True Women in the European Theatrical Landscape – Gender and Nationality in Transnational Circulation and Reception

The project examines how gender and nationality shaped the transnational circulation of Swedish drama in European theatre between 1883 and 1920, through a case study of Anne Charlotte Leffler’s play True Women (Sanna kvinnor, 1883). The play was one of the most successful among the large body of Swedish marriage-critical drama written by women during the 1880s. Factors facilitating and inhibiting its circulation are investigated by mapping and analysing how key intermediaries interpreted and used the play within different interpretive communities. Particular attention is paid to these communities’ ideas about gender and nation. The study contributes new knowledge about the conditions governing the circulation of Scandinavian drama during an expansive period in European theatre history. It complements studies of the circulation and reception of Strindberg’s and Ibsen’s drama by introducing a new perspective. By tracing the journey of True Women through diverse reception contexts across national borders, the project provides a cross-section of the European theatrical landscape from an intersectional perspective. The project is funded by Riksbankens Jubileumsfond.