Debate of the Romance of the Rose (The Other Voice in Early Modern Europe) - Softcover

Pizan, Christine De

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0226670139 ISBN 13: 9780226670133

Publisher: University of Chicago Press, 2010

Synopsis

In 1401, Christine de Pizan (1365–1430?), one of the most renowned and prolific woman writers of the Middle Ages, wrote a letter to the provost of Lille criticizing the highly popular and widely read Romance of the Rose for its blatant and unwarranted misogynistic depictions of women. The debate that ensued, over not only the merits of the treatise but also of the place of women in society, started Europe on the long path to gender parity. Pizan’s criticism sparked a continent-wide discussion of issues that is still alive today in disputes about art and morality, especially the civic responsibility of a writer or artist for the works he or she produces.

In Debate of the “Romance of the Rose,” David Hult collects, along with the debate documents themselves, letters, sermons, and excerpts from other works of Pizan, including one from City of Ladies—her major defense of women and their rights—that give context to this debate. Here, Pizan’s supporters and detractors are heard alongside her own formidable, protofeminist voice. The resulting volume affords a rare look at the way people read and thought about literature in the period immediately preceding the era of print.

About this title

About the Author:

David F. Hult is professor of French at the University of California, Berkeley, and the editor or coeditor of six books.

Review:

"The Other Voice series is a timely contribution to our understanding of the nature and extent of the participation of women and profeminist supporters in early modern European culture and society.... This series highlights the interest of early modern women's literary lives, allowing wives, sisters, and mothers to step out from the shadows and assume the place that is rightfully theirs on the literary stage." - Pollie Bromilow, Journal of European Studies

About this edition

• Publisher: University of Chicago Press
• Publication date: 2010
• ISBN 10: 0226670139
• ISBN 13: 9780226670133
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 384