From folklore to footnote : framing the past in Anglo-Scottish and Anglo-Irish women’s writing (1780-1830)
(2025)
- Author
- Zoë Van Cauwenberg (UGent)
- Promoter
- Tom Toremans and Steven Vanden Broecke (UGent)
- Organization
- Project
- Abstract
- This dissertation sheds light on the role of women in shaping the histories of Scotland and Ireland during the Romantic period (c. 1780–1830). Taking a comparative approach to women’s writing in English, it examines how female authors actively collected, compiled, translated, and published folklore, oral traditions, and historical records. In doing so, it explores the intersection of national, cultural, and gendered dimensions in lesser-known publications by Scottish and Irish women. Furthermore, it considers how the distinct historical trajectories of these nations, as well as the political and socio-economic unification of the British Isles, influenced their depictions of the past. Given the challenges posed by a fragmented and incomplete archival record, this dissertation adopts an innovative reading method that foregrounds paratextual elements to gain insight into women’s authorial and intellectual ambitions as they are represented in their works. By situating their publications within eighteenth-century debates on historical progress and the recovery of early Scottish and Irish histories, this research challenges assumptions about feminine modes of history writing and the exclusion of women from political and historical debates. Through a series of close readings, it highlights the diversity of women’s engagement with the past and demonstrates the multiple and complex ways in which they made history meaningful and intelligible in their own time. Ultimately, by shifting the focus to how these authors framed, curated, and stylised the past, this study reveals their significant contributions to antiquarian research and their role in preserving and shaping national history in the Romantic period.
- Dit proefschrift werpt nieuw licht op de rol van vrouwen bij het vormgeven van het Schotse en Ierse verleden tijdens de Romantiek (ca. 1780–1830). Aan de hand van een vergelijkende studie van Engelstalige publicaties onderzoekt deze studie hoe vrouwelijke auteurs actief betrokken waren bij het verzamelen, samenstellen, vertalen en publiceren van folklore, orale tradities en historische documenten. Daarbij richt het onderzoek zich op de kruising van nationale, culturele en genderdimensies in minder bekende publicaties van Schotse en Ierse auteurs. Het analyseert hoe de uiteenlopende historische ontwikkelingen van deze naties—tezamen met de politieke en sociaaleconomische eenwording van de Britse eilanden—hun representaties van het verleden beïnvloedden. Gezien de uitdagingen die een gefragmenteerd en onvolledig archiefbestand met zich meebrengt, introduceert dit proefschrift een innovatieve leesmethode die paratekstuele elementen centraal stelt. Door voorwoorden, annotaties en andere randteksten nauwkeurig te analyseren, biedt het onderzoek nieuwe inzichten in de intellectuele ambities van deze vrouwelijke schrijvers. Hiermee toont het onderzoek niet alleen aan hoe zij hun eigen positie als auteurs en intellectuelen vormgaven, maar daagt het ook bestaande opvattingen over geschiedschrijving en de rol van vrouwen daarin uit door hun werken te situeren binnen achttiende-eeuwse debatten over historische vooruitgang en de interesse in vroege Schotse en Ierse geschiedenissen. Door middel van gedetailleerde tekstanalyses belicht deze studie de verscheidene manieren waarop vrouwen het verleden gebruikten in hun werken en laat het zien hoe zij geschiedenis betekenisvol en toegankelijk maakten voor hun tijdgenoten. Uiteindelijk onthult dit onderzoek hoe vrouwelijke auteurs het verleden kaderen, cureren en stileren en zo niet alleen bijdroegen aan antiquarisch onderzoek, maar ook hoe zij een centrale rol speelden in het bewaren en vormgeven van de nationale geschiedenissen van Schotland en Ierland tijdens de Romantiek.
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Citation
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication: http://hdl.handle.net/1854/LU-01JRANAGYHKSSTN87PA259F39Y
- MLA
- Van Cauwenberg, Zoë. From Folklore to Footnote : Framing the Past in Anglo-Scottish and Anglo-Irish Women’s Writing (1780-1830). Catholic University Leuven. Faculty of Arts ; Ghent University. Faculty of Arts and Philosophy, 2025.
- APA
- Van Cauwenberg, Z. (2025). From folklore to footnote : framing the past in Anglo-Scottish and Anglo-Irish women’s writing (1780-1830). Catholic University Leuven. Faculty of Arts ; Ghent University. Faculty of Arts and Philosophy, Leuven, Belgium ; Ghent, Belgium.
- Chicago author-date
- Van Cauwenberg, Zoë. 2025. “From Folklore to Footnote : Framing the Past in Anglo-Scottish and Anglo-Irish Women’s Writing (1780-1830).” Leuven, Belgium ; Ghent, Belgium: Catholic University Leuven. Faculty of Arts ; Ghent University. Faculty of Arts and Philosophy.
- Chicago author-date (all authors)
- Van Cauwenberg, Zoë. 2025. “From Folklore to Footnote : Framing the Past in Anglo-Scottish and Anglo-Irish Women’s Writing (1780-1830).” Leuven, Belgium ; Ghent, Belgium: Catholic University Leuven. Faculty of Arts ; Ghent University. Faculty of Arts and Philosophy.
- Vancouver
- 1.Van Cauwenberg Z. From folklore to footnote : framing the past in Anglo-Scottish and Anglo-Irish women’s writing (1780-1830). [Leuven, Belgium ; Ghent, Belgium]: Catholic University Leuven. Faculty of Arts ; Ghent University. Faculty of Arts and Philosophy; 2025.
- IEEE
- [1]Z. Van Cauwenberg, “From folklore to footnote : framing the past in Anglo-Scottish and Anglo-Irish women’s writing (1780-1830),” Catholic University Leuven. Faculty of Arts ; Ghent University. Faculty of Arts and Philosophy, Leuven, Belgium ; Ghent, Belgium, 2025.
@phdthesis{01JRANAGYHKSSTN87PA259F39Y,
abstract = {{This dissertation sheds light on the role of women in shaping the histories of Scotland and Ireland during the Romantic period (c. 1780–1830). Taking a comparative approach to women’s writing in English, it examines how female authors actively collected, compiled, translated, and published folklore, oral traditions, and historical records. In doing so, it explores the intersection of national, cultural, and gendered dimensions in lesser-known publications by Scottish and Irish women. Furthermore, it considers how the distinct historical trajectories of these nations, as well as the political and socio-economic unification of the British Isles, influenced their depictions of the past. Given the challenges posed by a fragmented and incomplete archival record, this dissertation adopts an innovative reading method that foregrounds paratextual elements to gain insight into women’s authorial and intellectual ambitions as they are represented in their works. By situating their publications within eighteenth-century debates on historical progress and the recovery of early Scottish and Irish histories, this research challenges assumptions about feminine modes of history writing and the exclusion of women from political and historical debates. Through a series of close readings, it highlights the diversity of women’s engagement with the past and demonstrates the multiple and complex ways in which they made history meaningful and intelligible in their own time. Ultimately, by shifting the focus to how these authors framed, curated, and stylised the past, this study reveals their significant contributions to antiquarian research and their role in preserving and shaping national history in the Romantic period.}},
author = {{Van Cauwenberg, Zoë}},
language = {{eng}},
pages = {{XVIII, 247}},
publisher = {{Catholic University Leuven. Faculty of Arts ; Ghent University. Faculty of Arts and Philosophy}},
school = {{Ghent University}},
title = {{From folklore to footnote : framing the past in Anglo-Scottish and Anglo-Irish women’s writing (1780-1830)}},
year = {{2025}},
}