ABSTRACT
Gender discourses of the 1950s and 1990s are traceable in the editorial introductions and the reviews of the two editions. This chapter highlights the similarities and differences in these conceptions of gender and links shifts in these notions to contemporary discourses about female authorship and the Holocaust. The removal of letters containing such insights into Elisabeth Langgasser's familial relationships from the early edition does not, however, lead to the unqualified perception of Langgasser as a figure in the public realm. In a context of a new interest in women's literature, reviews of Wilhelm Hoffinann's edition in the 1960s and 1980s by female critics illustrate another gendered dimension. In a post-war political context when depictions of Hitler as Satan were prominent, and allowed for a convenient transference of responsibility, Langgasser becomes a privileged witness of the events of fascism. The result is that the Jewish victims and questions of guilt are entirely displaced.
