‘A knowledge of Russian such as no American man possesses’: Isabel Hapgood on Russia at the Turn of the Twentieth Century

Abstract:Isabel Hapgood (1851–1928) was among the first Americans to create a career as a Russia specialist, a surprising fact given her status as a woman who had not received a university education. Her work on Russia, in particular Russian Rambles, her 1895 account of her 1887–89 travels, offers a fascinating glimpse into a period in which more prominent roles for women were emerging in the US and into the professionalization of American interest in Russia. Her work is particularly compelling for the tensions it displays around ‘authoritativeness’ in terms of both gender and national scholarly expertise. The perceived ambiguity of Russia’s status in relation to Europe, and the newness of study of it as an academic field, presented challenges, but also offered a unique opportunity for a figure like Hapgood to assert an authoritative presence as a woman writer.