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Of Gaps and Gossip : Intimacy in the Archive

Title data

Horn, Katrin:
Of Gaps and Gossip : Intimacy in the Archive.
In: Anglia : Zeitschrift für englische Philologie. Vol. 138 (2020) Issue 3 . - pp. 428-448.
ISSN 0340-5222
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/ang-2020-0037

Official URL: Volltext

Project information

Project title:
Project's official title
Project's id
Ökonomie und Epistemologie von Tratsch in US-amerikanischer Literatur und Kultur des 19. und frühen 20. Jahrhunderts
401052633

Project financing: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft

Abstract in another language

Arguing for gossip’s relevance in the archive, this article examines the surviving private material relating to Charlotte Cushman (1816–1876). Cushman was the most celebrated American actress of the nineteenth century yet spent most of her life in an expatriate community in Rome, where she shared her home with other female artists. Analysing letters, diaries, and related forms of life writing by Cushman herself as well as by friends and family, this article pursues two goals: First, it accounts for how a fear of gossip (by Cushman and her family) might have shaped the gaps in the collection concerning Cushman’s sexual and
romantic relationships. Second, it makes the case for the archival traces of gossip as evidence in writing the story of Cushman’s intimate life. The article thus reflects
on the role of gossip and privacy in “intimate archives” (Dever et al. 2010) and contemplates their relevance to Cushman as an insightful case study of LGBTQ history. Overall, this article advocates turning to the archive with a renewed fervour for evidence of intimacy as well as for turning to intimacy for evidence.

Further data

Item Type: Article in a journal
Refereed: No
Institutions of the University: Faculties > Faculty of Languages and Literature > Chair American Studies/ Anglophone Literatures and Cultures > Chair American Studies/ Anglophone Literatures and Cultures - Univ.-Prof. Dr. Sylvia Mayer
Faculties
Faculties > Faculty of Languages and Literature
Faculties > Faculty of Languages and Literature > Chair American Studies/ Anglophone Literatures and Cultures
Result of work at the UBT: Yes
DDC Subjects: 800 Literature > 810 American literature in English
900 History and geography > 970 History of North America
Date Deposited: 28 Sep 2020 07:29
Last Modified: 26 Oct 2022 06:18
URI: https://eref.uni-bayreuth.de/id/eprint/57440