Geschlechterdifferenz in der Literaturrezeption um 1800?

Do women and men read differently? The book explores this question from a historical perspective. Drawing upon written testimonies of readings of Goethe's works by women and men, it attempts to establish whether gender difference was in fact a category with a decisive impact on the act of reading around 1800. The comparative study casts a relativizing light on allegedly typical gender-specific reading modes by demonstrating that those modes are to be found equally among men and women. In marked contrast to the ongoing debate on >compulsive reading< and the starkly exaggerated gender polarities it pivots on, it transpires that in the practice of reading other factors such as poetological concepts are of much greater relevance than gender.