Current Search: Marginality, Social--France--To 1500 (x)
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Title
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The Subaltern Female Struggle for Power in Courtly Love France and Medieval Spain.
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Creator
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Macbeth, Verna Michelle, Gamboa, Yolanda, Florida Atlantic University
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Abstract/Description
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In medieval France, much of the written literature was dominated by the system of courtly love, in which the married noble woman held the position of authority over her lover or knight. Yet this courtly system was entirely literary and did not change women's subjugated position in feudal society, and even propagated misogynistic ideals. In John Beverly's theory of Subalternity, the struggle for power within different systems is shown as having two main groups, the elite and the subaltern; the...
Show moreIn medieval France, much of the written literature was dominated by the system of courtly love, in which the married noble woman held the position of authority over her lover or knight. Yet this courtly system was entirely literary and did not change women's subjugated position in feudal society, and even propagated misogynistic ideals. In John Beverly's theory of Subalternity, the struggle for power within different systems is shown as having two main groups, the elite and the subaltern; the former having control over the representation of the latter, and therefore control over how the subaltern shapes its selfimage. In medieval, courtly love France, those who manufacture the literary representations of women are male, and those texts that aided in the re-affirming of feudal society; though some women, like Christine de Pizan, resisted those representations. Conversely, in medieval Spain, courtly love does not take hold as a literary phenomenon due to the different cultural and social environment of Spanish noble women.
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Date Issued
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2008
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PURL
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http://purl.flvc.org/fau/fd/FA00000936
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Subject Headings
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Marginality, Social--France--To 1500, Marginality, Social--Spain--To 1500, Feminism and literature--Europe--History--Middle Ages, 500-1500, Women--Europe--History--Middle Ages, 500-1500, Man-woman relationships in literature, Literature, Medieval--Criticism and interpretation
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Format
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Document (PDF)