With and Against Napoleon, 1812

March 22, 2022 1:55 PM

Ida Saint-Elme, Memoirs of a Contemporary, chapter 12: "The famous Russian expedition was about to begin. If what I have already written about my adventurous career has not shown what a daring spirit I had, it should be enough to say that I unhesitatingly made up my mind to chance the perils of the campaign of 1812" [n.b.: a loose, abridged translation of chs. 113-114 in the 8 vol. original; short 2020 bio in Dutch clearing up a few embellishments; her later life as publisher of a satirical magazine]. A brief excerpt from the memoir of Alexander Alexandrov relates connected events from the opposing side, and Ruth Wurl's 2021 talk "The (Un)making of a Man" recontextualizes that memoir in terms of Alexandrov's "own words, thoughts, feelings, and intentions" while leaving open the continuing and careful theorization of trans historiography.
posted by Wobbuffet (4 comments total)

I just want to say I appreciate your posts, Wobbuffet, and always take a look at the content even if I don't have anything meaningful to say. This one sounds especially interesting.
posted by BlackLeotardFront at 4:18 PM on March 22, 2022 [4 favorites]

Woble was I ere I saw elbow.
posted by y2karl at 1:36 AM on March 23, 2022 [1 favorite]

Jo Graham has a series of so far three novels about Ida, starting with The Marshall's Lover. Alas, she didn't get as far as 1812 in published books, but Ida is a fascinating many-named figure.
posted by I claim sanctuary at 2:08 AM on March 23, 2022 [2 favorites]

This is fantastic! Thanks so much Wobbuffet!
posted by vacapinta at 4:02 AM on March 23, 2022 [1 favorite]