Corinne - kvinnornas grundläggande modernitetsmyt

Abstract

Mme de Staél's classical novel Corinne, or Italy (1807) was a most influencial text during the whole 19th century, not least among female writers. In this article, Toril Moi discusses why Corinne is still vital. Departingfrom the contemporary Goethe and his Faust, a text dealing solely with male modernity, and from Hegel's view on women's part in society, Moi states that Corinne can be seen as the prototypical text concerning female modernity. By making Corinne someone who doesn't hesitate to participate in the public sphere, Mme de Stael displays a woman who wants to be acknowledged as a conscious subject, a human being.Thus, Moi argues from a philosophical and historical perspective, Corinne tries to solve a dilemma that characterizes political modernity for women - the conflict between humanity and femininity. The novel is about the almost impossible task to find a voice of one's own in a new world. And it deals with the feminist project of creating a society where women participate fully as individuals, citizens and human beings - without thus losing their femininity. This process is still not over, not even in the most (post) modern Western societies, Moi states. This is why Corinne is still important.