The Cambridge Companion to Medieval Women's Writing / Edition 1

by Carolyn Dinshaw, David Wallace

Overview

Beginning with an examination of the different stages of women's lives—childhood, virginity, marriage and widowhood, this Companion addresses various aspects of medieval life that affected women's writing. These include the nature of authorship in the period, the position of women at home or in nunneries, and their relationship to religion. Additional essays cover the lives and work of such prominent women writers as Heloise, Marie de France, Christine de Pizan, Julian of Norwich, Margery Kempe and Joan of Arc. A chronology and guides to further reading add information which students and scholars will find invaluable.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780521796385
Publisher:	Cambridge University Press
Publication date:	05/22/2003
Series:	Cambridge Companions to Literature
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	316
Product dimensions:	5.47(w) x 9.69(h) x 0.79(d)

About the Author

Carolyn Dinshaw is Professor of English and Director of the Centre for the Study of Gender and Sexuality at New York University. She is the author of Chaucer's Sexual Poetics (1989), and Getting Medieval: Sexualities and Communities, Pre- and Postmodern (1999).

David Wallace is Judith Rodin Professor at the Department of English at the University of Pennsylvania. He is the editor of The Cambridge History of Medieval Literature, and the author of Chaucerian Polity.

Table of Contents

Contributors; Chronology Chris Africa; Introduction Carolyn Dinshaw and David Wallace; Part I. Estates of Women: 1. Female Childhoods Daniel T. Kline; 2. Virginity Ruth Evans; 3. Marriage Dyan Elliott; 4. Widows Barbara Hanawalt; 5. Between Women Karma Lochrie; Part II. Texts and Other Spaces: 6. Women and authorship Jennifer Summit; 7. Enclosure Christopher Cannon; 8. At home; out of the house Sarah Salih; 9. Beneath the pulpit Alcuin Blamires; Part III. Medieval Women: 10. Heloise Christopher Baswell; 11. Marie de France Roberta L. Krueger; 12. The Roman de la Rose, Christine de Pizan, and the querelles des femmes David F. Hult; 13. Lyrics and romances Sarah McNamer; 14. Julian of Norwich Nicholas Watson; 15. Margery Kempe Carolyn Dinshaw; 16. Continental women mystics and English readers Alexandra Barratt; 17. Joan of Arc Nadia Margolis; Guide to further reading.

Editorial Reviews

"...an original and fresh mapping of the territory it examines..." Journal of English and Germanic Philology

"...[an] invaluable collection of essays...Highly recommended" Choice

"Chapters invoke the many texts that shaped medieval women's lives, [...] providing the contextual information necessary to comprehend how women came into contact with and contributed to medieval women's culture." Arthuriana

From the Publisher