Reproduction, Labour, Aesthetics. Breastfeeding and Literature in the Long Nineteenth Century

• Applicant: Dr. Pola Groß
• Subject Area: German Literary and Cultural Studies (Modern German Literature) ; General and Comparative Literature and Cultural Studies
• Term: since 2026
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 569201666

The proposed research project will focus both on breastfeeding, a central but hitherto little-studied domain of female care work in German-language literature of the long 19th century, as well as explore the nexus between biological reproduction and the concept of art and labour that has emerged since 1800. It will also provide a new perspective on the relationship between physical reproduction and literary production. Firstly, the project aims to examine the complex interplay between literature and contemporary popular scientific discourse surrounding breastfeeding, thereby addressing a double research gap: breastfeeding in the 19th century has not yet been analyzed as a literary theme or motif, nor have the literary texts been considered in the context of the socio-economic mix of biopolitics, women's and social issues as well as industrial interest in the production of infant formula. The project is based on the observation that some literary texts in particular reveal the fragility of the narrative of the ‘natural’ breastfeeding mother as the guarantor of the bourgeois family that has been established since the end of the 18th century: Only rarely does the natural mother herself breastfeed here. These texts offer alternative narratives to contemporary dominant narratives of breastfeeding and associated gender roles and imaginations of family that have not yet been analyzed. Secondly, the project aims to contribute to an analysis of the relationship between reproduction and work. Particular attention is paid to the figure of the wet nurse, who not only demonstrates the limits of the ‘natural’ breastfeeding mother, but also crosses the spheres of (male) wage labour and (female) reproductive labour, which are considered to be separate. This is followed by the project’s third research question, which seeks to re-examine the relationship between physical reproduction and literary production. The guiding assumption here is that the connection between biological reproduction and aesthetic creativity in the literature of female authors has so far hardly been taken into account, with the focus instead being on the fantasies of childbirth and creation that emerged around 1800 and were linked to male originality. In contrast, the project pursues the thesis that some female authors develop an aesthetics from the position assigned to them in the discourse, namely that of biological reproduction, making physicality and care practices the starting point and condition of literary creativity. With the initially heuristic category of such a ‘reproductive aesthetic’, an alternative model of authorship which has remained unnoticed up to now is to be conceived. One of the prerequisites for such a new perspective on the relationship between gender and aesthetics is the proof to be provided in the project that it is the social reality of gender relations which forms the background to all modelling of aesthetics and authorship.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants
• International Connection: USA
• Cooperation Partner: Professorin Dr. Stefani Engelstein