The Past, the Future, or an Imitation: Jenny de Mayer and Home

Presentation Type

Poster

Presentation Type

Submission

Keywords

home, missionary, letters

Department

History

Major

History

Abstract

Throughout her letters, Jenny de Mayer’s use of varying terminology in
reference to the concept of home demonstrates that her ideal of home
only ever existed in the past or the future, rendering her present
situations mere imitations of this ideal. Raised as a German-Russian noblewoman with a cosmopolitan background, Jenny de Mayer became a Christian missionary in the early 20th Century. Throughout her life, she traveled across the world, residing in many different places but never staying in a single place for long. Despite her current location – United States, Canada, Switzerland, Algiers, Samarkand, Russia, etc. – she sent letters to various friends and family members, which were collected and saved by her surviving relatives. These collections include many letters in which she describes home. In understanding how Jenny de Mayer viewed home, it is important to note the temporal and geographic aspects of her idea of home. From Jenny de Mayer’s perspective, home was either a situation from her past, a goal for her future, or a location far away but never the place she currently resided in. A place could be “homelike” or “homey” or she could feel “at home,” but these spaces called “home” never measured up to her ideal of home. Thus, for Jenny de Mayer, home in its actuality was always out of reach, as only an imitation of her true home was possible in her present situation.

Faculty Mentor

Sharyl Corrado

Funding Source or Research Program

Academic Year Undergraduate Research Initiative

Location

Waves Cafeteria

Start Date

22-3-2024 1:30 PM

End Date

22-3-2024 2:30 PM

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Mar 22nd, 1:30 PM Mar 22nd, 2:30 PM

The Past, the Future, or an Imitation: Jenny de Mayer and Home

Waves Cafeteria

Throughout her letters, Jenny de Mayer’s use of varying terminology in
reference to the concept of home demonstrates that her ideal of home
only ever existed in the past or the future, rendering her present
situations mere imitations of this ideal. Raised as a German-Russian noblewoman with a cosmopolitan background, Jenny de Mayer became a Christian missionary in the early 20th Century. Throughout her life, she traveled across the world, residing in many different places but never staying in a single place for long. Despite her current location – United States, Canada, Switzerland, Algiers, Samarkand, Russia, etc. – she sent letters to various friends and family members, which were collected and saved by her surviving relatives. These collections include many letters in which she describes home. In understanding how Jenny de Mayer viewed home, it is important to note the temporal and geographic aspects of her idea of home. From Jenny de Mayer’s perspective, home was either a situation from her past, a goal for her future, or a location far away but never the place she currently resided in. A place could be “homelike” or “homey” or she could feel “at home,” but these spaces called “home” never measured up to her ideal of home. Thus, for Jenny de Mayer, home in its actuality was always out of reach, as only an imitation of her true home was possible in her present situation.