Feminine Figurae: Representations of Gender in Religious Texts by Medieval German Women Writers, 1100-1475

by Rebecca L.R. Garber

Overview

This work offers an examination of religious texts written by twelve women over three centuries in two languages and three genres, showing the variety and complexity of gendered images available to medieval women. Moving beyond the categories of virgin, wife and widow, these religious texts created a spectrum of exemplary feminine life-paths based not on marital status, age, social rank, or profession, but instead founded on biblical figures, monastic divisions of labor, expected saintly behaviors, and even individual personality characteristics. This study contributes to discussions of genre and its influences on gender representation, as well as to scholarship on the complexities of gender relationships within literary works and historical contexts. This work will also serve to introduce a wider audience to a cycle of texts and an interrelated group of women authors previously available only to specialists in German and manuscript studies.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780415939539
Publisher:	Taylor & Francis
Publication date:	11/08/2002
Series:	Studies in Medieval History and Culture , #10
Pages:	314
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x (d)

Table of Contents

Veiled Individuals; Chapter 1 Women’s Genres, Women’s Authority; Chapter 2 Where Is the Body?; Chapter 3 Invented Communities, Idealizing the Past; Personal Revelations; Chapter 4 Margaretha Ebner; Chapter 5 Adelheid Langmann; Personal Revelations; Varied Ideals;