Feminae: Medieval Women and Gender Index


  • Record Number: 8861
  • Author(s)/Creator(s): Regnier-Bohler , Danielle.
  • Contributor(s):
  • Title: Literary and Mystical Voices [The relationship between women and language in medieval texts is complicated and contradictory. Some writers ascribe great agency and power to women’s use of language, while others seek to silence female voices. Mythical figures like Philomena, Echo, and Griselda are pervasive figures of silent women, and actual medieval women do not necessarily speak in their own voices (they are mediated by male writers). In addition, women’s use of language is often deemed evil, unreliable, or obscene. Literary voices like the poet Christine de Pizan and female mystics like Margery Kempe express themselves in new styles that are at once powerful and complex. Title note supplied by Feminae.].
  • Source: A History of Women in the West. Volume 2: Silences of the Middle Ages.  Edited by Christiane Klapisch-Zuber.  Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 1992.  Pages 427 - 482.
  • Description:
  • Article Type: Essay
  • Subject (See Also): Christine de Pizan, Poet Female Voice in Literature Kempe, Margery, Mystic Language Literature- Prose Literature- Verse Mystics Silence Speech Voice Women Authors Women in Literature
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  • Geographic Area: General
  • Century: General
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  • Author's Affiliation: University of Paris III-New Sorbonne
  • Conference Info: - , -
  • Year of Publication: 1992.
  • Language: English
  • ISSN/ISBN: 0674403711