Madam Knight on the Road. A Journal from Colonial America
Madam Knight on the Road. A Journal from Colonial America
Author(s): Agata SitkoSubject(s): Gender history, 18th Century, Theory of Literature, American Literature
Published by: Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Jagiellońskiego
Keywords: Journal; Colonial North America; Female writer; Lacan;
Summary/Abstract: The Journal of Madam Knight was written in 1704 by Sarah Kemble Knight. The paper presents the historical background, i.e. the legal and social situation of women in colonial North America and an early history of Boston. The Journal itself is analyzed with a special attention paid to Madam Knight’s attitude to otherness revealed in her writing, and the harsh conditions a female traveler was exposed to. Lacanian notions of the Real and das Ding are employed as tools for the analysis of specific fragments of The Journal, in which she describes her fear of the wilderness. Finally, the lack of expected change in the traveler at the end of her journey is commented on.
Journal: Estetyka i Krytyka
- Issue Year: 65/2022
- Issue No: 2
- Page Range: 65-81
- Page Count: 18
- Language: English