The Look of Patronage: Material Features of Profitable Authorship in Seventeenth-Century Dutch Women's Writing

Description

This paper examines women’s textual and material self-representation as authors of literary works within patronage contexts. Women’s writing has traditionally been regarded as elegant pastime with a primarily social purpose. I will investigate the textual and material aspects of works that were published for profit. Since the rhetoric of modesty is dominant in textual self-representations by seventeenth-century women, I argue that material features, such as layout and (the use of) illustrations, offer crucial insight into the commercial functions of women’s writing. Looking specifically at the publications of the commercially-oriented Maria Margaretha van Akerlaecken and Elisabeth Hoofman, I will present my findings in the context of a larger research project about the Dutch commercial literary landscape.

Period	31 Mar 2017
Event title	Renaissance Society of America: Annual Meeting
Event type	Conference
Location	Chicago, United StatesShow on map
Degree of Recognition	International