Fragile Families - by Joachim Eibach (Paperback)

About the Book

This book presents a new history of the family in the era of bourgeois modernity. The sources it uses are personal accounts, first and foremost diaries, but also letters and autobiographical texts from eight German-speaking families from different m

Book Synopsis

In the era of bourgeois modernity (1750-1900), the family is as valued as it is vulnerable. It constitutes a community of care, conflict, and emotion. Time and again, it is evoked as a bond of love as well as a moral institution. Yet both love and morality are fragile. A more detailed exploration reveals that domestic life during this period was much more colorful, open, and dynamic - and also more prone to crisis - than one might expect given the vaunted view of the family that characterized the heyday of the bourgeoisie. This book rewrites the history of the modern family. Self-narratives - primarily diaries - written by members of eight families from Germany, Switzerland, and Austria serve as sources for this research. The focus extends far beyond the bourgeoisie. With a micro-historical eye, the author reconstructs family histories from the peasant milieu to the patrician elite, from the parsonage to the educated bourgeoisie; he considers the domestic life of a journeyman craftsman, a couple's descent from the ranks of the petite bourgeoisie, the effects of an itinerant childhood among the proletariat, and the strain of being caught between a bourgeois family and artistic individuality. Many of these aspects point beyond bourgeois modernity to the family in our time.

About the Author

Joachim Eibach, University of Bern, Switzerland.