Medieval Monstrosity and the Female Body

Fiction & Literature, Literary Theory & Criticism, Medieval, Nonfiction, History
Cover of the book Medieval Monstrosity and the Female Body by Sarah Alison Miller, Taylor and Francis
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Sarah Alison Miller ISBN: 9781136923500
Publisher: Taylor and Francis Publication: July 2, 2010
Imprint: Routledge Language: English
Author: Sarah Alison Miller
ISBN: 9781136923500
Publisher: Taylor and Francis
Publication: July 2, 2010
Imprint: Routledge
Language: English

The medieval monster is a slippery construct, and its referents include a range of religious, racial, and corporeal aberrations. In this study, Miller argues that one incarnation of monstrosity in the Middle Ages—the female body—exists in special relation to medieval teratology insofar as it resists the customary marginalization that defined most other monstrous groups in the Middle Ages. Though medieval maps located the monstrous races on the distant margins of the civilized world, the monstrous female body took the form of mother, sister, wife, and daughter. It was, therefore, pervasive, proximate, and necessary on social, sexual, and reproductive grounds. Miller considers several significant texts representing authoritative discourses on female monstrosity in the Middle Ages: the Pseudo-Ovidian poem, De vetula (The Old Woman); a treatise on human generation erroneously attributed to Albert the Great, De secretis mulierum (On the Secrets of Women), and Julian of Norwich’s Showings. Through comparative analysis, Miller grapples with the monster’s semantic flexibility while simultaneously working towards a composite image of late-medieval female monstrosity whose features are stable enough to define. Whether this body is discursively constructed as an Ovidian body, a medicalized body, or a mystical body, its corporeal boundaries fail to form properly: it is a body out of bounds.

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

The medieval monster is a slippery construct, and its referents include a range of religious, racial, and corporeal aberrations. In this study, Miller argues that one incarnation of monstrosity in the Middle Ages—the female body—exists in special relation to medieval teratology insofar as it resists the customary marginalization that defined most other monstrous groups in the Middle Ages. Though medieval maps located the monstrous races on the distant margins of the civilized world, the monstrous female body took the form of mother, sister, wife, and daughter. It was, therefore, pervasive, proximate, and necessary on social, sexual, and reproductive grounds. Miller considers several significant texts representing authoritative discourses on female monstrosity in the Middle Ages: the Pseudo-Ovidian poem, De vetula (The Old Woman); a treatise on human generation erroneously attributed to Albert the Great, De secretis mulierum (On the Secrets of Women), and Julian of Norwich’s Showings. Through comparative analysis, Miller grapples with the monster’s semantic flexibility while simultaneously working towards a composite image of late-medieval female monstrosity whose features are stable enough to define. Whether this body is discursively constructed as an Ovidian body, a medicalized body, or a mystical body, its corporeal boundaries fail to form properly: it is a body out of bounds.

More books from Taylor and Francis

Cover of the book Swords Into Dow Shares by Sarah Alison Miller
Cover of the book Barth's Ontology of Sin and Grace by Sarah Alison Miller
Cover of the book The Force of Fashion in Politics and Society by Sarah Alison Miller
Cover of the book Introduction to Forensic Anthropology by Sarah Alison Miller
Cover of the book The Management of International Tourism (RLE Tourism) by Sarah Alison Miller
Cover of the book Monopoly and Restrictive Practices by Sarah Alison Miller
Cover of the book The European Union and International Organizations by Sarah Alison Miller
Cover of the book King Solomon's Ring by Sarah Alison Miller
Cover of the book Social Networks and Social Movements by Sarah Alison Miller
Cover of the book Treating Families and Children in the Child Protective System by Sarah Alison Miller
Cover of the book Income and Choice in Biological Control Systems by Sarah Alison Miller
Cover of the book Black Women's Risk for HIV by Sarah Alison Miller
Cover of the book A Primer For Daily Life by Sarah Alison Miller
Cover of the book The Social Cure by Sarah Alison Miller
Cover of the book Head Over Heels by Sarah Alison Miller
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy