MEDIEVAL AND RENAISSANCE STUDIES
Panel Coordinator: Rafael Vélez Núñez (Universidad de Cádiz). Departamento de Filología Inglesa y Francesa. Facultad de Filosofia y Letras. Avda. Dr. Gómez Ulla s/n. 11003 Cádiz.
SESIÓN 1
María Laura Esteban Segura (Universidad de Murcia)
Título: Some Notes on London, Wellcome Library, MS 5262
Propuesta: Comunicación
Abstract: "Some Notes on London, Wellcome Library, MS 5262" by Laura Esteban Segura, Universidad de Murcia This paper focuses on London, Wellcome Library, MS 5262, a one-volume codex from the early fifteenth century which holds a medical recipe collection. The main aim is to analyse the book as a material object for the transmission of knowledge and information, providing insights not only into mediaeval medical practice, but also into socio-historical aspects of the period in which the manuscript was written and used. For this end, palaeographical and codicological elements, as well as contents, will be taken into consideration. Keywords: Wellcome 5262, Middle English, medical recipes, medicine, religión
María José Sánchez de Nieva (Universidad de Sevilla)
Título: Female characters of the Old English Apollonius of Tyre
Propuesta: Comunicación
Abstract: The Old English Apollonius of Tyre is the first vernacular translation of the Latin Historia Apollonii, a narrative which was remarkably popular throughout the Middle Ages and the Renaissance. This extant prose version is preserved in the mid-eleventh century manuscript, Cambridge, Corpus ChristiCollege, 201, a varied compilation containing religious, legal and poetic texts. Among other works, Wulfstan’s legal and homiletic works, an incomplete translation of the Regularis Concordia, and fragmentary parts from the Old English Benedictine Rule stand out. Compiled with this miscellaneous set of works we find the prose Apollonius of Tyre, an Old English text which dramatically contrasts with the other manuscript works due to its reference to incest as well as its notable mixture of pagan and Christian elements. Considered the earliest known English romance, Apollonius of Tyre displays the typical features of this genre such as the hero’s quest, the exiled king, sea journeys and storms, family separation and reunion, among others. On the other hand, Apollonius has been traditionally associated with hagiography, frequently viewed as an influential Christian exemplum. Critics have also considered this text an appropriate companion of The Story of Joseph, a prose OE version of the biblical account found in the same manuscript, which shows a mutual interest with Apollonius in the topics of good rulership and chastity. In this paper, I intend to show how this generic mixture works through the analysis of its three main female characters, namely Antiochus’ daughter, Thasia (Apollonius’ daughter), and Arcestrate (Apollonius’ wife). This paper will therefore try to prove that the Anglo-Saxon translator was probably aware of this generic blend and effectively used it to accommodate the story to eleventh-century morals and concerns.
Key Words: Apollonius of Tyre, Romance, Hagiography, Incest, Medieval Literature.
SESIÓN 2
María de la Cinta Zunino Garrido (Universidad de Jaén)
Título: Anthony Munday’s Fedele and Fortunio and Theatrical Mimesis: The Paradox of Puritan Objections to Drama
Propuesta: Comunicación
Abstract: After the first utterly commercial private playhouse was set up at Blackfriars and two of the first public playhouses —The Curtain and The Theatre— were built in 1576, the English Puritans started to openly condemn drama on the grounds of its mimetic character. Just as Luther and Calvin voiced disapproval of the vain usage of God’s sacred word and of visual images that fostered idolatry, the Puritans condemned drama because it was one more type of representational act impious and aberrant in the eyes of Calvinism. Dramatic illusion was to the Puritans a dishonest activity instigated by satanic forces that guided dramatists, players, and spectators alike to sin. However, as I attempt to prove by focusing first on several Puritan objections to drama and secondly on Anthony Munday’s Fedele and Fortunio (1584), behind all these Puritan contentions, there rested the hidden fear that the theatre began to emerge as a compelling source of popular entertainment which menaced the role of the Church as the place for public congregation and, consequently, for social control.
- Autor: Luciano García García
Universidad: Jaén
Email:
Título: Washing the Moor white on Early Modern English stage (1550-1666)
Propuesta: Comunicación
Abstract: The impossibilia of washing a Moor white has not received much treatment in the iconographical arts, much less in the written texts. However, this is a well known motif that appears in a profusion of texts from the time of the Early Renaissance Period till the first half of the 20th century (witness the seminal article by Massing \"From Greek Proverb to Soap Advert: Washing the Ethiopian\" or Maria de la Paz López-Peláez Casellas \"‘Virtutem aut vitium sequi genus.’ Blackness and Moorishness in English Iconography\"). However, a number of critics have dealt with this motif in Early Modern English plays in more or less depth and length. My endeavour here is to attempt a prelimiary catalogue gathering the scattered critical references produced lately, and adding five more occurrences not detected so far. My paper, given the space available, will end with three brief comments on the currency of the topos, its significance as a social symptom and its visual relation with emblems and pictures. KEY WORDS: impossibilia, washing, black, Moor, Blackamour, Aethiopian, white, motifs, drama, Early Modern English drama.
Paula de Pando Mena (Universidad de Sevilla)
Título: Queens Without a King: She-tragedy and Same-Sex Affection in John Banks’s The Island Queens.
Propuesta: Comunicación
Abstract: Although the she-tragedy of the late seventeenth century is a rare instance of a genre in which female characters take centre stage, critics such as Jean Marsden, Elizabeth Howe and Laura Brown have analyzed it as a patriarchal construction. For these critics, the victimization of a female protagonist in the hands of men who occupy a position of political, social or domestic power, undermines the apparent centrality of the actress and makes her subservient to the wishes of the men around them. Thus, rather than becoming a vehicle for the exploration of women’s psychological and social plights, she-tragedy has traditionally been seen as the epitome of female objectification and neglect. This paper analyzes a play in which the dynamics of gender are subverted in order to enhance the centrality of the female characters. John Banks’s The Island Queens (1684) portrays the execution of Mary Stuart and the imaginary meeting between the Scottish Queen and Elizabeth I, in ways that challenge the conventional interpretation of she-tragedy. Thus, the aim of this paper is to draw attention to she-tragedy as an arena for the psychological exploration of female characters, against a critical tradition that sees the genre as a mere template for sexual spectacle.
SESIÓN 3
Pilar Peña Gil (Universidad de Sevilla)
Título: Grendel's mother's femininity in the Anglo-Saxon Beowulf and in R.L. Zemeckis's film version
Propuesta: Comunicación
Abstract: The character of Grendel’s mother is vaguely and obscurely portrayed in the Anglo-Saxon Beowulf to the extent that she does not even have a name. Traditionally considered a monster—together with Grendel and the dragon— this female character has gained prominence in the last decades as regards scholarly criticism and film representation. Being the hero’s antitype, Grendel’s mother is portrayed as a powerful counterpart who puts Beowulf’s life at stake in order to avenge her son’s death. Her extraordinary strength, and her resistance to normal weapons, makes her a supernatural creature. For centuries, scholars and readers have predominately considered her an abomination of nature. In contrast to the other female characters, Grendel’s mother possesses some attractive characteristics deriving from her masculine features to such an extent that she is sometimes referred to by masculine pronouns in the poem. This masculinity is also evinced by her breaking of the conventions traditionally ascribed to women in Anglo-Saxon society, endowing her with a certain sensuality that has been explored and perhaps exaggerated in several modern literary and filmic adaptations where she features as a sort of femme fatale.
Laura Tupone (Universidad de Málaga)
Título:AnimalizingWomen: Shakespearean Shrews on Film
Propuesta: Comunicación
Abstract: Since William Shakespeare’s The Taming of the Shrew is one of the most famous literary works of wife taming, this paper will analyze a selection of films based on this play. The selection includes the productions directed by Sam Taylor, Franco Zeffirelli, Fatin Abdel Wahad, Gil Junger, and David Richards. In this analysis, I will provide examples on howanimalimagery, present in Shrew, is transferred onto the screen by means of the films\' screenplay and soundtrack. While Shakespeare's language might be abridged and partially or totally modified, this allegorical imagery will be reinforced by sound and visual support, with the aim of conveying the final portrayal of the main characters.