Session Title
Nevertheless, She Resisted: Centering Female Will and Consent in Medieval Literature
Sponsoring Organization(s)
Medieval Association of the Midwest (MAM)
Organizer Name
Alison Langdon
Organizer Affiliation
Western Kentucky Univ.
Presider Name
Alison Langdon
Paper Title 1
"The Drake, Stroyer of His Owne Kinde": Feminine Will in The Parliament of Fowls
Presenter 1 Name
Kristin Bovaird-Abbo
Presenter 1 Affiliation
Univ. of Northern Colorado
Paper Title 2
"In myn armes I had her faste": Rape and Its Undercurrents in The Isle of Ladies
Presenter 2 Name
Boyda J. Johnstone
Presenter 2 Affiliation
Borough of Manhattan Community College, CUNY
Paper Title 3
Que si faire li plot: Toxic Masculinity, Erased Consent, and the Making of a Queen in Chrétien de Troyes's Erec et Enide
Presenter 3 Name
Elizabeth S. Leet
Presenter 3 Affiliation
Franklin & Marshall College
Paper Title 4
Negotiating Survival: Women's Strategies of Resistance in Premodern Rape Lyrics
Presenter 4 Name
Carissa M. Harris
Presenter 4 Affiliation
Temple Univ.
Start Date
12-5-2019 10:30 AM
Session Location
Bernhard 208
Description
Rape in medieval literature often functions as a “chivalric necessity,” a means of articulating masculine identity that elides or ignores questions of female bodily sovereignty in favor of the male protagonist’s development. Yet we also find instances where texts implicitly or explicitly call attention to the act of rape as a violation of female will. This session seeks papers exploring narratives of resistance in medieval texts that recenter will and consent in portrayals of rape. Alison Langdon
Nevertheless, She Resisted: Centering Female Will and Consent in Medieval Literature
Bernhard 208
Rape in medieval literature often functions as a “chivalric necessity,” a means of articulating masculine identity that elides or ignores questions of female bodily sovereignty in favor of the male protagonist’s development. Yet we also find instances where texts implicitly or explicitly call attention to the act of rape as a violation of female will. This session seeks papers exploring narratives of resistance in medieval texts that recenter will and consent in portrayals of rape. Alison Langdon