Writing Gender in Women's Letter Collections of the Italian Renaissance

Meredith K Ray

Published by University of Toronto Press 2009

Writing Gender in Women's Letter Collections of the Italian Renaissance

Meredith K Ray

https://doi.org/10.3138/9781442697836

Overview
Contents

About this book

Ray's study includes extensive new archival research and highlights a widespread interest in women's letter collections during the Italian Renaissance that suggests a deep curiosity about the female experience and a surprising openness to women's participation in this kind of literary production.

Author / Editor information

Ray Meredith K :

Meredith K. Ray is an assistant professor in the Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures at the University of Delaware.

Reviews

Aileen A Feng:
'Writing Gender is a fresh approach to the history of women that exposes the role of both authentic and ventriloquized gendered voices in the construction and performance of gender in Renaissance and Baroque vernacular letter collections.'

Valeria Finucci, Department of Romance Studies, Duke University :
Writing Gender in Women's Letter Collections of the Italian Renaissance is a pleasure to read. A strong, well-argued book, it is written in an engaging, scholarly, and polished style. Meredith K. Ray makes the case for the importance of the genre of letter writing for women as she shows how difficult it was for intellectual women to adopt a public persona. She also illustrates how popular it was at the time to "write like a woman," to the point that even male authors wanted to catch the wave. Brava!

Topics

Frontmatter Publicly Available Download PDF	i
Contents Publicly Available Download PDF	vii
Acknowledgments Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	ix
PART ONE: The Vernacular Letter in Context
Introduction: Reading the Lettera familiare Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	3
1 Women’s Vernacular Letters in Context Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	19
PART TWO: The Epistolary Construction of Gender
2 Female Impersonations: Ortensio Lando’s Lettere di molte valorose donne Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	45
3 ‘A gloria del sesso feminile’: The Lettere of Lucrezia Gonzaga as Exemplary Narrative Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	81
PART THREE: Epistolary Space and Female Experience
4 The Courtesan’s Voice: Veronica Franco’s Lettere familiari Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	123
5 Between Stage and Page: The Letters of Isabella Andreini Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	156
6 The Pen for the Sword: Arcangela Tarabotti’s Lettere familiari e di complimento Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	184
Epilogue: Writing Letters, Performing Gender Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	214
Notes Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	221
Bibliography Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	323
Index Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	355

(Deutsch)

Language: English
Publisher: University of Toronto Press
Audience: College/higher education;Professional and scholarly;
Pages
- Main content: 304
Keywords: DISCOUNT-B

eBook

Published: December 31, 2009
ISBN: 9781442697836