The German Section in the Department of Languages and Literatures

presents

Transnationalism, Gender, and Inequality in 19th-Century Adultery Novels”

by

Dr. John B. Lyon - University of Pittsburgh

In nineteenth-century adultery novels, interpersonal relationships reflect national and transnational concerns. Pursuing an extraneous relationship while married is analogous to establishing a transnational relationship. As such, adultery novels reflect the transnational aspirations of emerging nations during this era. Yet this analogy is not only aspirational, for transnationalism also depends on the darker side of adultery with its inherent gender inequalities and troubled power relationships.

The paper discusses two nineteenth-century adultery novels – Gustave Flaubert’s Madame Bovary and Theodor Fontane’s Effi Briest, to argue that the transnational European aspirations prefigured in these novels were inseparable from their darker counterparts.

Friday, March 6, 3:00 pm, BAC 132

All are welcome!

Refreshments will be provided