Alexandrianism and Alexandrian women in Slovenian Gorizia newspapers before the First World War

Abstract

The article discusses newspaper reporting on female exodus to Egypt, which marked the migration movement in Gorizia at the turn of the twentieth century. The decision to set out for North Africa was predominantly made by young rural women who served as maids, governesses, nursemaids, cooks, or wet nurses to save money for marriage or remittances to their families. The developments were closely monitored by national and ecclesiastical elites in Gorizia. Perceiving such emigration and independence of the Alexandrian women as a threat to the moral norms and the sense of national belonging, they led an intensive anti-emigration newspaper campaign to prevent further exodus to Egypt. The contribution will present the main aspects of such reporting that featured in both the liberal and Catholic press of that time.