In today's literary world, deeply impacted by gender studies, in which women writers and their works are sometimes highlighted that, were it not for the political sway of these studies, would never have received particular consideration, it is necessary to bring to light those whose work helped to elevate narrative and poetry in the English and French languages.

Argument

In today's literary world, deeply impacted by gender studies, in which women writers and their works are sometimes highlighted that, were it not for the political sway of these studies, would never have received particular consideration, it is necessary to bring to light those whose work helped to elevate narrative and poetry in the English and French languages.

In each of the two countries of influence, England and France, the trends exhibited by women writers would shift towards a specific type of writing, from the outset, possibly due to the inherent natures of each country. Thus, in England, where the opinion was widely held that women were more prone to melancholy than men because they were more delicate and unstable, they were said to suffer crises of hysteria (or "fits of the mother") and "vapours", with these crises purportedly raging amongst upper-class ladies.

In the last decades of the 18th and early 19th centuries several French women authors emerged, mainly in response to political events that immersed men in a world of political turmoil that would lead to a profound shift in the class structure of French society, with women filling the gap they left, not only with regards to novels, but also the theatre, because: why write for the stage if tragedy and drama are seen every day in the streets?

The papers proposed, therefore, may cover the following themes:

• Melancholic poetry written by women in English, 17th-19th centuries
• French novels written by women and melancholy in France: 17th-18th centuries
• Melancholic francophone novels between the Revolution and the Empire (Isabelle de Montolieu, Madame de Souza, Sophie Cottin, Baroness Barbara von Krüdener, Madame de Staël, Mme de Genlis ...)  

How to submit ?

Please send an extended abstract (maximum 1,500 words) by 31 January 2021

to the guest editors Juan de Dios Torralbo Caballero (torralbocaballero@uco.es), and Ángeles García Calderón, University of Córdoba (id1gacaa@uco.es)

Submitted abstracts should be in English. The guest editor will evaluate abstracts and will inform authors of acceptance or rejection by 15 February 2021.

Full papers should be submitted by 30 April 2021.

Authors are kindly invited to register at our paper processing system at: https://www.editorialmanager.com/culture/default.aspx and submit their contribution.

Every manuscript should be clearly marked as intended for this special issue. All papers will go through the Open Cultural Studies’ high standards, quick, fair and comprehensive peer-review procedure. Instructions for authors are available here. In case of any questions, please contact Guest Editor or Managing Editor (katarzyna.grzegorek@degruyter.com).

As an author of Open Cultural Studies you will benefit from:

• transparent, comprehensive and fast peer review managed by our esteemed Guest Editor;
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Guest editor

Open Cultural Studies Special Issue edited by Ángeles García Calderón, and Juan de Dios Torralbo Caballero