Ulrika Pasch's portrait of Hedvig Charlotta Nordenflycht (Wikimedia commons)

Teacher: Matilda Amundsen Bergström

Description:

Swedish Hedvig Charlotta Nordenflycht (1718–1763) was a leading intellectual and poet in mid-18^th-century Stockholm. Together with her coterie Tankebyggarna [the thought builders] she played a crucial role in introducing Enlightenment thought and neoclassicist literary styles in Sweden. One of her most central works in that respect is the long poem Fruentimrets Försvar. Emot J. J. Rousseau, medborgare i Genève [Defence of the Female Sex. Against J. J. Rousseau, citizen of Geneva]. In the poem, Nordenflycht combines a critique of Rousseau’s gender philosophy with an argument for women’s rights that prefigures iconic texts such as Mary Wollstonecraft’s A Vindication of the Rights of Women (1792). Nonetheless, Fruentimrets Försvar has only rarely been read as a piece of political philosophy. More often, it has been described as an angry, and atheoretical, invective against Rousseau. In this seminar, we will read Fruentimrets Försvar as political philosophy presented in poetic form. We will consider and contextualize Nordenflycht’s argument for women’s rights. Aided by Sara Ahmed’s notion of feminist snap we will dwell on themes such as critique, power, genre, marginalization, and voice.

Readings:

Hedvig Charlotta Nordenflycht, Defence of the Female Sex. Against J. J. Rousseau, citizen of Geneva. Lund: Ellerströms, 2016. For those of you who read Swedish, a notated version of the poem is available in Hedvig Charlotta Nordenflycht, Skrifter. Stockholm: Atlantis, 1996.
Elisabeth Mansén, introduction to Nordenflycht in Defence of the Female Sex. Against J. J. Rousseau, citizen of Geneva.
Matilda Amundsen Bergström, “Our Sex’s Rights Have Seen Such Autocratic Treatment: Hedvig Charlotta Nordenflycht on Women’s Rights”, unpublished (uploaded on Canvas).
Sara Ahmed, “Snap! Feminist Moments, Feminist Movements”, available on Ahmed’s blog Feminist Killjoys.