Synopses & Reviews
Synopsis
Explored in this book are women's contributions to letter writing in western Europe from the sixth to the sixteenth centuries. The essays represent the first attempt to chart medieval women's achievements in epistolarity, and the contributions to this volume situate the women writers in a historical context and employ a variety of feminist approaches.
Table of Contents
Radegund and epistolary tradition / Karen Cherewatuk -- Visions and rhetorical strategy in the letters of Hildegard of Bingen / Gillian T.W. Ahlgren -- "Wholly guilty, wholly innocent" : self-definition in Heloise's letters to Abelard / Glenda McLeod -- "Io Catarina" : ecclesiastical politics and oral culture in the letters of Catherine of Siena / Karen Scott -- "No writing for writing's sake" : the language of service and household rhetoric in the letters of the Paston women / Diane Watt -- "Seulette a part" : the "little woman on the sidelines" takes up her pen : the letters of Christine de Pizan / Earl Jeffrey Richards -- "If I had an iron body" : femininity and religion in the letters of Maria de Hout / Ulrike Wiethaus.