Women and Experience in Later Medieval Writing : Reading the Book of Life

This volume examines the common medieval notion of life experience as a source of wisdom and traces that theme through different texts and genres to uncover the fabric of experience woven into the writings by, for, and about women. This volume examines the common medieval notion of life experience as a source of wisdom and traces that theme through different texts and genres to uncover the fabric of experience woven into the writings by, for, and about women Cover -1 Half-Title -1 Series -1 Title -1 Copyright -1 Contents -1 Acknowledgments -1 List of Abbreviations -1 1 Experientia and the Construction of Experience in Medieval Writing: An Introduction -1 2 The New Devout and their Women of Authority -1 3 Partners in Profession: Inwardness, Experience, and Understanding in Heloise and Abelard -1 4 Communities of Discourse: Religious Authority and the Role of Holy Women in the Later Middle Ages -1 5 Two Women of Experience, Two Men of Letters, and the Book of Life -1 6 “[A]n awngel al clothyd in white”: Rereading the Book of Life as The Book of Margery Kempe -1 7 Die Gheestelicke Melody: A Program for the Spiritual Life in a Middle Dutch Song Cycle -1 8 Handing on Wisdom and Knowledge in Hadewijch of Brabant’s Book of Visions -1 9 Afterword -1 Notes on Contributors -1 General Index -1 Index of Modern Authors -1 Front Matter....Pages i-xiii Experientia and the Construction of Experience in Medieval Writing: An Introduction....Pages 1-23 The New Devout and Their Women of Authority....Pages 25-45 Partners in Profession: Inwardness, Experience, and Understanding in Heloise and Abelard....Pages 47-64 Communities of Discourse: Religious Authority and the Role of Holy Women in the Later Middle Ages....Pages 65-81 Two Women of Experience, Two Men of Letters, and the Book of Life....Pages 83-101 “[A]n Awngel Al Clothyd in White”: Rereading the Book of Life as The Book of Margery Kempe....Pages 103-121 Die Gheestelicke Melody: A Program for the Spiritual Life in a Middle Dutch Song Cycle....Pages 123-147 Handing on Wisdom and Knowledge in Hadewijch of Brabant’s Book of Visions....Pages 149-168 Afterword....Pages 169-175 Back Matter....Pages 177-194 "The editors of this volume emphasize the importance of 'communities of discourse' in the sharing of knowledge in informal contexts, including domestic settings ... Women and Experience in Later Medieval Writing invites us to rethink the perceived dichotomy between male or masculine learning and female or feminine experience. Indeed it goes so far as to challenge its validity. In so doing it invites us to reconsider our very understanding of what constitutes education."--Diane Watt, Professor of English, Aberystwyth University and author of Medieval Women's Writing and Secretaries of God: Women Prophets in Late Medieval and Early Modern England By tracing the theme through different texts and genres, contributors uncover the fabric of experience woven into the writings by, for, and about women. They discover distinct and informal "communities of discourse" and study the learning, reading, and writing practices which women enjoyed. By showing how such practices ran both parallel to, but also often incorporated, traditional, male-focused learning activity this volume advances the "new" genre of "the book of life" and makes a compelling case for a new reading of medieval texts--Résumé de l'éditeur