Germanic Myths and Gender Constructions in German and Dutch Theatre Texts 1660-1780
Résumé
Germanic liberation myths play an important role in the development of a national consciousness in both the Dutch Republic and the German countries. This article discusses a selection of German and Dutch theatre texts from the seventeenth and eighteenth century about the uprisings and battles of Germanic tribes against the Romans. In existing studies of the -motif in German literature, some scholars conclude that in the course of the eighteenth century male protagonists (especially Arminius/Hermann) were occupying more and more space at the expense of the female characters. By analysing theatre texts on Germanic myths from a long-term international perspective, I will test the correctness of this hypothesis. In the critical reading of key works like Klopstock's bardic drama piece (1769), I will especially pay attention to the presupposed masculine power fantasies stemming from a more aggressive form of patriotism that was emerging after 1750. Did these fantasies, as they are represented in theatre texts on early national myths, indeed push off female protagonists from the domain of military and political power? What does it mean that these texts were written in a period in which enlightened visions on the fatherland made that the very notion of patriotic heroism was changing radically? How then should we determine the main field of power in these plays, given the fact that male and female characters could use different power instruments in their attempts to act like 'good patriots'?
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