Between Poverty and the Pyre : Moments in the History of Widowhood

ISBN-13: 9780415083706 / Angielski / Twarda / 1995 / 258 str.

Jan Bremmer; Lourens P. Van Den Bosch

Opis

In recent decades all aspects of women's history have been explored but widows have been neglected, as they often are in real life. This interdisciplinary collection of studies aims to shed light on this fascinating group of women by offering studies, ranging from Jesus' interest in widows to Hindu wives following their husbands on the pyre, and from famous widows, such as Mohammed's first wife, to widows who were executed as witches or had to sell their bodies to stay alive. The contributors give a rich picture of the many facets of the widows' lives, such as their prominence in marginal religious movements, their precarious legal situation in European colonies, or the disappearance of the widow from view in modern times. The essays which comprise this book should help us to begin to perceive the rich cultural variation in the representations and realities of the widows' worlds.

O autorze

Jan Bremmer, Lourens Van Den Bosch