Germaine de Staël: Forging a Politics of Mediation ed. by Karyna Szmurlo (review)

It is an understatement to say that Germaine de Staël was a woman ahead of her time. She was a prolific author, noted political activist, and remarkable conversationalist at the height of the French Revolution, one who bridged the history of ideas from Neoclassicism to Romanticism. In Germaine de Staël: Forging a Politics of Mediation, a wide-ranging collection of essays edited by Karyna Szmurlo, one gains a clearer portrait of the depth and extent of the influence wielded by Staël. The book is divided into two sections, that of “Revolutionary engagements” (with contributions from Marie-Ève Beausoleil, Paul S. Spalding, Catriona Seth, Doris Y. Kadish, Carrie F. Klaus, Chinatsu Takeda, Aurelian Craiutu, Susan Tenenbaum, and Jean-Marie Roulin) and “In space and time: cultural cross-currents” (with essays by Ann T. Gardiner, Clorinda Donato, Robert Casillo, Paola Giuli, Nanora Sweet, Ulrike Wagner, and Eric Gidal). This collection rightly brings to the forefront Staël’s consistent stance of moderation in the face of extremism and polarization, most particularly in regards to the topics of citizenship, immigration, abolition, and constitutional liberalism. In addition, the collection correctly justifies that Staël, as the heart and soul of the Groupe de Coppet, (the name of de Staël’s salon), proved herself to be a modern thinker and promoter of cross-cultural interaction.

Within the framework of this extraordinary collection, one gains a greater understanding of Staël’s literary works. For example, in Beausoleil’s “Germaine de Staël as political activist: print, privacy and opinion in the French Revolution (1789–1799),” in the first section, we learn about Staël’s efforts to promote the sharing of news via newspapers and pamphlets as well as how print culture came to be connected to other forums of speech (specifically, salons and epistolary writing). Carrie F. Klaus’ “The ‘French’ and the ‘foreign’ in works by Germaine de Staël, Isabelle de Charrière and Cornélie Wouters,” presents a fascinating comparison of the work of three authors. Klaus demonstrates how each author’s nationality came into question during the French Revolution and how each had the courage to push for peace among the European nations. In the second section, analyses of Staël’s works on Italy—specifically Corinne ou l’Italie—dominate while shedding significant light on her views on multiculturalism. Having taught Corinne ou l’Italie in the past, this second set of essays will help me reformulate my course offerings so that they are more current with contemporary thought on multiculturalism. Ann T. Gardiner’s “From group to traveler’s network: Thoughts on reconfiguring sociability in Germaine de Staël,” presents new paradigms for examining Staël’s work in the twenty-first century. For instance Gardiner proposes methods for analyzing the cultural importance of Staël’s Swiss family estate as a place for social networking, an approach that expands the notion of the existence of the Groupe de Coppet as a mere intellectual gathering. Moreover, Paola Giuli’s “Poetry and national identity: Corinne, Corilla and the idea of Italy” and Nanora Sweet’s “Staël the poet: recuperating Italy,” reexamine stereotypes of Italy and provide alternatives. In conclusion, Germaine de Staël: Forging a Politics of Mediation is an excellent resource for fresh perspectives on understanding the range of influence of Staël’s writing and philosophical points of view.