”Att efterfölja amazonernas exempel”

Abstract

This article presents the previously unknown Swedish text “Fruntimbernas tapperhet” [The bravery of women], which has been preserved in manuscript in the archive of the Gothenburg family Alströmer. This text, which is based on a Latin dissertation from 1716, contains a discussion of around 15 female exemplars who all demonstrate women’s ability to demonstrate the virtue fortitude. This is the first known Swedish-language text that uses female exemplars to construct an argument about women’s bravery. After an introduction wherein we describe the archival source and discuss dating and authorship, we offer a transcription of the full text. Thereafter, we develop an analysis of the text’s most distinguishing features. The text is situated within the context of the early modern querelle des femmes, and we discuss the fact that strikingly and unusually, the author of “Fruntimbernas tapperhet” is primarily preoccupied with martial fortitude and with women who transgress gender norms in various ways.

Keywords

• women exemplars
• fortitude
• la querelle des femmes
• gender transgression
• 18th-century Gothenburg
• martial fortitude