Enlightenment in Several Genres: The Enlightenment Practice of Charlotta Dorothea Biehl

Workshop with Anne-Marie Mai, University of Southern Denmark.

Charlotta Dorothea Biehl (1731-1788) occupies a distinctive, though long underappreciated, position within Nordic Enlightenment culture. She was one of the most productive female authors in eighteenth‑century Denmark, active as a playwright, translator, letter‑writer, and moral storyteller. Contemporary and later sources emphasize her self‑directed learning, linguistic abilities, and close connections to scholarly circles and the court, circumstances that made her an unusually prominent female intellectual in the Nordic Enlightenment.

The lecture describes the different aspects of Biehl's authorship.

Bio

PhD. Anne-Marie Mai is Professor at the Department for the Study of Culture at SDU. In her research, she has especially focused on the history of Danish Literature, contemporary Nordic literature, the history of Nordic Women´s literature and the history of Scandinavian Enlightenment, literary historiography, narrative medicin, and human health.

Registration

External attendees are welcome, but they need to pre-register by providing their full name and affiliation via email to inspire@hum.ku.dk.