Γυναίκα, ανάγνωση και μυθιστόρημα. Αναγνώστριες και αναγνώσεις του έργου της Γ. Σάνδη στην Ελλάδα του XIX αιώνα

Abstract

Please note: This article is in Greek. The different image that the woman of letters has at times held in society can also be detected in the literary works of every age, where the educated heroine — a reader of literary works, particularly fiction — is sometimes reviled, frowned upon and presented with an ironic disposition, and at other times — more rarely and mainly in works with an educational dimension — is presented in a positive light, with the aim of being presented as an example. From the 17th to the 19th century, woman writers (Mlle Lheritier, Mme d’Aulnoy, Mlle de Scudery, Mme de Genlis, Germaine de Staël, etc) attempted to replace the negative image of lettered women through their works. Women authors, whilst escaping the role that society has confined them to, have to face a two-fold problem: to confirm their right to write, and to persuade their detractors that they can write without sacrificing any of their femininity. The work of George Sand expresses the desire for a change in mentality as deserved by women readers and creators. The engagement of Sand’s work in Greece reveals several negative aspects: on one hand, the discussion frequently focuses on the gender identity of her writing since critical and ideological thought attribute a degrading position to women writers in the world of literature. On the other hand, it appears that the work of Sand is not excluded from the climate of the age which considers the consequences of reading fiction to be morally and ethnically harmful.