Poet heroines in medieval French narrative
Subtitle: gender and fictions of literary creation
By: Brooke Heidenreich Findley
Series: The new Middle Ages
Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan
Published: 2012
Place of publication: New York
Language: eng
Number of pages: 267
ISBN-13: 9780230112582
Subjects: French literature; Women poets in literature; Women and literature; Authorship; History and criticism; History
Description: Studies of women and writing frequently take historical woman authors as their starting point, reading through the feminine signature and the biological trace that it is assumed to represent. Poet Heroines in Medieval French Narrative proposes a different approach, looking instead at the numerous fictional female characters of 13th-15th century French narrative who are portrayed as composing and performing poetry, and whose gendered literary activity links writing, singing, the body, and performance. Such figures represent a promising new area of exploration in women's literary history, one based on the texts themselves rather than the uncertain circumstances of their composition.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references.
Table of contents: title: Introduction: authors, writers, singers, and women: gendering literary creation in medieval French culture; title: From minstrel heroine to poet heroine: the thirteenth century and beyond. Singing from a woman's body: minstrel heroines as performers and texts; The parrot and the swan: performance and composition in Sone de Nansay; title: Dangerous muses: Toute Belle and her sisters in the fourteenth century dit ; Competing perspectives: Guillaume de Machaut's Voir dit; A contemporary reaction to the Voir dit: deadly words and captive imaginations in Jean Froissart's Prison amoureuse; title: Women at the origins: fifteenth century prose romance. Verbal prowess: women's artistry and men's chivalry in Perceforest; Women writers and the monstrous author in Ysaÿe le Triste; title: Conclusion: what about Christine?.