing Women in the Seventeenth Century: An Examination of the Works of Sibylle Schwarz and Susanne Elisabeth Zeidler Angela Dionne Ferguson, Ph.D. The University of Texas at Austin, 2013 Supervisor: Peter Hess This dissertation is primarily concerned with women’s writing in the mid- seventeenth century, comprising the years from 1624 to 1686. It covers the period immediately following Martin Opitz’s vernacular literary reforms in Germany and takes as its primary subject the resultant increase in female authorship. It arises out of an interest in two separate but interrelated issues. The first is out of an interest in female literary production in Germany during the seventeenth century, specifically between 1624 and 1686, dates demarcated by the publication of Martin Opitz’s Buch von der deutschen Poeterey and the publication of Susanne Elisabeth Zeidler’s collection of poetry, Jungferlicher Zeitvertreiber. The second is the question of women’s self-concept within a patriarchal society and the discursive strategies of female authors struggling “against complex odds” to “com[e] to written voice” (Olsen 9). In order to fully explore this subject, I have chosen to focus on the work of two poets, Sibylle Schwarz (1621-1638) and Susanne Elisabeth Zeidler (1657-1706?). Writing at different stages in this period and from dissimilar social positions, the two poets offer contrasting strategies of self- representation and self-authorization. By negotiating the demanding terrain of female authorship in a period inhospitable to female learning in different ways, they illustrate the vi tensions faced by female poets and the various strategies for overcoming the challenges they faced. I look first at the construction of female gender in the early modern period and the ways female writers could subtly shift the prevailing ideas and definitions to include the act of writing as an acceptable component of female identity. The analysis and comparison of the works of Schwarz and Zeidler also offers a glimpse into the changes in self-awareness and self-concept of female poets across the period. vii Table of Contents List of Tables ......................................................................................................... xi List of Figures ....................................................................................................... xii CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION ...................................................................................1 CHAPTER 2: HISTORICAL BACKGROUND AND FORSCHUNGSBERICHT................23 Women’s Lives in the Seventeenth Century .................................................23 Education and Literacy ........................................................................23 Women’s roles and work .....................................................................35 The Mayor’s Daughter ................................................................36 The Pastor’s Daughter.................................................................37 German Baroque Poetry ................................................................................40 Poetics/ Vernacular Literature .............................................................40 Occasional Poetry ................................................................................44 Content and Form ................................................................................46 The Poet ...............................................................................................51 Women Writers in Germany ................................................................52 Female Authorship in the Seventeenth Century ..................................62 Sibylle Schwarz ............................................................................................66 Biography of Sibylle Schwarz .............................................................66 The Social Milieu of Sibylle Schwarz .................................................69 Introduction to Work of Sibylle Schwarz ............................................72 Early Reception History of Sibylle Schwarz .......................................74 Recent Scholarship Concerning Sibylle Schwarz ................................75 Susanne Elisabeth Zeidler .............................................................................77 Biography of Susanne Elisabeth Zeidler..............................................77 Social Milieu of Susanne Elisabeth Zeidler .........................................80 Introduction to Work of Susanne Elisabeth Zeidler ............................80 Early Reception History of Susanne Elisabeth Zeidler ........................80 viii Recent Scholarship Concerning Susanne Elisabeth Zeidler ................82 CHAPTER 3: SELF ..................................................................................................83 The Poet and Poetry in the Work of Sibylle Schwarz ..................................93 Figure of “Neid” and “Feinden der edlen Leyer” ................................93 The Lyric “Ich” ..................................................................................109 Social Role of the Poet in Schwarz ....................................................118 Schwarz’s Prose Eclogue “Faunus” ...................................................119 The Poet and Poetry in the Work of Susanne Elisabeth Zeidler .................131 True Poets and Lovers of Poetry ........................................................131 Beglaubigung der Jungfer Poeterey ...................................................139 A Room of Their Own ................................................................................148 Musen Söhne und Nimphen ...............................................................148 Laus ruris and Ideal Friendship..........................................................149 CHAPTER 4: THE OTHER ....................................................................................154 The Ties That Bind: The Role of Family ....................................................155 The Ties That Bind: The Role of Friendship ..............................................162 Poems Binding Social Relationships: Bindelbriefe ....................................165 Friendship in the Poems of Susanne Elisabeth Zeidler ...............................174 Anna Susanne and Maria Elisabeth Sikelius .....................................174 Friendship in the Poems of Sibylle Schwarz ..............................................176 Judith Tanck .......................................................................................176 Tying the Knot ............................................................................................179 Epithalamia in the Work of Sibylle Schwarz .....................................181 Dr. Hermann Querin ..........................................................................186 Epithalamia in the Work of Susanne Elisabeth Zeidler .....................192 CHAPTER 5: SLIPPING THE BONDS OF EARTH ....................................................199 Epicedia in the Work of Susanne Elisabeth Zeidler ...................................201 Epicedia in the