Sheba's Daughters: Whitening and Demonizing the Saracen Woman in Medieval French Epic

by Jacqueline de Weever

Overview

Exploring how the depiction of otherness or alterity during the Middle Ages became problematic in the aesthetics of the Romance epics written during the centuries of the Crusades, this book offers a vital contribution to the growing interest in the way foreign women are presented in the texts of the Latin West and will be of consuming interest to students in women's studies, cultural studies, and medieval literature.The texts considered are written in the major European languages of the time and range from the Song of Songs through Geoffrey of Vinsauf's Poetria Nova to such epics and romances as Erec et Enide,Doon de Maience, Fierabras, La Prise d'Orange, Ars Versificatoria, The Sowdone of Babylone, and Parzifal.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780815330189
Publisher:	Taylor & Francis
Publication date:	04/01/1998
Series:	Garland Reference Library of the Humanities , #2077
Pages:	292
Product dimensions:	5.44(w) x 8.50(h) x (d)

Table of Contents

Chapter 1 Whitening the Saracen: The Erasure of Alterity; Chapter 2 Demonizing the Saracen: The Inscription of the Monstrous Other; Chapter 3 Subversions of Treachery and the Beautiful Easterner; Chapter 4 Paradox and the Discourse of Protest; Chapter 5 Conclusion; Appendix Portraits and Translations; Bibliography Index;

Editorial Reviews

Investigates how, in epics of the Crusade era, the daughters of the black devil Saracens turned out white, gentle, and often married to the European knight hero at the end of the tale. Especially looks at the contortions of language necessary to make the change. Short passages in the text are in the original and English; longer excerpts, again with translations, are appended. The study contributes to the current interest in the interpretation of foreigners, especially women. Annotation c. by Book News, Inc., Portland, Or.

Booknews

"By applying the theories of postcolonial criticism, de Weever attempts to make clear the racist and imperialist biases of medieval epic poets. In so doing she both puts in relief the culturally loaded treatment of the Saracen princess in the works studied and raises important questions about the danger of projecting modern cultural concepts onto an ancient poetic form." — Speculum-A Journal of Medieval Studies

From the Publisher