Other encounters: European writers and gender in transnational context

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The nationalist projects of the long nineteenth century in Europe aimed to define national identity through concepts of national character and difference. Scholarship reveals that national identity is inherently gendered, evident in the public-private sphere division, the exclusion of women from nation-building, and the gendered politics of culture. Many 19th-century European writers, both male and female, sought to challenge the gendering of their cultural and political nationalisms. This period also saw new transnational encounters due to urbanization, mass migration, imperialism, industrialization, and leisure travel. A collection of essays examines how these transnational encounters influenced or contested the gendered paradigms of nationalism from the late-eighteenth century to the pre-WWI era. Some essays engage in debates about gender in a transnational context, using national differences in gender roles to clarify their own national virtues. Other contributors focus on travel writing by both women and men, showcasing how these narratives provide opportunities to enact, critique, and transcend the gendered contexts of their national settings. This exploration highlights the complex interplay between nationalism and gender during a transformative period in European history.