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This book explores women's editorial and salon activities in Southern Europe and provides a comparative view of their practices. It argues that women in Spain, Italy, Portugal and Greece used their double role as editors and salonnières to engage with foreign cultures, launch the careers of promising young authors and advocate for modernization and social change. By examining a neglected body of periodicals edited between 1860 and 1920, this book sets out to explore women's editorial agendas and their interest in creating a connection between salon life and the print press. What purpose did this connection serve? How did women editors use their periodicals and their salons to create opportunities for cross-cultural exchange? In what ways did women use their double role as editors and salonnières to promote modernization and social progress in Southern Europe? By addressing these questions, this monograph contributes to the recent expansion of scholarship on nineteenth and twentieth-century periodicals and opens new avenues for theoretical reflection on European modernity. It also invites scholars and non-specialist readers to question the center vs. periphery model and to consider Southern European counties as cultural hubs in their own right.
List of contents
Introduction
Chapter 1: Modern Salon Culture and the Emergence of Salon Chronicles in Southern Europe
Chapter 2: Authors, Editors and Salon Organizers: Cross-cultural Exchanges and Transnational Networks
Chapter 3: Women’s Editorial Strategies: Identity Formation and Community Building
Chapter 4: Periodicals and Salons as Spaces of Modernization
Conclusion: Women’s Periodicals and Salon Culture: Beyond Center and Periphery
About the author
Christina Bezari is a post-doctoral researcher and teaching assistant at Ghent University, Belgium. She specializes in Spanish and comparative literature, women’s history and literary translation. She has previously worked on the ERC project "Agents of Change: Women Editors and Socio-Cultural Transformation in Europe" and has co-directed a project on comparative translation studies at Sorbonne University.
Summary
This book explores women’s editorial and salon activities in Southern Europe and provides a comparative view of their practices.
