Description
Book SynopsisThis volume focuses on women's literary history in Britain between 700 and 1500. It brings to the fore a wide range of women's literary activity undertaken in Latin, Welsh and Anglo-Norman alongside that of the English vernacular, demanding a rethinking of the traditions of literary history, and ultimately the concept of 'writing' itself.
Trade Review'This collection is a noteworthy addition to the bibliography on women's contributions to medieval literature...McAvoy and Watt are to be commended for compiling an outstanding collaborative history of women's writings, as well as a significant history of medieval literature. It will be profitably read by anyone interested in medieval literature or women's writing. With its assessments of prior and current scholarship and its generous notes and bibliography, it offers a thorough overview of the field for graduate students, and its informative, well-written, and original essays make it recommended reading for anyone studying women's writing.' - Monica Brzezinski Potkay, The Review of English Studies
'McAvoy and Watt aim with this volume to establish a more engaging and relevant dialogue between past and present, and they succeed. The History of British Women's Writing, 700-1500 is, in fact, an exciting and valuable contribution to the study of medieval literature and feminist studies.' - Make Mag
Table of ContentsAcknowledgments Notes on Contributors Chronology Introduction: Writing a History of Women's Writing from 700 to 1500; L.Herbert McAvoy & D.Watt PART I: PRE-TEXTS AND CONTEXTS Women and the Origins of English Literature; C.A.Lees & G.R.Overing Literary Production Before and After the Conquest; C.A.M.Clarke The French of the English and Early British Women's Literary Culture; C.Batt Women Writers in Wales; J.Cartwright Medieval Antifeminism; A.Bernau PART II: BODIES, BEHAVIOURS AND TEXTS Romance; C.Saunders Saints' Lives; S.Horner Devotional Literature; M.M.Sauer Marian Literature; S.Niebryzdowski Late Medieval Conduct Literature; M.J.Seaman PART III: LITERACIES AND LITERARY CULTURES Women and their Manuscripts; C.M.Meale Women and Reading; L.Farina Women and Networks of Literary Production; E.Robertson Anonymous Writers; L.H.McAvoy Women Translators; A.Barratt Women's Letters, 1350-1500; J.Daybell PART IV: FEMALE AUTHORITY Christine de Pizan and Joan of Arc; N.B.Warren Mary of Oignies; J.N. Brown Bridget of Sweden; L.Saetveit Miles Catherine of Siena; A.C. Grisé Julian of Norwich; A.Appleford Margery Kempe; D.Watt 'A Revelation of Purgatory'; M.C.Erler Bibliography Index
