The Vienna Project on Autobiographies and Gender Identities in Austria

Abstract

The question of how gender identities are constructed is crucial for feminist historical analysis of male and female subjects. Autobiographiesthe way in which men and women have textualized their life-experiencetherefore offer essential opportunities to consider this question.In the last few years, an archive of autobiographies has been collected at the Social and Economic History Department at the University of Vienna.Most of the 650 unpublished written life histories could be defined as 'popular autobiographies' although a range of social classes is represented. About 70 per cent of the authors are women, many belonging to lower social classes. A section of the collection goes back to the second half of the 19th century. This material, supplemented by a small number of published autobiographies, will be the primary source of a planned research project which, if support is forthcoming, will begin early in 1990. The first step will be to look at traditions and forms of autobiographical writing since the 19th century, most of which were determined by male and bourgeois norms. Yet today we can observe a trend towards the writing and publication of autobiographies by lower class people in general and women in particular. What is the significance of this shift? How is it connected to the former production of autobiographies, the traditional forms, styles and content?On the basis of this analysis, we want to examine forms and manifestations of gendered identity within the social changes of the 19th and 20th centuries. The main focus, therefore, is on the questions if and how far there has been a development towards 'individualization' or 'modern' self identity? For