Náprstek Museum of Asian, African and American Cultures (PDF)
Time: 16.-17.10.2024
Venue: Praha
Proposals by: 31.07.2024
Like many other activities, travel has for many years remained the domain of men. It was a dangerous, time-consuming and financially demanding activity that was denied to women because it distracted them from their ’natural‘ duties. Leaving aside high-ranking and well-to-do noblewomen, the opportunity to travel did not open up to more women until the 19th century. Even then, however, it did not become a mass affair. To travel as a woman was still to cross not only geographical but also social boundaries.
The purpose of the Women Travellers ? Women on the Road conference is to discuss the phenomenon of women’s travel in the broadest possible context. The contributions can concern both women who are themselves travelers, i.e. female pilgrims, tourists or professional travelers, and women who have embarked on a journey as mere companions of their male counterparts, i.e. without their own travel plans and interests. The common theme of the contributions should be how these women reflected on their travel experience, which was significantly conditioned by gender roles, social status or cultural expectations and differences. Although the focus of the theme is in the 19th and 20th centuries, the contributions are not limited by time or geography. The organisers prefer the following topics:
TRAVEL BIOGRAPHIES
Personalities of women travellers often offer not only attractive biographies, but are also a good source of knowledge on how women travellers were perceived and accepted by the public. What social expectations were placed on them? Did they embody or subvert contemporary constructs of femininity? The biographical contributions will give preference to lesser known representatives of female travel.
Papers analysing historical representations of women travellers in general are also welcome.
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