Christina Bezari: “Transnational Modernity in Southern Europe: Women’s Periodicals and Salon Culture (1860–1920)”

Research presentation by Christina Bezari, Ghent University.

Abstract:

Christina Bezari will present her recent book “Transnational Modernity in Southern Europe: Women’s Periodicals and Salon Culture (1860–1920)” (Routledge, 2022). Drawing on a number of  periodicals that appeared between 1860 and 1920 in Spain, Italy,  Portugal and Greece, this book presentation will examine the missing  links between salon life and the printed press and will focus on the collaborations, networks and dialogues that shaped women’s  editorial agendas. How did the connection between the periodical and the  salon come into being? What purpose did it serve? How did women use  their periodicals and salons to create opportunities for transnational dialogue and to foster a sense of cultural belonging? In what ways did women use their double role as editors and salonnières to advocate for better education and greater access to the labor market? In the seminar, Bezari will discuss how her book seeks to answer these questions by proposing an alternative reading of European history that challenges the division between “innovative centers” and “imitative peripheries”.

The seminar is a collaboration between the Department of Literature and Lilae (Network for Literary Studies at the Faculty of Languages).