Changierende Namensgebungen und präfigurierte Lesarten. Mathilde Uhlirz' Biografie als Irritation städtischer Gedächtnispolitiken.

From a gender history perspective and against the backdrop of auto/biographical theory, space and memory studies, this article deals with gendered debates, politics and cultural practise of (re)naming streets in urban contexts in general and with the Uhlirzgasse in Graz as a significant case study in particular. H. Zettelbauer and L. Matzer analyse the historical contexts of the street naming process as well as contemporary retrospective (re-)evaluations as negotiations of hegemonic (public) culture. They consider positionings and strategies of municipal protagonists in the 20th century on the one hand and civil society efforts such as feminist memory politics on the other. The latter has challenged successfully male-centred practises of street naming from the 1990ies onwards. The authors confront the life story of the Austrian historian Mathilde Uhlirz (1881-1966) with her self-narration and the dedication of the Uhlirzgasse in its twofold (re)interpretation: honouring Mathilde Uhlirz' father Karl and/or Mathilde Uhlirz herself. The case study reveals a complex intertwining of a problematic German-nationalist and Nazi past, the limited agency of a female pioneer as a scientific persona withinamisogynous university structure, ambivalent gendered autobiographical narrative strategies and hegemonic public memory politics, which transform a non-coherent, non-linear and contradictory biography into a smooth life story that allows placatory public identification. The contribution pleads for a gender critical reflection of biographical knowledge production - not only in scientific contexts but also in public history. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]