In her article “Performing Genres: Sarah Edmonds’ Nurse and Spy and the Case of the Cross-Dressed Text”, Jane E. Schultz discusses the interconnection between the form and the content of Sarah Edmonds’s book Soldier, Nurse and Spy (1864). She begins with the general information about the text and proceeds to the phenomenon/issue of cross-dressing as the main distinction/characteristic of the given story.
According to Schultz, Edmonds’s book is one of the first stories of cross-dressed women during the American Civil War (73): it was published in 1864, during the War, and was sold in the quantity over 175,000 copies. The idea of cross-dressed women in American literature seems to be yet older; Edmonds book has such fictional antecedents as The …show more content…
In the light of the fact that Edmonds’s story is a story of successful cross-dressing, Schultz explains/remarks/mentions that, during the Civil War, the medical examination for enlisting soldiers did not require undressing oneself, which, theoretically, made cross-dressing possible for women (74). In addition, Edmonds had already an experience of cross-dressing before the War started (74). Further, Schultz claims that the fact of cross-dressing concerns not only the main character, but also the story itself, which means that the story does not belong to some distinct genre, but combines the traits of the nursing narrative and historical narrative, transgressing the norms of both genres and forming/making some kind of a generic hybrid …show more content…
In this respect, Schultz introduces the theory of performativity of gender by Judith Butler’s: according to it, gender identity is instable and is learnt by each individual through observation of other members of the society (79–80). Accordingly, the success of all 11 of Edmonds’s disguises can be seen as the proof of the theory: the main character is able to perform the role of a man, because this role has particular prescriptions that are to be followed in order to be a man. According to Schulz, the war was an opportunity to experiment with or even reform the social order (80), because “during wars, … social identity is more fluid” (88). Certainly, it was appealing to women from all classes (80–81): cross-dressing seemed a way of assuming more powerful male roles and to escape from the prescriptions of femininity (81, 88). Schultz claims that Edmonds’s book provided the reading audience with a chance to experience the crossing of gender boarders without a penalty (80). Schultz mentions that the fact that the book belongs to the nursing narrative confers/lends it the air of respectability; moreover, it extends it also to the main character by moral ascribing character to all her actions
According to Schultz, Edmonds’s book is one of the first stories of cross-dressed women during the American Civil War (73): it was published in 1864, during the War, and was sold in the quantity over 175,000 copies. The idea of cross-dressed women in American literature seems to be yet older; Edmonds book has such fictional antecedents as The …show more content…
In the light of the fact that Edmonds’s story is a story of successful cross-dressing, Schultz explains/remarks/mentions that, during the Civil War, the medical examination for enlisting soldiers did not require undressing oneself, which, theoretically, made cross-dressing possible for women (74). In addition, Edmonds had already an experience of cross-dressing before the War started (74). Further, Schultz claims that the fact of cross-dressing concerns not only the main character, but also the story itself, which means that the story does not belong to some distinct genre, but combines the traits of the nursing narrative and historical narrative, transgressing the norms of both genres and forming/making some kind of a generic hybrid …show more content…
In this respect, Schultz introduces the theory of performativity of gender by Judith Butler’s: according to it, gender identity is instable and is learnt by each individual through observation of other members of the society (79–80). Accordingly, the success of all 11 of Edmonds’s disguises can be seen as the proof of the theory: the main character is able to perform the role of a man, because this role has particular prescriptions that are to be followed in order to be a man. According to Schulz, the war was an opportunity to experiment with or even reform the social order (80), because “during wars, … social identity is more fluid” (88). Certainly, it was appealing to women from all classes (80–81): cross-dressing seemed a way of assuming more powerful male roles and to escape from the prescriptions of femininity (81, 88). Schultz claims that Edmonds’s book provided the reading audience with a chance to experience the crossing of gender boarders without a penalty (80). Schultz mentions that the fact that the book belongs to the nursing narrative confers/lends it the air of respectability; moreover, it extends it also to the main character by moral ascribing character to all her actions