This dissertation examines the experiences of young Frenchwomen from the northeastern département of Moselle who, following the surrender of France to the invading Germans in 1940 and the de facto annexation of Moselle into the Third Reich, were forcibly conscripted into German labor organizations devoted to the wartime support of the Nazi State. Their experiences, part of France's Second World War history has been largely forgotten if not occulted altogether. Research into the malgré-elles, as they refer to themselves, led me to recognize that their story is intimately tied to the history of Moselle and its occupation by Germany twice in a hundred years; one occupation having lasted almost fifty years. My research in the field included the interviewing of fifteen malgré-elles dispersed over most of north and central Moselle. An initial analysis of the interview data permitted the identification of experiences typical of a young malgré-elle, illustrated by the personal itinerary of one of my most informative interviewee. On further analysis, a hypothesis was formulated concerning the possible influence of cultural and especially linguistic backgrounds on the attitudes of malgré-elles toward their experiences. While interview data are somewhat mixed, it appears that malgré-elles from the German-speaking group were slightly less negative in regards to their experiences than their Francophone peers, while the common experiences of the members of both groups, forced to function in a coercive environment in Germany, tended to narrow this gap. / A Dissertation submitted to the Department of Modern Languages and Linguistics in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of
Philosophy. / Fall Semester, 2012. / September 21, 2012. / Includes bibliographical references. / Alec Hargreaves, Professor Directing Dissertation; Eric C. Walker, University Representative; William Cloonan, Committee Member; Aimée Boutin, Committee Member.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:fsu.edu/oai:fsu.digital.flvc.org:fsu_183277 |
| Contributors | Lovasz, Steven A. (Steven Alexander), 1943- (authoraut), Hargreaves, Alec (professor directing dissertation), Walker, Eric C. (university representative), Cloonan, William (committee member), Boutin, Aimée (committee member), Department of Modern Languages and Linguistics (degree granting department), Florida State University (degree granting institution) |
| Publisher | Florida State University, Florida State University |
| Source Sets | Florida State University |
| Language | English, English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Text, text |
| Format | 1 online resource, computer, application/pdf |
| Rights | This Item is protected by copyright and/or related rights. You are free to use this Item in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. For other uses you need to obtain permission from the rights-holder(s). The copyright in theses and dissertations completed at Florida State University is held by the students who author them. |
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