Description
Book SynopsisBringing together the work of both leading and emerging scholars in the field of medieval gender studies, the essays in Rivalrous Masculinities advance our understanding of medieval masculinity as a pluralized category and as an intersectional category of gender. The essays in this volume are distinguished by a conceptual focus that goes beyo nd heteronormativity and by their attention to constructions of medieval masculinity in the context of femininity, class, religion, and place. Some widen the field of medieval gender studies inquiry to include explorations of medieval friendship as a framework or culture of arousal and deep emotionality that produced multiple, complex ways of living intensely with respect to gender and sexuality, without reducing all forms of intimacy to implicit sexuality. Some examine intersections of identity, explicating change and difference in conventional modes of gender with regards to regional culture, religion, race, or class. In order to groun
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"In 1994, the groundbreaking volume Medieval Masculinities appeared in print. More than twenty years later, Rivalrous Masculinities showcases state-of-the-art work in medieval masculinity studies. Ann Marie Rasmussen needs to be commended for having assembled an impressive collection of essays." —Helmut Puff, University of Michigan
"The essays in this book together make it clearer than ever that gender is never monolithic. Beyond reminding us in sophisticated and illuminating ways of this basic insight, however, the studies included demonstrate not only the plurality of medieval and early modern masculinities but also, and more significantly, that at the center of this plurality is rivalry. Multiple ways of 'acting like a man' mean that individuals (both men and women) will compete for the power and status this behavior will accord them. Focusing on both imagined and inhabited worlds from a variety of traditions, this book is a must read for anyone thinking in any way about gender and the past." —Sara S. Poor, Princeton University
"This is a really sparkling collection of essays. Overall, the volume addresses the concept(s) of medieval masculinity in the round, with a range of innovative and unusual perspectives. It represents an important contribution both to gender studies and to medieval studies." —Annette M. Volfing, Oriel College, University of Oxford
"Taken together, the experts represented in this volume make a forceful case for the evolution and plurality of medieval masculinities, which were socially constructed, negotiated, and inherently competitive. This book is essential reading for students and scholars interested in multidisciplinary approaches to historical gender identity and culture." —Steven Bednarski, St. Jerome’s University, University of Waterloo
Table of ContentsPreface by Ann Marie Rasmussen
1. “A Word to the Wise: Men, Gender, and Medieval Masculinities” by Clare A. Lees
2. “Men in Trouble: Warrior Angst in Beowulf” by Gillian R. Overing
3. “The Rivalry of the Secular and the Spiritual in Henry Suso's Adaptations of Masculinity in The Life of the Servant” by J. Christian Straubhaar
4. “Predicaments of Piousness: The Trouble with Being a Learned Jewish Family Man in Pre-Modern Europe” by Astrid Lembke
5. “The Knight versus the Courtier” by Darrin Cox
6. “Misogyny, Philogyny, Masculinities: Antonio Pucci’s Il Contrasto delle donne” by F. Regina Psaki
7. “Virtù: Marriage, Gender, and Competing Masculinities in Fourteenth-Century Lucca” by Corinne Wieben
8. “David and Jonathan: A Late Medieval Bromance” by Ruth Mazo Karras
9. “When did Servants Become Men?” by Diane Wolfthal
10. “Medieval Masculinities without Men” by Karma Lochrie
11. “The Beloved Discipline: From The Gospel of John to Dan Brown’s The Da Vinci Code” by Andreas Krass
