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Sissi and us: new mythologies

Sissi et nous : nouvelles mythologies

Sisi und wir: Neue Mythen

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Published on Wednesday, October 09, 2024

Abstract

In recent years, the fictional character of Sissi has been reimagined from a feminist perspective. This new appreciation of the character of Sissi owes much to gender studies. It also derives from the interpolation of narratives and fictions about other (modern) princesses such as Lady Diana. Fairy tales are now being put into perspective, and the same goes for historical princesses when represented in fiction. Following this “Sissi turn”, the book will adopt a deliberately transversal and interdisciplinary perspective.

Announcement

Call for papers for a book edited by Corinne François-Denève (Université de Bourgogne) and Florence Thérond (Université Paul Valéry Montpellier 3)

Proposal

Following the publication of La Reine Christine et ses fictions (Queen Christina and her fictions), edited by Florence Fix and Corinne François-Denève (Dijon, eud 2022), this project will focus on the figure of Elizabeth, Empress of Austria and Queen of Hungary, nicknamed “Sisi” or “Sissi”.

In recent years, the fictional character of Sissi has been reimagined from a feminist perspective. Films like Corsage (Marie Kreutzer 2022), Sisi and I (Sisi und Ich, Frauke Finsterwalder 2023) and The Empress (Die Kaiserin, Katharina Eyssen and Lena Stahl 2022, a Netflix series) portray the Empress in a new light. Sissi is now seen as a rebellious heroine. These recent representations thus turn away from the traditional narratives of Sissi, who is often depicted as a "tragic" empress, as a "mater dolorosa", as a sacrificial (and sacrificed) figure. Rather than the usual kitsch aesthetics, those films and series also deploy a brand new “pop” style. Recent critical works such as Sissi’s World. The Empress Elisabeth in Memory and Myth (ed. by Maura E. Hametz and Heidi Schlipphacke, Bloomsbury, 2018), explore interesting avenues, such as Sissi’s connection to nostalgia in the collective imagination and (in Susanne Hochreiter’s analysis) the idea of Sissi as a "queer icon".

This new appreciation of the character of Sissi owes much to gender studies. It also derives from the interpolation of narratives and fictions about other (modern) princesses such as Lady Diana. Fairy tales are now being put into perspective, and the same goes for historical princesses when represented in fiction. There has been a growing examination in recent critical discourse of the issue of consent in those royal marriages, Focus has also been drawn on the image of those princesses in a media-driven era: constraints imposed on their bodies might induce bouts of anorexia and bulimia, the use of wigs and hairstyles which can be analyzed as symptoms of the tyranny of image. Liv Strömquist's graphic novel Inne i spegelsalen (In the Palace of Mirrors) is a good example in this respect, as the book occasionally discusses Sissi’s famous thinness. Strömquist draws her inspiration from René Girard’s analysis: in one of his essays, the French writer discussed "mimetic rivalry" (regarding thinness) between Empresses Elisabeth and Eugenie.

Sissi as an historical figure has also been cast in a new light. In 2024, it is no longer possible to see the history of Europe through the same lenses. Sissi’s assassination by an Italian anarchist, her master of languages, the patchwork of nations within the Empire  have to be re-assessed. The figure of Elisabeth of Austria deserves to be studied in the context of recent developments in the field of women’s history. Emil Cioran stated that one could only understand Sissi from a distance, (in Vienna: The Joyful Apocalypse, 1986). A few decades later, what can be said about this necessary distance?

Following this “Sissi turn”, the book will adopt a deliberately transversal and interdisciplinary perspective.

Possible areas of focus include the following:

Sissi as Poet and Photographer

Attention can be given to the literary influences that mark Sissi's writings – including but not limited to sources that have been digitized recently (Project Gutenberg), as well as to her lesserknown activity as a photographer. Additionally, the "self-staging" of Sissi is worth of interest. For Barrès indeed the Empress represented the acme of the "cult of self."

European History (1837-1898)

Sissi’s life encompassed the Crimean War, the Battle of Sadowa and the declining influence of the Austro-Hungarian monarch. A cosmopolitan figure linked by marriage alliances to France and Italy, Sissi is thus at the heart of the major political upheavals of her time. Yet she is often romantically depicted as a rather naïve Bavarian girl falling in love with a charming Emperor, marrying him, and entering the stern Viennese court. In "Sissi or Vulnerability", Emil Cioran makes her the emblematic figure of the joyous apocalypse of the Empire’s decadence. Sissi has been “fixed” in an enduring set of images. She is either part of the “K. und K.” period, or a melancholic figure of the avant-garde, a victim of a cruel fate, as a friend of Richard Wagner and Ludwig II of Bavaria.

The Cartography and Geopolitics of Sissi

Why was Sissi said to be popular in Austria, and so unpopular in Vienna? How is Sissi remembered and represented in Hungary or Italy? Is Sissi perceived as a "German princess" in Europe ? As a cosmopolitan adventurer? Or rather as an Italian or a Hungarian at heart? Comparative proposals that cross geographical, cultural, or linguistic areas are welcome. Locations owned by Sissi, such as Madeira, Corfu, Roquebrune, and Fécamp, can also be considered. The places of memory and heritage, as well as the commodification of Sissi’s figure in the Mediterranean and Austria (for example in the Sissi Museum, open since 2004), may serve as inspiration for reflections in cultural history and practices.

Remembering Sissi

This section will focus on efforts to memorialize Sissi, in museums, archives, or even in fan groups on social media. The place is considered here as a geographical or fictional location. The character of Sissi has given rise to serial memory through films or collections of books about her. Contributions that attempt to situate these collections in time and space would be welcome.      One can also attempt to trace Sissi’s influence in areas such as fashion (for example, in connection with Karl Lagerfeld), pop music (Petra Berger, for example, composed 'If I Had a Wish' about Sissi https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O4hCBVeb2qg) or video (see the 'clip about Sissi' created using Indila’s “Tourner dans le vide'” (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O__z2hLVGeM).

Sissi as a Character

What types of narratives does Sissi appear in, in writing and on screen? Fairy tales and tragedies figure prominently, but are not the full story. The accidental deaths, suicides, and assassinations that befall her family align her with the melodrama genre: The Fate of the Habsburgs (silent film, 1928) paved the way for multiple variations around Mayerling, Ludwig II, the supposed hostility of her mother-in-law, and so on. The established tropes surrounding the “Empress of Hearts”,  the forces of destiny, solitude, and rebellion need to be re-examined, in terms of their links with poetics (the 'Sissi style,' kitsch, pastels), as well as studies of pictorial representations, TV series (see Sisi, 3 seasons, 2021) or animated films. The volume also seeks to examine the “Sissi actresses”: ' Romy Schneider played this character several times, to the point that she seemed to merge with her, as she also had to deal with the death of a son, and premature death.

Political Reappropriations and Representations of a 'Feminine Destiny'

Sissi can be seen as a dutiful mother, as a woman plagued by anorexia, as a queer icon, as a proto-feminist rebel, or as the perfect product of the last generation of decadent aristocrats… Her many avatars seem to reflect the long history of European womanhood. Actresses who portrayed Sissi are also of interest : Romy Schneider is a lover and a mother in  Marischka’s films of the 1950s-60s; Ava Gardner is an ageing sovereign opposite the young couple played by Omar Sharif and Catherine Deneuve in Mayerling in 1968. In the recent Sisi and I, she is portrayed by Susanne Wolff who plays an independent and queer rebel. All these images and incarnations deserve further analysis. Contributions focusing on Sissi as a 19th-century influencer (promoting smoking, gymnastics, thinness), on Sissi as a figure hostile to imperial etiquette, or on Sissi the “Hungarian” can also be compared with other figures of their time or with a similar treatment by posterity. Is Sissi left-wing or right-wing? Is she avant-garde or the last remain of an imperial regime doomed to collapse? More broadly, the volume seeks to reflect on the persistence of Sissi’s memory when other princesses (Lady Di, Kate) are written about.

Submission guidelines

Proposals of about 300 words are expected to the following adresses:

  • corinne.francois@ubourgogne.fr
  • florence.vinas@univ-montp3.fr.

by January 31st, 2025. 

Responses will be given by February 28th 2025, with a final article submission in September 2025, and a publication in summer 2026.

Editors: Corinne François-Denève (University of Burgundy), Florence Thérond (Paul Valéry Montpellier 3 University).

Double-blind evaluation. 

Languages: French, English, German.


Date(s)

  • Friday, January 31, 2025

Keywords

  • Sissi, impératrice, pouvoir, genre, Autriche

Contact(s)

  • Corinne Francois-Deneve
    courriel : corinne [dot] francois [at] u-bourgogne [dot] fr

Information source

  • Corinne Francois-Deneve
    courriel : corinne [dot] francois [at] u-bourgogne [dot] fr

License

CC0-1.0 This announcement is licensed under the terms of Creative Commons CC0 1.0 Universal.

To cite this announcement

« Sissi and us: new mythologies », Call for papers, Calenda, Published on Wednesday, October 09, 2024, https://doi.org/10.58079/12fz9

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