Conference Proceedings

Epistolary Becomings: Archival Traces and Diffractive Readings, Plenary lecture for the International Methodological Seminar on ‘Heritage of ordinary letters: research goals and methodologies’, Institute of Lithuanian Literature and Folklore’, January 26, 2024, on-line, published in Tautosakos darbai [Folclore Studies] 68, 15-27, 2024, doi.org/10.51554/TD.24.68.02

Abstract:

In this paper, I offer the concept of diffraction as both a methodological approach and an epistemological lens. This dual move has guided my archival research, encompassing various types of archival documents, and has shaped my reading, understanding, and analysis of letters by European women mathematicians, who lived and worked in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. The discussion draws on a Leverhulme-funded research project of writing a feminist genealogy of automathographies, tracing the process of becoming a woman mathematician, philosopher, and scientist. I argue that analogue, digitised, and photographed letters should be regarded as distinct types of archival documents, each positioning the researcher in unique, but entangled ways relative to their sources and data. Furthermore, recognizing the interweaving of personal and scientific elements in the correspondence of women mathematicians is crucial for understanding the formation of the female self in the realms of gender, science, and mathematics.

(2025) An Award Letter Too Late to Receive: Considering Sophie Germain’s Mathematical Correspondence. Jounal of Epistolary Studies, Vol. 4, No.1: 32-49, doi.org/10.51734/6k9mbg08 Proceedings of the Online Symposium entitled 'Epistolary Times: Time in Letters', organized by The Epistolary Research Network (TERN), October 6-7, 2023.

Abstract

In 1816, Sophie Germain became the first woman to win the Grand Prix de Mathématiques, awarded by the Class of Mathematics and Physics of the French Institute for her work on the theory of elastic surfaces. However, due to a failure in communication, she never received the formal invitation with her ceremony tickets and ultimately did not attend. Instead, she received a brief notice at the last moment, advising her that she was welcome to be present. Taking this undelivered letter as a reflection of broader structural barriers, this paper examines the role of mathematical correspondence in both facilitating and limiting women’s participation in scientific networks during the late modern period. By tracing the complexity of Germain’s epistolary exchanges, I argue that her letters remain key documents for reconstructing her intellectual trajectory and understanding the challenges of recognition and institutional inclusion.

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