This course will explore the diversity of women´s writing in the Middle Ages: from religious lyrics to love poems, romance to autobiography, mystical treatise to history, letters to literary criticism. We will consider the methods women used to gain authority as writers, the way they participated in and transformed traditionally male genres, and the way specific cultural conditions inhibited or allowed female literary expression. We will also explore the kinds of religious instruction and advice literature that were directed at female audiences, and which often became popular among lay readers more generally. Both the usefulness and the problems of conceiving a category of "women´s writing" will be explored throughout the course. Authors will likely include Hildegard of Bingen, Heloise, women troubadours, Marie de France, Julian of Norwich, Margery Kempe, and Christine de Pizan. Satisfies the Medieval requirement.
Course Attributes: EN H; AS HUM; FA HUM; AR HUM; EL MED
