Historiadoras negadas: escritura femenina de historia en el largo siglo XVIII

Abstract

La invisibilidad de la mujer en la historia en tanto que protagonista y autora fue denunciada por un buen número de autoras durante el largo siglo XVIII (1670-1815), autoras que participaron en la escritura de obras de historia tanto en Francia como en Inglaterra. Las especiales características de sus obras junto con la consideración posterior de las mismas hace de ellas unas “historiadoras negadas” al no haber sido incluidas sus obras dentro del género historiográfico, sino en géneros literarios o géneros menores y al haber sido menospreciadas en tanto que historiadoras por cuestiones relacionadas con las parcelas más íntimas de sus vidas. En esta tesis se analizan las principales características de las producciones historiográficas de seis autoras procedentes del largo siglo XVIII en el ámbito inglés (Lucy Hutchinson, Ann Fanshawe y Margaret Cavendish, duquesa de Newcastle) y del área francófona (Marie-Jeanne Roland, Mary Wollstonecraft y Germaine de Staël) prestando especial atención a las concepciones que tenían sobre la historia y la labor del historiador, la selección, crítica y tratamiento que hacen de las fuentes, la forma en que construyen el discurso histórico, las especiales características del mismo en función del género y, por último, la trascendencia y acogida de sus obras posteriormente y los motivos por los cuales se negó la inserción de las mismas dentro de la República de las Letras...For a long time, historical research silenced and neglected women’s participation in historical events and their claims and complaints were ignored. In the same way, women’s writings were also neglected and they were hardly ever included in national literary traditions. Women’s historical writings experienced a very similar situation. All of the authors examined in this PhD dissertation, like many others across Europe and throughout the years, had denounced the invisibility of women in history, which limited them to secondary roles. As a result, the only cases of influential women were queens and regents. However, women’s participation in society and their contribution to the Republic of Letters was real and it allowed women to enter many circles that had been ejected to them up until then. Moreover, a new model of sociability for women was also fostered in salons. On top of that, female writings especially flared up during periods of political turmoil due to the vague conception of public and private spheres, the disappearance of prejudices and the necessity of increasing women’s participation in society. With these premises in mind, I tried to locate and analyze works of history written by women during the 17th and 18th centuries, commonly known in British historiography as the ‘Long Eighteenth Century’ (1660-1815). This period was marked by two momentous events in European history: the English Civil Wars and the French Revolution. During the Long Eighteenth Century, women writers were discredited by the public opinion due to their private lives, their habits and their sexual behavior, which contributed considerably to ruining their intellectual and literary status. As a result, scholars forgot about them and their most important works were neglected, even though these women had been prominent figures on the literary scene of their time. This attitude was particularly relevant in the case of women writing history...