Извлечено от обичайното: историята на Мадлен Смит
Out of the Ordinary: The Story of Madeleine Smith

Summary/Abstract: This article examines the case of Madeleine Smith, a young middle-class woman who was tried for the murder of her secret lover in 1857. The 250 or so letters which Madeleine wrote to her lover, Pierre-Emile L’Angelier provide us with a window into the day-to-day life of a young bourgeois woman as well as well as revealing the intimate details of her relationship with L’Angelier. The letters offer tantalising glimpses into the interplay between the invisible structures within which lived experience is articulated and how the individual responds to events and experiences. They demonstrate the ways in which dominant discourses shape subjectivity and the cultural forms through which individuals compose their identities and construct their narratives. The article concludes that whilst microhistory can draw on diverse methodologies and theoretical perspectives, including poststructuralism, its unifying theme is the exploration of the scope of agency and choice within the web of intersubjectivity and the matrix of competing discourses in which individuals are enmeshed.

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