Research Symposium

BIO

My name is Angelina Dobbs, I'm a sophomore student from Denver, Colorado. My research interests include women's studies and behavioral neuroscience. In the future I would like to become a book editor or conduct neuroscience research.

Culture, Conversations, and Social Networks in 18th- & 19th- Century Italy - Reframing Identity: Isabella Teotochi Albrizzi's Cultural Networks

Abstract

In the 18th century, Enlightenment salonnières popularized the pseudo-literary genre of narrative portraits, descriptions of a known person's outward appearance and character, as guessing games in their salons. While people thought women lacked the breadth of knowledge and talent required for proper biographical writing, these "literary" endeavors, rooted in the developing notions of psychology, were acceptable because women were thought to excel at knowing true character. The celebrated Venetian salonnière, Isabella Teotochi Albrizzi (1770-1836) published four editions of her Ritratti (a book of narrative portraits describing the famous men in her salon), which she dedicated to her son as an educational tool to understand people better. As the editions of her book grew in complexity through the inclusion of a critical essay and the biography of a renowned Italian poetess, Teotochi Albrizzi challenged social and literary gender norms. By the last edition, she had reframed her identity into that of a respected literary critic and published author. She accomplished this with the editing, collaboration, and credibility she received from those in her social networks, which enabled her to demonstrate her own merit. By analyzing the additions and changes in Teotochi Albizzi's work, I trace the function of her educational relationships and show how social networks can become a narrative tool to construct the self.

Keywords: Italian, women, history