Bird offers an analysis of female identity and national identity in the works of three twentieth-century German-language women writers.

Stephanie Bird is Lecturer in German at University College London. She is the author of Recounting Historical Women (1998) and of articles in journals, including MLR, Austrian Studies and FMLS.

Introduction; Part I. Ingeborg Machmann: the Todesarten Prose: 1. Franza and the righteous servant; 2. On sharks and shame; 3. Malina: experience and feminism; Part II. Anne duden: The Suffering Body: 4. The short stories: thoughts on the body and ethics; 5. Desire and complicity in Das Judasschaf; Part III. Emine Özdamar: Performance and Metaphor: 6. Tradition out of context; 7. Metaphor's creative spark; Conclusion: das war es; Notes; Bibliography; Index.