An Analysis of Natalie Zemon Davis's The Return of Martin Guerre

ISBN-13: 9781912127603 / Angielski

Joseph Tendler

Opis

Few stories are more captivating than the one told by Natalie Zemon Davis in The Return of Martin Guerre. Basing her research on records of a bizarre court case that occurred in 16th-century France, she uses the tale of a missing soldier - whose disappearance threatens the livelihood of his peasant wife - to explore complex social issues. Davis takes rich material - dramatic enough to have been the basis of two major films - and uses it to explore issues of identity, women's role in peasant society, the interior lives of the poor, and the structure of village society, all of them topics that had previously proved difficult for historians to grapple with. Davis displays fine qualities of reasoning throughout - not only in constructing her own narrative, but also in persuading her readers of her point of view. Her work is also a fine example of good interpretation - practically every document in the case needs to be assessed for issues of meaning.

Spis treści

Ways in to the Text  Who was Natalie Zemon Davis?  What does The Return of Martin Guerre Say?  Why does The Return of Martin Guerre Matter?  Section 1: Influences  Module 1: The Author and the Historical Context  Module 2: Academic Context  Module 3: The Problem  Module 4: The Author's Contribution  Section 2: Ideas  Module 5: Main Ideas  Module 6: Secondary Ideas  Module 7: Achievement  Module 8: Place in the Author's Work  Section 3: Impact  Module 9: The First Responses  Module 10: The Evolving Debate  Module 11: Impact and Influence Today  Module 12: Where Next?  Glossary of Terms  People Mentioned in the Text  Works Cited

O autorze

Dr Joseph Tendler received his PhD from the University of St Andrews. He is a specialist in Historiography, the study of how history is conceived and written, and is the author of Opponents of the Annales School.