Sonja Fritzsche, Professor of German Studies in the Department of Linguistics, Languages, and Cultures and Director of Teaching and Learning in Michigan State University’s College of Arts and Letters, received the 2026 Coalition of Women in German Best Article Prize for her research examining how societal expectations, ableism, and the experiences of parents raising autistic children intersect in contemporary German literature.
Fritzsche’s award-winning article, “Ableist Fragility” and Chronic Stress in a Non-Autistic Parent Memoir from Germany, was published in the May 2025 issue of The German Quarterly, a scholarly journal published by the American Association of Teachers of German.
The award was formally announced during the 2026 Annual Coalition of Women/Feminists in German Conference, held virtually Nov. 6-7.
In the article, Fritzsche examines German author Tessa Korber’s 2012 memoir, Ich liebe dich nicht, aber ich möchte es mal können (I do not love you, but I would like to be able to), through the lenses of critical disability studies, feminist scholarship, and literary analysis. Her research introduces the concept of “ableist fragility” to explore how societal assumptions about disability, expectations of caregiving, and deeply rooted ideas about what constitutes a “normal” life can shape the experiences and anxieties of non-autistic parents raising autistic children. The concept examines how disability can challenge non-disabled individuals’ expectations and assumptions about normalcy, particularly within caregiving relationships, revealing the ways ableist attitudes and privileges influence their responses to disability.
The article also challenges conventional narratives surrounding disability and caregiving, encouraging readers to reconsider how disability, difference, and relationships between autistic and non-autistic individuals are represented and understood.
The Best Article Prize is particularly meaningful to Fritzsche because the article emerged from a new direction in her scholarship.
“I’m especially pleased at this, as the article is based on the entirely new research direction that I started during my research leave in Fall 2022,” Fritzsche said. “It grew out of work that I presented twice at successive Women in German conferences. I am grateful for the valuable feedback that I received then and through the journal’s peer-review process.”
“Bold, intellectually innovative, and deeply relevant, Fritzsche’s essay has an impact that extends beyond its contributions to German studies and disability studies: it challenges us to rethink the terms of our coexistence with difference.”
Award Selection Committee
The award selection committee praised Fritzsche’s article for its originality, theoretical depth, and contributions to feminist German studies, noting that it is “beautifully written” and “brings disability studies, life writing, and literary analysis into productive dialogue.”
“The committee was particularly impressed by the article’s sophisticated theoretical framework, its groundbreaking engagement with autism in contemporary German life writing, and its challenge to conventional redemption narratives surrounding disability,” the committee wrote in its award citation. “Bold, intellectually innovative, and deeply relevant, Fritzsche’s essay has an impact that extends beyond its contributions to German studies and disability studies: it challenges us to rethink the terms of our coexistence with difference.”
Selected from a competitive pool of submissions, Fritzsche’s article was recognized as a significant contribution to scholarship on disability and caregiving. The award included a $500 prize.
The article is part of Fritzsche’s expanding research in autism studies, disability, and life writing. She currently is co-authoring Finding the Word Between the Words: Autism and Life Writing By Women in Germany and Austria, a forthcoming book expected in 2028 that further explores representations of autism in German-language memoirs.
By Kim Popiolek
