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Mothers, Madonnas, Monsters, or Madwomen? A Comparative Study of the Literary Commemorations of Queen Luise of Prussia and Empress Elisabeth of Austria / RHOSLYN BECKWITH

Swansea University Author: RHOSLYN BECKWITH

  • E-Thesis under embargo until: 9th December 2028

DOI (Published version): 10.23889/SUthesis.65404

Abstract

Drawing on memory studies theories, particularly Pierre Nora’s concept of lieux de mémoire, this study examines key texts from the commemorative literary corpora of Queen Luise of Prussia (1776-1810) and Empress Elisabeth of Austria (1837-1898). These works of life writing, both traditionally biogra...

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Published: Swansea, Wales, UK 2023
Institution: Swansea University
Degree level: Doctoral
Degree name: Ph.D
Supervisor: Jones, Kathryn N. and Preece, Julian.
URI: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa65404
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spelling v2 65404 2024-01-04 Mothers, Madonnas, Monsters, or Madwomen? A Comparative Study of the Literary Commemorations of Queen Luise of Prussia and Empress Elisabeth of Austria 16ed1aba726c159a7a64fc8624571185 RHOSLYN BECKWITH RHOSLYN BECKWITH true false 2024-01-04 Drawing on memory studies theories, particularly Pierre Nora’s concept of lieux de mémoire, this study examines key texts from the commemorative literary corpora of Queen Luise of Prussia (1776-1810) and Empress Elisabeth of Austria (1837-1898). These works of life writing, both traditionally biographical and fictionalised accounts, exemplify the differences in approach taken to commemorating two women once described as the founding mother figures of their respective countries. Moreover, they also function as case studies to reveal contrasting attitudes towards national history in Germany and Austria after 1945 and how these have developed over the last century. While Empress Elisabeth (Sissi/ Sisi) remains prominent today within the Viennese visual landscape, embodying the nostalgia central to the Austrian sense of national identity through its links to its “beautiful ancestor,” Queen Luise seems largely forgotten in present day Berlin. In academic circles, however, it is Queen Luise’s commemorations which have been examined more comprehensively, while Empress Elisabeth’s literary corpus remains comparatively underexplored. This thesis argues that as lieux de mémoire, the representations of these women in literature have moved through periods of obsolescence and rediscovery. At times their connections to national history have made them taboo subjects, while at others they have functioned as propagandistic tools or symbols of the “ideal” woman. This study contends that the biographical texts reveal as much about contemporary attitudes towards women and history as they do about the monarchs themselves. Engaging with theories of postmodernism and celebrity studies, this thesis also argues that while the dominant narrative mainstream of Empress Elisabeth’s corpus, in particular, remains marked by the conventional and conservative rhetoric common to royal biographies, the subversive undercurrents of several twenty-first-century works about Queen Luise and Empress Elisabeth indicate the ways in which attitudes towards idealised history are changing and becoming more nuanced in both Germany and Austria. E-Thesis Swansea, Wales, UK lieu de mémoire, Queen Luise, Empress Elisabeth, Prussia, Austria, memory studies, history, founding mothers, national narratives, commemoration, life writing, national history, nostalgia, perverse nostalgia, postmodernism, celebrity studies. 5 12 2023 2023-12-05 10.23889/SUthesis.65404 COLLEGE NANME COLLEGE CODE Swansea University Jones, Kathryn N. and Preece, Julian. Doctoral Ph.D James Pantyfedwen Trust James Pantyfedwen Trust 2024-01-04T13:34:41.6155006 2024-01-04T12:38:44.3029431 Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences School of Culture and Communication - Modern Languages, Translation, and Interpreting RHOSLYN BECKWITH 1 Under embargo Under embargo 2024-01-04T12:42:35.5158457 Output 2751389 application/pdf E-Thesis true 2028-12-09T00:00:00.0000000 Copyright: The Author, Rhoslyn F. Beckwith, 2023. true eng
title Mothers, Madonnas, Monsters, or Madwomen? A Comparative Study of the Literary Commemorations of Queen Luise of Prussia and Empress Elisabeth of Austria
spellingShingle Mothers, Madonnas, Monsters, or Madwomen? A Comparative Study of the Literary Commemorations of Queen Luise of Prussia and Empress Elisabeth of Austria
RHOSLYN BECKWITH
title_short Mothers, Madonnas, Monsters, or Madwomen? A Comparative Study of the Literary Commemorations of Queen Luise of Prussia and Empress Elisabeth of Austria
title_full Mothers, Madonnas, Monsters, or Madwomen? A Comparative Study of the Literary Commemorations of Queen Luise of Prussia and Empress Elisabeth of Austria
title_fullStr Mothers, Madonnas, Monsters, or Madwomen? A Comparative Study of the Literary Commemorations of Queen Luise of Prussia and Empress Elisabeth of Austria
title_full_unstemmed Mothers, Madonnas, Monsters, or Madwomen? A Comparative Study of the Literary Commemorations of Queen Luise of Prussia and Empress Elisabeth of Austria
title_sort Mothers, Madonnas, Monsters, or Madwomen? A Comparative Study of the Literary Commemorations of Queen Luise of Prussia and Empress Elisabeth of Austria
author_id_str_mv 16ed1aba726c159a7a64fc8624571185
author_id_fullname_str_mv 16ed1aba726c159a7a64fc8624571185_***_RHOSLYN BECKWITH
author RHOSLYN BECKWITH
author2 RHOSLYN BECKWITH
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description Drawing on memory studies theories, particularly Pierre Nora’s concept of lieux de mémoire, this study examines key texts from the commemorative literary corpora of Queen Luise of Prussia (1776-1810) and Empress Elisabeth of Austria (1837-1898). These works of life writing, both traditionally biographical and fictionalised accounts, exemplify the differences in approach taken to commemorating two women once described as the founding mother figures of their respective countries. Moreover, they also function as case studies to reveal contrasting attitudes towards national history in Germany and Austria after 1945 and how these have developed over the last century. While Empress Elisabeth (Sissi/ Sisi) remains prominent today within the Viennese visual landscape, embodying the nostalgia central to the Austrian sense of national identity through its links to its “beautiful ancestor,” Queen Luise seems largely forgotten in present day Berlin. In academic circles, however, it is Queen Luise’s commemorations which have been examined more comprehensively, while Empress Elisabeth’s literary corpus remains comparatively underexplored. This thesis argues that as lieux de mémoire, the representations of these women in literature have moved through periods of obsolescence and rediscovery. At times their connections to national history have made them taboo subjects, while at others they have functioned as propagandistic tools or symbols of the “ideal” woman. This study contends that the biographical texts reveal as much about contemporary attitudes towards women and history as they do about the monarchs themselves. Engaging with theories of postmodernism and celebrity studies, this thesis also argues that while the dominant narrative mainstream of Empress Elisabeth’s corpus, in particular, remains marked by the conventional and conservative rhetoric common to royal biographies, the subversive undercurrents of several twenty-first-century works about Queen Luise and Empress Elisabeth indicate the ways in which attitudes towards idealised history are changing and becoming more nuanced in both Germany and Austria.
published_date 2023-12-05T13:34:44Z
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score 11.012678

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