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| - | ‘Omdat ik iets te zeggen had’<br> | + | Some of the authors presented<br><br> |
| - | Nederlandse schrijfsters uit de 19e eeuw<br><br> | + | |
| + | 1. The early 19th century: commenting each other | ||
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| + | Petronella Moens, who often explicitly addressed women readers, wrote also poems in praise of contemporary women authors. In a poem entitled Aan de vaderlandse vrouwen (To the women of our country; 1819) she described the merits, for instance, of Fenna Mastenbroek: “Uw schrijfpen hecht paarlen aan der vrouwen kroon” (your writing pen is attaching pearls to women’s crown). And in the periodical press she took the defense of 17th-century colleagues, the poets-sisters Anna and Maria Tesselschade Roemersdr. Visscher; she considered they were underestimated in comments written about an edition recently published. | ||
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| + | 2. Links between women authors: an interesting source | ||
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| + | The French novelist George Sand was much read during the second half of the century. One of her readers was Geertruida Kapteyn-Muysken, who copied parts of Sand’s Histoire de ma vie in her copy books. She knew Sand’s works thanks to her friend social worker and writer Helene Mercier, who herself translated Sand and wrote about her. Kapteyn-Muysken’s copy books in which she wrote also about other readings (Louisa Alcott for instance, but also works by men) are kept in the Atria archives. | ||
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| + | 3. Johanna Naber: a woman historian about women authors | ||
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| + | Johanna Naber was one of the first Dutch women historians and women’s historians. She wrote about queens, but also about women authors – books about contemporary foreign writers, such as Swedish Fredrika Bremer, and also about the most famous 18th-century novelists Betje Wolff and Aagje Deken. Naber is proud of these really Dutch writers, and clearly prefers them to their contemporary Belle van Zuylen, who born Dutch, left the country when marrying a Swiss husband. The biography published by Philippe Godet in Neuchâtel made impression in the Netherlands, but was not much appreciated by Naber: she did not approve Belle van Zuylen’s behavior nor her engaging in a correspondence with a married man. | ||
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| + | 4. How to behave, as a woman? | ||
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| + | Women’s behavior is discussed in books by these female authors – although in different ways. Johanna van Woude, following the example provided by French Blanche Soyer (who wrote under the pseudonym of Baronne Staffe), provides a set of rules in her Vormen. Handboek voor Dames (Forms. Hand book for Ladies, 1897). And she illustrates them in novels with particularly telling titles such as Een Hollandsch binnenhuisje (A Dutch household, 1888) and Tom en ik (Tom and I, 1889), where the female characters are nicely corresponding to norms for behavior. But other women authors, when referring to these same norms, use irony in order to show their disagreement: Elise van Calcar considers “women’s duties” to be derived from male egoism and female vanity. | ||
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Revision as of 20:42, 2 April 2016
“Because I had something to say”: Amsterdam
Some of the authors presented
1. The early 19th century: commenting each other
Petronella Moens, who often explicitly addressed women readers, wrote also poems in praise of contemporary women authors. In a poem entitled Aan de vaderlandse vrouwen (To the women of our country; 1819) she described the merits, for instance, of Fenna Mastenbroek: “Uw schrijfpen hecht paarlen aan der vrouwen kroon” (your writing pen is attaching pearls to women’s crown). And in the periodical press she took the defense of 17th-century colleagues, the poets-sisters Anna and Maria Tesselschade Roemersdr. Visscher; she considered they were underestimated in comments written about an edition recently published.
2. Links between women authors: an interesting source
The French novelist George Sand was much read during the second half of the century. One of her readers was Geertruida Kapteyn-Muysken, who copied parts of Sand’s Histoire de ma vie in her copy books. She knew Sand’s works thanks to her friend social worker and writer Helene Mercier, who herself translated Sand and wrote about her. Kapteyn-Muysken’s copy books in which she wrote also about other readings (Louisa Alcott for instance, but also works by men) are kept in the Atria archives.
3. Johanna Naber: a woman historian about women authors
Johanna Naber was one of the first Dutch women historians and women’s historians. She wrote about queens, but also about women authors – books about contemporary foreign writers, such as Swedish Fredrika Bremer, and also about the most famous 18th-century novelists Betje Wolff and Aagje Deken. Naber is proud of these really Dutch writers, and clearly prefers them to their contemporary Belle van Zuylen, who born Dutch, left the country when marrying a Swiss husband. The biography published by Philippe Godet in Neuchâtel made impression in the Netherlands, but was not much appreciated by Naber: she did not approve Belle van Zuylen’s behavior nor her engaging in a correspondence with a married man.
4. How to behave, as a woman?
Women’s behavior is discussed in books by these female authors – although in different ways. Johanna van Woude, following the example provided by French Blanche Soyer (who wrote under the pseudonym of Baronne Staffe), provides a set of rules in her Vormen. Handboek voor Dames (Forms. Hand book for Ladies, 1897). And she illustrates them in novels with particularly telling titles such as Een Hollandsch binnenhuisje (A Dutch household, 1888) and Tom en ik (Tom and I, 1889), where the female characters are nicely corresponding to norms for behavior. But other women authors, when referring to these same norms, use irony in order to show their disagreement: Elise van Calcar considers “women’s duties” to be derived from male egoism and female vanity.
SvD, April 2016
- Conferences and activities > HERA TTT meetings > Exhibition in the Netherlands 2015 > Amsterdam > examples