The Androgyne in Early Modern France: Contextualizing the Power of Gender

ISBN-13: 9781137541369 / Angielski / Twarda / 2015 / 256 str.

Marian Rothstein

Opis

In the Renaissance, the androygyne - based on sources in Genesis and Plato's Symposium, understood to be connected-was a means of expressing the full potential of humans made in the image of God. Discussing the androygyne within the context of the visual, literary, and political, this book explores the androgyne as it was understood in early modern France. More specifically, Rothstein documents the range of uses of the androgyne in the thought of poets, philosophers, courtiers, and women in positions of political power and its ultimate connection to gender construction during the European Renaissance. As the book moves from examining the sources of the androgyne to increasingly contextualized instances of their use, Rothstein highlights specific manifestations of the androgyne as a powerful yet enigmatic literary metaphor, as well as an instrument of action in the world.

Recenzje

"Scholars of early-modern French literature interested in gender have long been waiting for this volume and it does not disappoint. Marked by Rothstein's characteristic wry wit, expansive engagement with sources canonical and barely known, and distinctive account of early modern gender, the volume details the variety of ways in which the androgyne facilitated access to what she calls human plenitude." (Marc Schachter, H-France Review, Vol. 17 (226), December, 2017)

"In this volume, Marian Rothstein builds on her earlier article-length investigations of the androgyne myth's use in literary and political environments in early modern France. ... Well written and documented, this work will become a standard for anyone interested in questions of gender in early modern France." (Jeff Kendrick, French Studies, Vol. 70 (4), October, 2016)

O autorze

Marian Rothstein is Professor Emerita of French at Carthage College, USA. She is the author of Reading in the Renaissance: Amadis de Gaule and the Lessons of Memory and editor of Charting Change in Renaissance French Thought and Culture.