Elena Serrano will participate as keynote speaker
Elena Serrano will participate as a keynote speaker at the Conference “Ciencia e ilustración en la España de Feijoo” organised by the University of Oviedo and with the collaboration of the Instituto Feijoo de Estudios del Siglo XVIII. The conference will take place 4 and 5 May 2022 (15.30 to 18:45) online. Her talk, entitled “Género y circulación de conocimiento: escribiendo con sedas de colores en los cuadernos de las sociedades patrióticas” will take place 5 May at 15.30.
Summary of her talk:
During the second half of the 18th century, an explosion of societies and publications aimed at creating and disseminating “useful knowledge” took place in Europe and the Americas. The first ones, known as patriotic, economic or friends of the country societies, only admitted women in exceptional cases. However, through the case of María de Betancourt (1758-1824) in Tenerife, this talk analyses how women actively participated in these patriotic societies from the margins by sending objects that demonstrate their technological innovations, such as, for example, ribbons, velvets, and silk samples dyed with different methods. The talk also illustrates how women and their families negotiate gender conventions so as not to trespass on assumed female modesty, and how women’s contributions in turn serve male relatives to gain public visibility and shore up their position in enlightened circles.