NEWW : short presentation
Aim of database creation and data entry
Provide a possibility for "complete" overview of female participation in European literary field before 1900.
Numbers
Women in the literary field of pre-1900 Europe:
2365 names "found" up to now.
Focus on the Netherlands:
766 Dutch "authors".
Sources
see "Sources", left side
Importance of these numbers?
Comparison female/male:
WomenWriters:
198 women active during the 18th century;
DBNL (Digital Library of Dutch Literature):
62 names starting with A, of male authors; 2 of women; not mentioned: 1 (Avinck).
Their "canonical" status?
76 authors mentioned in P.C. Molhuysen and P.J. Blok (eds.), Nieuw Nederlandsch biografisch woordenboek. Leiden, 1911-1937, 10 vols.
113 authors mentioned by K. ter Laan, Letterkundig woordenboek. The Hague, 1941.
126 authors mentioned in Met en zonder lauwerkrans: anthology of Dutch women's writing 1550-1850, published in 1997.
Their authorship?
7 women who wrote for children
14 possible contributors to feminist press
5 women publishing in periodicals
Work in progress....
Their professionalism
Cf. Nathalie Grande, Stratégies de romancières. Paris, 1999:
diversité des parcours au XVIIe siècle
1. Les "occasionnelles", dont Madame de Marcé
2. Les amatrices, dont Madame de Salvan
3. les professionnelles, notamment "La Sapho de ce siècle: Mlle de Scudéry"
A framework to study them
Replacing them in history
Cf. Margaret Cohen,
an example: the case of Miss Boele van Hensbroek
SvD, November 2007 (not finished)