The Problem of the Actress in Modern German Theater and Thought - 9781640140868

The Problem of the Actress in Modern German Theater and ThoughtAuthor(s): S.E. Jackson\nFormat: Hardback\nPublisher: Boydell & Brewer Ltd, United States\nImprint: Camden House Inc\nISBN-13: 9781640140868, 978-1640140868\nSynopsis\nReconstructs the constitutive role that German actresses played on and off the stage in shaping not only modernist theater aesthetics and performance practices, but also influential strains of modern thought.\n\nAround 1900, German and Austrian actresses had allure and status, apparent autonomy, and unconventional lifestyles. They presented a complex problem socially and aesthetically, one tied to the so-called Woman Question and to the contested status of modernity. For modernists, the actress's socioeconomic mobility and defiance of gender norms opened space to contest social and moral strictures, and her mutability offered a means to experiment with identity. For conservatives, on the other hand, female performance could support antifeminist convicti.