Book Discussion: The Politics of Love: Gender and Nation in Nineteenth-Century Poland, by Natalie Cornett

Session Submission Type: Book Discussion Roundtable

Brief Description

The Politics of Love contributes to the fields of modern eastern European history; nationalism studies; and the study of women, gender, and sexuality. The book focuses on a group of educated women known as the "Enthusiasts," who were united by their commitment to live as independent women despite the intense nationalism that put the nation above all, including class and gender. The Enthusiasts emphasized sororal love and homosocial bonding in their program to contest both an oppressive imperial regime and constrictive gender roles. Their affective relationships with each other, as well as the decision to remain unmarried, childless, or divorced, violated accepted conventions and, especially, the patriotic emphasis on the Polish family. While there are many scholarly works on Polish nationalism and the independence movement, this book considers these in relation to the women's question and problematizes the relationship between the Polish women’s movement and the national movement. It also sheds light on the under-researched field of eastern European LGBTQ+ history. The roundtable will highlight the importance of this book to a comparative European history, including both East and West, that challenges national narratives that have either ignored or appropriated women’s political involvement, as well as the avenues it offers to further research on the history of affect and emotion in the region.

Sub Unit

• History: 1800-1900

Chair

• James Krapfl, McGill U (Canada)

Roundtable Speakers

• Jadwiga Biskupska, Sam Houston State U

• Patrice M. Dabrowski, Harvard U

• Sharon A. Kowalsky, East Texas A&M U

• Nathaniel D. Wood, U of Kansas