Women in 19th-Century Czech Musical Culture and Their Representation in Encyclopaedias: Thoughts on Selection Processes in Music Lexicography (and/or Musicology)

In this paper, I examine a variety of music and art encyclopaedias dating from the 19th to the 21st centuries with regard to their inclusion of musical women within the context of 19th-century Czech musical culture. I ask whether there are differences in coverage regarding the women’s birthdates and/or fields of activities, and regarding the individual encyclopaedias. Second, while I am hesitant to speculate as regards the possibility of systematic institutional censorship, I explore possible regularities (and irregularities) in selection patterns across the sample, also with a view to contemporary socio-political trends representative of the times during which the publications emerged. In the light of this, the purpose of the paper is two-fold. Quantitative in nature, it sheds light on hundreds of lesser-known 19th-century female musical protagonists within the context of Czech musical culture. Furthermore, it is devoted to a contextualisation of the findings with regard to discussions typically encountered in lexicography and encyclopaedia writing.