International Journal of Language & Literature

Engendering Childhood: The Autobiographical Novel in Eighteenth-Century German Literature
Eckhard Rölz

Abstract
During the latter part of the 18th century two German authors in particular showed great interest in the topic of childhood and how childhood experiences shaped their lives. Heinrich Jung-Stilling finished his autobiographical novel Heinrich Stillings Childhood and Youth in 1777, and Karl Philipp Moritz authored Anton Reiserbetween 1785-1790. The purpose of these narratives was not spectacular action or passionate love stories but pure observation of a human being—with particular attention to small details. The texts examined present, often contrary to their stated aims, a persistent picture of a childhood in which family constellations produce children who lack a fixed gender identity, a clear notion of sexuality, and find their identity in fantasy worlds.

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