Längtan efter södern. Om bilden av Italien i brevväxlingen mellan Ellen Key och Hilma Angered Strandberg

Abstract

Swedish feminist writer and educator Ellen Key (1849–1926) and writer Hilma Angered Strandberg (1855–1927) wrote letters to each other for 37 years (1888–1925). This article focuses on the image of Italy in their correspondence. Both Key and Angered Strandberg spent long periods there. Through their letters and their comments on the country, they also depict their lives and their relationship, establishing an implicit epistolary pact between them, where Key acts almost as a »confessor« and Strandberg as a suffering victim. Angered Strandberg, who wrote very long letters, was trapped by her everlasting financial problems and bad health, while Ellen Key, who was well known and better off financially, tried to help her friend in various ways. The image of Italy given by Angered Strandberg is very negative, while Key appears as a more traditional » Italia-romanticist«, following a long tradition formed by various Swedish and European travellers.