Continuities and change in the history of European women's letter-writing

This project will explore European women's letters and letter-writing from the 12th century to the 20th, focusing on the changing ways in which women thought about and used letters. It will examine the diffusion of letter-writing among different social groups and the changing patterns in their epistolary practices, paying particular attention to the economic and social constraints that women faced, including their access to literacy and to the technologies of correspondence. It will explore the ways in which women used letters both as forms of communication and self-representation and as a way to insert themselves into contemporary public debate.