tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30203557.post1873680330921197777..comments2024-03-26T01:10:13.720+00:00Comments on Teach Me Tonight: German Romances in the USE. M. Selingerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00426524354823232002noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30203557.post-11217276816121131162013-05-29T17:51:38.334+01:002013-05-29T17:51:38.334+01:00This is fascinating, Laura--and if my ears don'...This is fascinating, Laura--and if my ears don't deceive me, I hear Pamela Regis's terminology ("ritual death" and "state of freedom") in that second paragraph. This book illuminates, for me, a favorite passage in Louisa May Alcott's "Little Women," where Prof. Bhaer declares his love under the umbrella and assures Jo that Germans aren't afraid of being sentimental; the time frame is right for that happy ending to be part of the same cultural moment as the one this book describes. (Also, I think William Leach's "Land of Desire" has a section on how German immigrants brought an idea of gemutlichkeit to the US, assuaging a lingering Puritan suspicion of worldly pleasures. That might be related as well!) E. M. Selingerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00426524354823232002noreply@blogger.com