Author Serendipity #5: Christine de Pizan, Early Feminist

Welcome to this week's installment

of my new book meme!

The purpose of this new feature is to highlight those authors I have recently discovered, and whose books I would love to read. Such discoveries might come about through browsing on the Internet (on Goodreads, Shelfari, or Amazon), a chance encounter with an interesting book in a bookstore,

or through other bloggers' recommendations.

The authors I choose will be those who write in my favorite genres, and might be either emerging authors, or have been in print for a while. 
They will, however, be entirely new to me.

This week, I would like to thank

Brian Joseph @ Babbling Books

for my discovery of a daring medieval writer!

You can access the post which mentions

this writer and her audacious book

HERE.

Here's my fifth discovery!

Christine de Pizan

(Dec. 24, 1362 - Dec. 23, 1433)

Medieval poet and early feminist

This author's views on the status of women were remarkably modern, given the time she lived in, which was rife with misogynistic ideas.  Born in Venice, Italy, she wrote courtly poetry, as well as several works contributing to the rhetorical tradition.   In doing my research, I found conflicting dates for her birth and death; the ones shown above are from her Goodreads profile. 

The book mentioned in Brian's post is, according to scholars, the very first one written by a woman in defense of her gender. 

Although she was born in Venice, she spent most of her life in Paris, as well as at the abbey of Poissy. She wrote in what is known as Middle French.

Her best-known and most influential works are The Book of the City of Ladies and The Treasure of the City of Ladies, both of which exhort women to resist misogyny and stereotypical attitudes toward their gender.

Several scholars have brought her work out of obscurity; among them is the great advocate of feminism, Simone de Beauvoir. Other scholars include Earl Jeffrey Richards (translator of the edition of The Book of the City of Ladies shown here), Charity Cannon Willard, and Rosalind Brown-Gran (translator of the edition sold on Amazon).

The Book of the City of Ladies

Christine de Pizan

Paperback, 282 pages

Persea Books

June 1, 1998

(first published 1405)

From the Wikipedia Synopsis

In The Book of the City of Ladies de Pizan created a symbolic city in which women are appreciated and defended. She constructed three allegorical foremothers: Reason, Justice, and Rectitude. She enters into a dialogue, a movement between question and answer, with these allegorical figures that is from a completely female perspective. Only female voices, examples and opinions provide evidence within this text. Christine, through Lady Reason in particular, argues that stereotypes of woman can be sustained only if women are prevented from entering the dominant male-oriented conversation.

 

The Treasure of the City of Ladies

Christine de Pizan

Paperback, 192 pages

Penguin Classics

May 7, 1985

(first published 1405)

From the Wikipedia Synopsis 

In The Treasure of the City of Ladies, she highlights the persuasive effect of women’s speech and actions in everyday life. In this particular text, Christine argues that women must recognize and promote their ability to make peace. De Pizan then argues that "skill in discourse should be a part of every woman’s moral repertoire".  She proved that rhetoric is a powerful tool that women could employ to settle differences and to assert themselves. Overall, she presented a concrete strategy that allowed all women, regardless of their status, to undermine the dominant patriarchal discourse.

For further information:

Goodreads Profile: Cristine de Pizan

Christine de Pizan

Wikipedia article on Christine de Pizan

The Life and Triumphs of Christine de Pizan