Lombardi, Elena. Imagining the woman reader in the age of Dante

Folger bibliographic ID: 355387
Folger call number: PQ4055.W6 L66 2018
Folger holdings ID: 503498

This book brings to light a new character in medieval literature: that of the woman reader and interlocutor. It does so by establishing a dialogue between literary studies, gender studies, the history of literacy, and the material culture of the book in medieval times. From Guittone d'Arezzo's piercing critic, the 'villainous woman', to the mysterious Lady who bids Guido Cavalcanti to write his grand philosophical song, to Dante's female co-editors in the 'Vita Nova' and his great characters of female readers, such as Francesca and Beatrice in the 'Comedy', all the way to Boccaccio's overtly female audience, this particular interlocutor appears to be central to the construct of textuality and the construction of literary authority. This volume explores the figure of the woman reader by contextualizing her within the history of female literacy, the material culture of the book, and the ways in which writers and poets of earlier traditions imagined her

Edition

First edition

General notes

Includes bibliographical references (pages 259-278) and index This book brings to light a new character in medieval literature: that of the woman reader and interlocutor. It does so by establishing a dialogue between literary studies, gender studies, the history of literacy, and the material culture of the book in medieval times. From Guittone d'Arezzo's piercing critic, the 'villainous woman', to the mysterious Lady who bids Guido Cavalcanti to write his grand philosophical song, to Dante's female co-editors in the 'Vita Nova' and his great characters of female readers, such as Francesca and Beatrice in the 'Comedy', all the way to Boccaccio's overtly female audience, this particular interlocutor appears to be central to the construct of textuality and the construction of literary authority. This volume explores the figure of the woman reader by contextualizing her within the history of female literacy, the material culture of the book, and the ways in which writers and poets of earlier traditions imagined her

Extended title: Imagining the woman reader in the age of Dante / Elena Lombardi

Women Italian literature Women in literature

author: Lombardi, Elena