The Problem Of Woman In Late Medieval Hispanic Literature

This book argues that the problem of gender identity is vital to the large corpus of medieval Hispanic texts that discuss the nature of women. What is a woman? This book questions the persistent assumption that the large corpus of medieval Hispanic texts that discuss the nature of women can be defined in terms of the clichéd discourses of misogynism and defence of women, arguing instead that the problem of gender identity is vital to them all. The texts, some well-known, others which have received scant critical attention, are each discussed in their specific contexts and in relation to theostensible reasons for their composition, such as a political, literary, religious, or didactic 'agenda'. They are also related to the literary traditions in which they are written [misogynistic denunciation, satire, humour, defence, narrative debate, among others], and the particular theoretical problems arising from them are discussed. But it is also argued that the full meaning of the texts lies at the less immediately accessible level at which they address this very problem of definition, one which arises directly from the self-perpetuating contradictions of authoritative wisdom on the nature of women. ROBERT ARCHER holds the Cervantes Chair of Spanish, King's College London.

This book explores how Medieval and Early Modern writers reconstructed, and also how readers read, the contradictory meanings of "Lady" Wisdom.

Figuring the Feminine examines the female body as a means of articulating questions of literary authority and practice within the cultural spheres of the Iberian Peninsula (both Romance and Semitic) as well as in the larger Latinate literary culture. It demonstrates the centrality in medieval literary culture of the gendering of rhetorical and hermeneutical acts involved in the creation of texts and meaning, and the importance of the medieval Iberian textual tradition in this process, a complex multicultural tradition that is often overlooked in medieval literary scholarship. This study adopts an innovative methodology informed by current theories of the body and gender to approach Hispanic literature from a femininst perspective. Jill Ross offers new readings of medieval Hispanic texts (Latin, Castilian, and Hebrew) including Prudentius' Peristephanon, Gonzalo de Berceo's Milagros de Nuestra Señora, Shem Tov of Carrión's Battle Between the Pen and the Scissors, and several others. She highlights ways in which these texts contribute to the understanding of gender in medieval poetics and foreground questions of literary and cultural import. Figuring the Feminine argues that the bodies of women are crucial to the working out of such questions as the unsettling shift from orality to literacy, textual instability, cultural dissonance, and the resistance to cultural and religious hegemony.

Teaching Gender through Latin American, Latino, and Iberian Texts and Cultures provides a dynamic exploration of the subject of teaching gender and feminism through the fundamental corpus encompassing Latin American, Iberian and Latino authors and cultures from the Middle Ages to the 21st century. The four editors have created a collaborative forum for both experienced and new voices to share multiple theoretical and practical approaches to the topic. The volume is the first to bring so many areas of study and perspectives together and will serve as a tool for reassessing what it means to teach gender in our fields while providing theoretical and concrete examples of pedagogical strategies, case studies relating to in-class experiences, and suggestions for approaching gender issues that readers can experiment with in their own classrooms. The book will engage students and educators around the topic of gender within the fields of Latin American, Latino and Iberian studies, Gender and Women’s studies, Cultural Studies, English, Education, Comparative Literature, Ethnic studies and Language and Culture for Specific Purposes within Higher Education programs. “Teaching Gender through Latin American, Latino, and Iberian Texts and Cultures makes a compelling case for the central role of feminist inquiry in higher education today ... Startlingly honest and deeply informed, the essays lead us through classroom experiences in a wide variety of institutional and disciplinary settings. Read together, these essays articulate a vision for twenty-first century feminist pedagogies that embrace a rich diversity of theory, methodology, and modality.” – Lisa Vollendorf, Professor of Spanish and Dean of Humanities and the Arts, San José State University. Author of The Lives of Women: A New History of Inquisitional Spain “What is it like to teach feminism and gender through Latin American, Iberian, and Latino texts? This rich collection of texts ... provides a series of insightful and exhaustive answers to this question ... An essential book for teachers of Latin American, Iberian and Latino/a texts, this volume will also spark new debates among scholars in Gender Studies.” – Mónica Szurmuk, Researcher at the National Scientific and Technical Research Council of Argentina. Author of Mujeres en viaje and co-editor of the Cambridge History of Latin American Women’s Literature

Information about women in this truly fascinating period from 500 to 1500 is in great demand and has been a challenge for historians to uncover. Bardsley has mined a wide range of primary sources, from noblewomen's writing, court rolls, chivalric literature, laws and legal documents, to archeology and artwork. This fresh survey provides readers with an excellent understanding of how women high and low fared in terms of religion, work, family, law, culture, and politics and public life. Even though medieval women were divided by social class, religion, age, marital status, place and period, they were all subject to an overarching patriarchal structure and sometimes could transcend their inferior status. Numerous examples of these exceptional women and their words are included. Chapter 1 examines religion, focusing on women's roles in the early Christian church, the lives of nuns and other professional religious women such as anchoresses and Beguines, the participation of Christian laywomen, and the experiences of Jewish and Islamic women in Western Europe. The second chapter examines women's work, looking in turn at the kinds of work performed by peasant women, townswomen, and noblewomen. Women's roles within the family form the subject of the third chapter. This chapter follows women throughout the typical lifecycle - from girl to widow - examining the expectations and experiences of women at each stage. Chapter 4, Women and the Law, focuses on the ways in which laws both restricted and protected women. It also considers the crimes with which women were most often charged and surveys laws regarding marriage and widowhood. Women's roles in creative arts form the basis of the fifth chapter, Women and Culture. This chapter examines women's roles as artists, authors, composers, and patrons, as well as investigating the ways in which women were represented in works produced by men. Finally, chapter 6 discusses women's experiences in politics and public life. While women as a group were typically banned from holding positions of public authority, some found ways to get around this stricture, while others were able to exercise power behind the scenes. The final chapter thus encapsulates a major theme of this book: the interplay between broader patriarchal forces that limited women's status and autonomy and the role of individuals who were able to overcome or circumvent such forces. Medieval women were, as a group, subordinate to their husbands and fathers, but certain women, under certain circumstances, evaded subordination.

In Spain, the two hundred years that elapsed between the beginning of the early modern period and the final years of the Habsburg Empire saw a profusion of works written by women. Whether secular or religious, noble or middle class, early modern Spanish women actively composed creative works such as poetry, prose narratives, and plays. The Routledge Research Companion to Early Modern Spanish Women Writers covers the broad array of different kinds of writings – literary as well as extra-literary – that these women wrote, taking into consideration their subject positions and the cultural and historical contexts that influenced and were influenced by them. Beyond merely recognizing the individual women authors who had influence in literary, religious, and intellectual circles, this Research Companion investigates their participation in these circles through their writings, as well as the ways in which their texts informed Spain’s cultural production during the early modern period. In order to contextualize women’s writings across the historical and cultural spectrum of early modern Spain, the Research Companion is divided into six sections of general thematic interest: Women’s Worlds; Conventual Spaces; Secular Literature; Women in the Public Sphere; Private Circles; Women Travelers. Each section is subdivided into chapters that focus on specific issues or topics.

The Serpent and the Rose examines the theological and liturgical context for the doctrine of the Immaculate Conception in the Middle Ages, from primary sources in Iberian archives. Its main focus is a study of Marian poetry from Alfonso the Wise and Gonzalo de Berceo through to the poetry collections of the late fifteenth century, showing how poets took themes from the Bible and apocryphal literature, combining them to defend and praise Mary’s conception without sin. Individual chapters assess how they depicted Mary’s prefiguration in the Old Testament by the Woman who defeated the serpent, the young bride of the Song of Songs, or the semi-deity, Wisdom, how they portray her as the mystic rose and as the new Eve.

As the first woman, Eve was the pattern for all her daughters. The importance of readings of Eve for understanding how women were viewed at various times is a critical commonplace, but one which has been only narrowly investigated. This book systematically explores the different ways in which Eve was understood by Christians in antiquity and in the English Middle Ages, and it relates these understandings to female social roles. The result is an Eve more various than she is often depicted by scholars. Beginning with material from the bible, the Church Fathers and Jewish sources, the book goes on to look at a broad selection of medieval writing, including theological works and literary texts in Old and Middle English. In addition to dealing with famous authors such as Augustine, Aquinas, Dante and Chaucer, the writings of authors who are now less well-known, but who were influential in their time, are explored. The book allows readers to trace the continuities and discontinuities in the way Eve was portrayed over a millennium and a half, and as such it is of interest to those interested in women or the bible in the Middle Ages.

Stepfamilies were as common in the European past as they are today. Stepfamilies in Europe, 1400–1800 is the first in-depth study to chart four centuries of continuity and change for these complex families created by the death of a parent and the remarriage of the survivor. With geographic coverage from the Mediterranean to Scandinavia and from the Atlantic coast to Central Europe, this collection of essays from leading scholars compares how religious affiliation, laws and cultural attitudes shaped stepfamily realities. Exploring stepfamilies across society from artisans to princely rulers, this book considers the impact of remarriage on the bonds between parents and their children, stepparents and stepchildren, while offering insights into the relationships between full siblings, half siblings and stepsiblings. The contributors investigate a variety of primary sources from songs to letters and memoirs, printed Protestant funeral works, Catholic dispensation requests, kinship puzzles, legitimation petitions, and documents drawn up by notaries, to understand the experiences and life cycle of a family and its members – whether growing up as a stepchild or forming a stepfamily through marital choice as an adult. Featuring an array of visual evidence, and drawing on topics such as widowhood, remarriage, and the guardianship of children, Stepfamilies in Europe will be essential reading for scholars and students of the history of the family.