Natalie Zemon Davis: An E-mail Interview with Martyn Lyons and Monica Azzolini

Abstract

In this interview with Monica Azzolini and Martyn Lyons of the University of New South Wales, Natalie Zemon Davis talks about her passion for history, and forthcoming publications. These take her into such diverse contexts as early modern Islam, the eighteenth-century Caribbean and Rumanian-Yiddish literature.Natalie Zemon Davis began her career as a specialist in the history of Reformation France, and is well- known for her contribution to the successful movie The Return of Martin Guerre. In this work and in more recent projects, she has explored the history of impostors, immigrants and cultural crossovers, and the ways in which individuals have fashioned their own identities. She has also made a distinguished contribution to the history of women in the early modern period. Having had a long-term association with Princeton University, she is now retired and based in Toronto. It was a major disappointment that sudden illness made it impossible for her to participate in the 20th International Congress for Historical Sciences in Sydney last July. Nevertheless, Professor Davis very generously agreed to conduct our planned interview by email.