WORKSHOP Women’s Writing and the East-West Connections within Europe: Visualizing the Channels Spiru Haret University, Bucharest 25-28 April 2012

The workshop Women’s Writing and the East-West Connections within Europe: Visualizing the Channels took place on 25-28 April 2012, in Bucharest, at Spiru Haret University, organized by the Central Research Institute. As was announced in the Call for Papers, the workshop aimed at “reflecting on what kind of factors (Increasing travelling possibilities? Need for money? Increasing education? Feminism? Political developments? Growing curiosity?) were at stake when women put themselves to writing, publishing and entering into contact with readers.” On the technological level, the concept of Visualizing covered the terms of “maps, trees, graphs” (cf. Moretti) in showing influences going from West to East and vice versa, making visible proportions and percentages and illustrating influences exerted by a work, an author, a group of authors. Being a member of Group 4 within the COST project, Ramona Mihaila tried to disseminate information concerning the workshop in Bucharest and she sent invitations to Romanian institutions of higher education, to the Romanian Academy, to other foreign institutions and she promoted the event with posters (see poster), flyers, announcements in print media (see www.opinianationala.ro ), a radio clip (H2.FM), a video clip broadcasted on national TV channels (Etalon TV) and the university channel (see http://centralresearchinstitute.weebly.com/evenimente-iccs.html ). The workshop also had media partners, the television channels H2O, Etalon TV that recorded the presentations delivered by the participants and interviewed professor Suzan van Dijk, the director of the COST project, and associate professor Ramona Mihaila, the organizer, (see the interview: http://centralresearchinstitute.weebly.com/evenimente-iccs.html ) The workshop was organized into seven sessions dedicated only to the members of the project, two workshops focused on database tools, and a keynote presentation. The new thing concerning the workshop was the presence of faculty members and students from the Spiru Haret University among the members of the project. There were also guests from other foreign universities around Europe. The workshop was opened by Professor Manuela Epure , Vice Rector on Research, Spiru Haret University and Professor Suzan van Dijk , the director of the COST Project. They gave the floor to Ramona Mihaila who tried in her presentation, (In)Visible European Connecting Channels: Mapping Nineteenth Century Women’s Writings , to find European (in)visible connections by mapping the activities of the 19 th century women writers and taking into account: their birthplace, death place, their studies accomplished abroad, their writing travelogues etc. On the first day, all the participants visited the Castle Mogosoaia (http://www.ghidinfoturism.ro/obiective_turistice/muntenia/judetul_ilfov/mogosoaia/palatul_mo gosoaia/ ) that belonged to Marthe Bibesco, a very important international Romanian-French author. While visiting the museum/castle, Onorina Botezat talked about this fascinating writer’s

life and writing during a speech entitled Martha Bibescu: a Muse of Wisdom and a Sculptor of Words . The keynote lecture, The Romanians in Paris. Romanian-born French Women Authors: Dora d’Istria, Anna de Noailles and Marthe Bibesco , given by Professor Efstratia Oktapoda (Sorbonne University) aimed at offering a French approach to three prominent Romanian writers, Dora d’Istria, Anna de Noailles and Marthe Bibesco, who lived in Paris and wrote in French. The first session, Comparing between East and West , focused on mapping Europe in the nineteenth century by finding connections between writers from Eastern and Western countries of Europe: West European and East European Women Travellers in Istanbul (Nadezhda Alexandrova), The Reception of Female Authors from East and West European Countries in 19th-Century Slovenia (Tanja Badali č and Aleš Vaupoti č) and Mapping Europe: Ida Hahn- Hahn’s travel writing (East and West) (Kerstin Wiedemann and Elisa Müller-Adams ). The second session, “Female” Spaces and Places , due to its three presentations allowed the audience to become familiar with customs and traditions of European cities in the travelogues of women writers: Venice: International Connections as Seen through Elisabetta Caminer Turra’s Europa Letteraria (Marianna D'Ezio ), Between Vienna and Prague: Slovene author Zofka Kveder and Her Cultural Connections (Alenka Jensterle-Doležal ), East and West in Serbian Women’s Writing (Biljana Doj činovi ć). The third session, International “Female” Influences , brought into attention four important 19th century European women writers, George Sand, Fanny Seculici, Dragojla Jarnevi ć, and Sofía Casanova and their influence upon transnational connections: George Sand and the Rottová Sisters (Bohemia ) (Corinne Fournier Kiss ), Fany Seculici Connecting Romania to Europe (Luiza Marinescu ), European Romanticism and Dragojla Jarnevi ć (Ivana Zivancevic- Sekerus ), Sofía Casanova: Transnational Point of a View of a Spanish Woman in Russia (Begoña Regueiro ). The fourth session, International Reception Networks , intended to underline the international dimension of authorship as women writers on export Internationalizing Authorship: the European Circulation of Mme de Villedieu’s and Mlle de La Roche-Guilhem’s Works (Amelia Sanz ), The French Enlightenment Seen from Eastern Europe: Reassessing Mme Leprince de Beaumont’s Impact (Alicia C. Montoya), Swedish Women Writers on Export (Yvonne Leffler and Gunilla Hermannson ) The fifth session, Looking from the Outside , dealt with the dissemination of Eastern European literature in 18th and 19th century through networking texts, tools and researchers’: Giustiniana Wynne: Inventing Eastern Europe in Italy (Nancy Isenberg), Looking from Spain: Emilia Pardo Bazán and the Dissemination of Russian Literature (Henriette Partzsch ), Networking Texts, Tools and Researchers (Madeleine Jeay ). The sixth session, The Influence of Western Ideas , offered perspectives of transferring 19th and early 20th century western notions to Central and Southern European countries through educational practices, ideas, or concepts of feminism: Two Women Transferring Western Educational Practices to the Ottoman Greek System) (Katerina Dalakoura ), Neither East Nor West: Zeyneb Hanoum, An Ottoman Woman without a Home (Senem Timuroglu ), The refusal of Western Ideas Expressed by a Woman (Isidora Sekuli ć) ( Sofija Nemet ), East, West and the Concept of Feminism in Jelena Dimitrijevi ć’s Prose (Magdalena Koch ) The last session, International Figures (19th Century) , pinpointed the transcending boundaries through the works of four important 19th century women writers: Dagny Juel Przybyszewska, Carmen Sylva, Alexandra Papadopoulou, and Mme de Genlis: Dagny Juel Przybyszewska: a Norwegian Woman Transcending Boundaries (Toril Steinfeld ), Queen Elizabeth of Romania (ps. Carmen Sylva): Her Role and Influence (Michaela Mudure ), Alexandra Papadopoulou’s Peregrinations as a Means of Disseminating Ideas (Aspasia Vasiliki ), Mme de Genlis Present all over Europe: The Romanian Case (Ileana Mihaila ), Translating Culture, Translating Gender: Mid-19 th Century Romanian Women’s Translations of French Novels and the Cultural Shift of Modernity (Carmen Du ţu). The panel chaired by Astrid Kulsdom (Database Editorial Board) focused on ways of working in the WomenWriters database: demonstration and discussion and andling the large- scale sources, as used (and to be used) in the database. Gertjan Filarski , developer Huygens ING, chaired a workshop that tried to find ways to visualize project members’ research material into maps and networks. Together with his discussion partners, Henriette Partzsch and Madeleine Jeay , they tried to find methods to face the further away future: research to be planned, connections to be created, proposals to be/being formulated. In the end, Biljana Doj činovi ć introduced the participants to the Knjizenstvo project and Database for Serbian Women’s Literature. At the conference there were participants affiliated to other institutions from Romania or abroad and their presentations covered a span of time starting with the 18 th century and ending with the 20 th : The Ladies’ Relation to Literary Reading and Writing in the Romanian 18th Century (Lia Brad Chisacof) , Sonya Kowalevskaya’s Writing from Russia to Sweden (Ma Li) , Matilda Cugler-Poni and Heinrich Heine: Poetry and Translation (Mihaela Hristea) , The Feminine Images of Bessarabean Press of 1911-1914 (Valentina Enachi ). There were two sessions dedicated to presentations delivered by the faculty members and students from the Spiru Haret University. All of the contributors talked about Romanian women writers and their connections with Europe of 19 th century: Nineteenth Century Romanian Women Translators and Their Contribution to Promoting Romanian Culture in Europe (Ruxandra Vasilescu ), Dora d’Istria and Bucura Dumbrava: Parallel Destinies, Geographic Congruences. Literary and Scientific Contribution to the Development of Connections between East and West (Mihaela Fr ăsineanu, Drago ş Fr ăsineanu, Liliana Guran ), Martha Bibesco and the Virtues of Preserving the Ancestral Past (Sebastian Chirimbu and Adina Barbu- Chirimbu ), Anna de Noailles between La Belle Epoque Femme Fattale and Nietzschenian Philosophy (Carmen Ghinea ), The Feminine Mythology of Early 20th Century in Romania: Queen Marie (Nicoleta Doina Teodorescu ), Alexandrina Cantacuzino and Elena Vacaresco: Two Princesses between East and West (Cristina P ăiu şan-Nuic ă, Teodora Stanciu-St ănescu ), Elena Bacaloglu, between Literature and Politics across Europe Cătălin Radu (Central Research Institute, Spiru Haret University). A small number of faculty members from the Center of Multilinguistic and Interdisciplinary Research, Faculty of Letters, Spiru Haret University, talked about the French influence upon Romanian women writers: Dora D’Istria: le tremplin roumain vers la condition de la femme / de l’intellectuelle modern (Andreea Vladescu) , Traduction et autotraduction dans l’oeuvre de Julie Hasdeu (Tamara Ceban ), L’identité rhizomatique de Dora D’Istria (Mihaela Chapelan ), Isvor ou le Pays des Saules - un retour à la source (Galina Florea ), George Sand: A la recherche de ses ailleurs (Cătălin Simion ) As it concerns the students, with two exceptions, East and West Feminism: Similarities and Differences in Adela Xenopol’s Writing (Ioana Ion) and Crossing Borders: Smara Gheorghiu’s Travelogues (Cristian Valentin Gherghely) , the rest of them delivered their speeches in pairs: The students presented most of them in pairs: Orient Versus Occident: Elena Ghica (Dora d’Istria) and Her Cosmopolitan Views (Vasilica Paun Gheorghe and Florin Andrei) , Crossing Boundaries: Maria Rosetti and Her Militant Writings (Aneta Petrof Turcu and Isabela Br ănescu) , Poetry, Love and Coincidence in Vienna: Veronica Micle and Mihai Eminescu (Laura Dud ău Galan and Marin Codreanu) , Connecting Little Paris of the East (Bucharest) to Paris: Hulia Hasdeu the First Romanian Woman to Study at the Sorbonne (Ileana Du ţă and Andrei Ha ţegan) . The workshop Women’s Writing and the East-West Connections within Europe: Visualizing the Channels had 66 participants from 19 countries around Europe and was preparatory to the conference which will be held in Poznan in November 2012, organized by Magdalena Koch.

Ramona Mihaila Spiru Haret University, Bucharest