Of Gaps and Gossip: Intimacy in the Archive

2020 ◽  
Vol 138 (3) ◽  
pp. 428-448
Author(s):  
Katrin Horn
Keyword(s):  
Nineteenth Century ◽  
Romantic Relationships ◽  
Life Writing ◽  
Her Family ◽  
Forms Of Life ◽  
Intimate Life

AbstractArguing for gossip’s relevance in the archive, this article examines the surviving private material relating to Charlotte Cushman (1816–1876). Cushman was the most celebrated American actress of the nineteenth century yet spent most of her life in an expatriate community in Rome, where she shared her home with other female artists. Analysing letters, diaries, and related forms of life writing by Cushman herself as well as by friends and family, this article pursues two goals: First, it accounts for how a fear of gossip (by Cushman and her family) might have shaped the gaps in the collection concerning Cushman’s sexual and romantic relationships. Second, it makes the case for the archival traces of gossip as evidence in writing the story of Cushman’s intimate life. The article thus reflects on the role of gossip and privacy in “intimate archives” (Dever et al. 2010) and contemplates their relevance to Cushman as an insightful case study of LGBTQ history. Overall, this article advocates turning to the archive with a renewed fervour for evidence of intimacy as well as for turning to intimacy for evidence.

scholarly journals Women's Life Writing and Reputation: A Case Study of Mary Darby Robinson

Romanticism ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 24 (2) ◽  
pp. 191-202
Author(s):  
Susan Civale
Keyword(s):  
Nineteenth Century ◽  
Life Writing ◽  
Self Presentation ◽  
Feminine Persona

The posthumously published Memoirs of the Late Mrs. Robinson (1801) has been read as a final – but flawed – attempt to defend the conduct and rescue the reputation of the notorious actress, poet, and one-time royal mistress, Mary Darby Robinson (1758–1800). Narrating her life as a pathetic tale of transgression and suffering, the Memoirs seems destabilised by inconsistencies in structure and gaps in content which are often discussed by modern critics as shortcomings: evidence of self-censorship, ‘confused’ intentions, or an inability to fashion an acceptable feminine persona. However, these so-called shortcomings may comprise a nuanced strategy of self-presentation designed to evoke curiosity and sympathy. Robinson's Memoirs was reprinted throughout the nineteenth century, spurring numerous novels, mini-biographies, and periodical articles. By examining nineteenth-century responses to the Memoirs, this essay argues for Robinson's life writing as innovative and influential, and gestures to the benefits of extending the traditional ‘edges’ of Romanticism in terms of both genre and period.

The Courtown Land Agents and Transnational Estate Management, 1850–1900

2018 ◽  
pp. 93-108
Author(s):  
Rachel Murphy
Keyword(s):  
Nineteenth Century ◽  
Financial Situation ◽  
Management Structure ◽  
Victorian Period ◽  
Estate Management

The nature of estate agencies across the four nations during the nineteenth century varied depending on the size and location of the estate, and the financial situation of the landlord. In short, just as estates were not homogenous, neither were the agencies that managed them. This chapter considers the management structure of a transnational estate during the second half of the nineteenth century, using the Courtown estate as a case study. It examines the roles of the agents, sub-agents and bailiffs employed on the estate during this period. It is hoped that the study will enable comparison with other estates within the four nations, leading to a deeper understanding of the role of the land agent during the Victorian period.

‘The Sword of Avenging Justice’: Politics in Sutherland after the Third Reform Act

Rural History ◽  
2008 ◽  
Vol 19 (2) ◽  
pp. 179-199 ◽  
Author(s):  
ANNIE TINDLEY
Keyword(s):  
Nineteenth Century ◽  
Political Power ◽  
Political Life ◽  
National Politics ◽  
Scottish Highlands ◽  
The Third ◽  
General Decline ◽  
The Impact

AbstractThere has been much historical debate over the role of aristocratic landed families in local and national politics throughout the nineteenth century, and the impact of the First, Second and Third Reform Acts on that role. Additionally, the period from 1881 in the Scottish Highlands was one of acute political and ideological crisis, as the debate over the reform of the Land Laws took a violent turn, and Highland landowners were forced to address the demands of their small tenants. This article addresses these debates, taking as its case-study the ducal house of Sutherland. The Leveson-Gower family owned almost the whole county of Sutherland and until 1884 dominated political life in the region. This article examines the gradual breakdown of that political power, in line with a more general decline in financial and territorial influence, both in terms of the personal role of the Fourth and Fifth Dukes of Sutherland, and the broader impact of the estate management on the mechanics and expectations of politics in the county.

Life Writing and the Victorians

2014 ◽  
pp. 44-62
Author(s):  
Trev Broughton
Keyword(s):  
Nineteenth Century ◽  
Life Writing ◽  
National Identities ◽  
Victorian Culture ◽  
Church Of Scotland ◽  
The Past ◽  
Challenges And Opportunities

This chapter uses Margaret Oliphant’s work on a biography of the deposed Church of Scotland preacher Edward Irving (1792–1834) as a case study in the professionalization of Life writing in the nineteenth century. It points to some of the literary developments and fashions that made biography popular despite its tendency to over-respectful, hyper-respectable treatment of its subjects. It charts some of the challenges and opportunities biographical evidence and research afforded, including the chance to probe the conventions of gender. It argues that biography offered a space in which authors—including authors outside the academy—could participate in the writing of the past and in the representation of local and national identities, as well as in the ongoing discussion about heroes and their role in Victorian culture.

scholarly journals Analysis of the Role of Fish Basket Women towards Household Income in Eretan Wetan Village, Indramayu District, West Java

2021 ◽  
pp. 44-51
Author(s):  
Ayodhia Arman ◽  
Zuzy Anna ◽  
Eddy Afrianto ◽  
Atikah Nurhayati
Keyword(s):  
Household Income ◽  
Sampling Method ◽  
Sampling Technique ◽  
Coefficient Of Determination ◽  
Family Needs ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
West Java ◽  
Her Family

The role of the fish basket woman is not only as a housewife but also as a breadwinner, thus the fish basket woman has a dual role in her family. Fish basket women help their husbands work to be able to meet family needs. This study aims to analyze household income as well know the motivation to work of women as fish baskets in increasing working household income and know the factors that affect the income of fish basket women in increasing household income in Eretan Wetan Village, Indramayu Regency, West Java. The research method used in this research is a case study and interviews using a questionnaire. The sampling technique used an accidental sampling method with a total of 50 respondents and collecting data using observation techniques, structured interviews, and documentation techniques. The results showed that the role of women with fish baskets on household income in Eretan Wetan Village, Indramayu Regency, West Java was quite significant by obtaining an average income of IDR 1,676,135 per month. Factors that affect the income of working basket women include helping their husbands, wages that are not appropriate, helping household income and the husband's income is uncertain. The coefficient of determination shown by Nagelkerke R-Square, age, education level, number of family members, husband's permission, and husband's income affect women's interest in working by 100.0%. Women’s interest in working is not influenced by any other factors included in the research mode.

Capitalism as Nineteenth-Century Colonialism and Its Impacts on Native Californians

Ethnohistory ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 64 (4) ◽  
pp. 471-495 ◽  
Author(s):  
Charlotte K. Sunseri
Keyword(s):  
Nineteenth Century ◽  
Indigenous Communities ◽  
Mono Lake ◽  
Self Determination ◽  
The West ◽  
The Impact

AbstractThis article analyzes the impact of colonialism on nineteenth-century Native California communities, particularly during the American annexation of the West and capitalist ventures in mining and milling towns. Using the case study of Mono Lake Kutzadika Paiute employed by the Bodie and Benton Railroad and Lumber Company at Mono Mills, the lasting legacies of colonialism and its impacts on contemporary struggles for self-determination are explored. The study highlights the role of capitalism as a potent form of colonialism and its enduring effects on tribes’ ability to meet federal acknowledgment standards. This approach contributes to a richer understanding of colonial processes and their impacts on indigenous communities both historically and today.

The Season Novel, 1806–1824: A Nineteenth-Century Microgenre

2017 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 81-100
Author(s):  
Anne H. Stevens
Keyword(s):  
Nineteenth Century ◽  
Artistic Creation ◽  
Close Range

This essay examines a set of two dozen or so novels published between 1806 and 1824 that, taken together, constitute a microgenre or highly specific subgenre, the ‘season novel’. From A Winter in London (1806) to A Winter in Washington (1824), season novels depict fashionable life in a particular locale for a limited span of time. The essay uses these texts as a case study to examine the processes of generic creation and extinction at close range, looking at the interplay of imitation and variation that helps propel artistic creation, the role of reviewers, and circulating library data.

Vaderfiguren in de historiografische canon - De casus Jules Michelet

2014 ◽  
Vol 127 (1) ◽  
pp. 21-40
Author(s):  
Camille Creyghton
Keyword(s):  
Nineteenth Century ◽  
Scientific Method ◽  
Memory Culture ◽  
Scholarly Practice ◽  
Jules Michelet

This article explores the metaphor of the father in the professional memory culture of historians. It takes as a case study Jules Michelet, who is generally considered the father of French historiography, and it traces how, why, and by whom he was elevated to this status. The role of Gabriel Monod, one of the most prominent historians at the end of the nineteenth century, was crucial in the promotion of Michelet. Ernest Lavisse, the writer of historical textbooks, also adopted Michelet as a father of history. This is remarkable because Monod and Lavisse were both members of the so-called positivist generation of historians, which is deemed to have distanced itself from the romantic historiographical tradition of Michelet in favour of a rigorous scientific method. Hence other factors than a similarity in scholarly practice appear to have been decisive in the choice of Michelet as father of history.

scholarly journals The Selfie on Europe’s Shores: Ai Weiwei and the Selfie as a Means of Safe Passage

2018 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-20
Author(s):  
Anna Poletti
Keyword(s):  
Life Writing ◽  
Digital Age ◽  
Forms Of Life

In the introduction to On Histories and Stories, A. S. Byatt argues that ‘those of us who write about modern writing have a duty to keep the discussion open’ in order ‘to create new paradigms, which will bring new books, new styles, new preoccupations to the attention of readers’. This paper considers how Byatt’s suggestion about the role of the critic writing about living authors can be adapted for scholarship and criticism that seeks to respond to new forms of life writing that have emerged in the digital age.

scholarly journals The Emergence of Physical Education as a Subject for Compulsory Schooling in the First Half of the Nineteenth Century: The Case of Phokion Heinrich Clias and Adolf Spiess

2017 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 13-30
Author(s):  
Rebekka Horlacher
Keyword(s):  
Nineteenth Century ◽  
Physical Education ◽  
Nation Building ◽  
The Body ◽  
Compulsory Schooling ◽  
Political Issue ◽  
Language And Culture ◽  
Compulsory Schools

In general, schooling and nation-building are associated with the unifying role of language and history education, since language and culture are perceived as fundamental pillars of the nation. Less discussed—at least regarding the curriculum—is the role of physical education, even if physical education was a highly political issue in the first decades of the nineteenth century. Based on a case study of Switzerland and textbooks for physical education by Adolf Spiess and the activities of Phokion Heinrich Clias for the Bernese school, this article discusses how physical education, distinct from the late seventeenth and eighteenth centuries’ care for the body, became a school subject of the nineteenth century compulsory schools and how it was related to the notion of nation and nation-building. It argues that physical education became first part of the “modern” philanthropic education and schooling, was soon taken for granted as an essential curricular component of nation-building and lost thereby the political threat.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document