Gender Ideology as Reflected in the Dictionary of National Biography and its Cultural Background

2015 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 25770106
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Young Scientists (B)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Research Field: Literature in English
• Research Institution: Kochi University
• Principal Investigator: Hasegawa Masayo 高知大学, 教育研究部人文社会科学系教育学部門, 講師 (30423867)
• Project Period (FY): 2013-04-01 – 2016-03-31
• Keywords: DNB / ヴィクトリア朝 / ジェンダー / レディ・トラヴェラー / 女流作家

Outline of Final Research Achievements

This research aimed to reveal the gender characteristics of the Dictionary of National Biography (DNB) by analysing individual articles. The research mainly analysed articles written about lady travellers of the 19th century and women of letters of the 18th and 19th centuries. This analysis demonstrated that the DNB espoused the view that women should be angels of the house, and saw their proper realm as exclusively the domestic sphere. The DNB went so far as to ignore its own editorial policies in order to endorse these notions. This research therefore concluded that the DNB was deeply steeped in contemporary Victorian gender ideology.

Free Research Field

英文学