Lost Legacies, or: Cherchez la femme!
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Abstract
In my search for forgotten writers, I was confronted with the concept of a lost legacy from two angles. Firstly, the phenomenon of literary oblivion, omission or erasure from the canon, which is still the reason why women writers, active participants in literary life in their own time, are unknown to the general public, scholars and students. The second meaning of the concept of legacy is the real, material meaning. In my research I have often been hampered by the lack of tangible documents. As if the legacies of women writers were not considered important either by their descendants or by otherwise dedicated librarians and archivists. Thus, a great deal of important research material, manuscripts, notes and correspondence have disappeared.
In the search for the legacies, works and ideas that are still available today, I am trying to revive a literary tradition of women.