Genders, Genres, and Voices in Early Modern Italy, France, and Spain

FAIN: RZ-50308-04

Albert Rabil, Jr
Unaffiliated independent scholar

Translation and editing of eight volumes in the series "The Other Voice in Early Modern Europe."

Ten editors/translators are preparing English editions of nine projects comprising texts written in Italian, French, and Spanish from the late 1300s to the late 1600s by both women and men in a variety of genres, including lyric and epic poetry, romances in prose and poetry, novellas in the form of fairy tales, devotional literature, and debates in the querelle des femmes tradition. Many of these materials are presented in anthologies. One contains devotional literature produced by women in the cities and towns of Italy--ecstatic visions and revelations, biographies and autobiographies, personal letters, and more; as well as prescriptive and normative models enunciated for women by male preachers. Two anthologies of texts by Italian men add to our appreciation in English of humanist contributions to "the woman question," one comprising five treatises praising women (1467-1501), the other a number of essays criticizing women (1540-1600) which drew responses from a number of Italian women. Two other anthologies collect fairy tales, the first written by an Italian man containing tales attributed to women, the second by French women making explicit the female nature of this genre (as it was regarded at the time). Four projects are devoted to one woman writer each, all belonging to the seventeenth century. Two are romances, one an epic written in poetry pitting Christian Venice against Muslim Byzantium, the other a prose narrative that pushes romance toward the realistic novel. A third project is a compilation of texts by and to a Venetian Jewish intellectual woman. A fourth is writing in various genres by a well-educated Spanish nun. These projects are part of a much larger undertaking: the publication of works by and about early modern continental European women by the University of Chicago Press in the series "The Other Voice in Early Modern Europe." The series now stands at 68 volumes (21 published to date), and promises to grow even larger. Another tradition is being recovered that will make the established one both larger and more inclusive.

Associated Products

In Dialogue with the Other Voice in Sixteenth-Century Italy: Literary and Social Contexts for Women's Writing (Book)
Title: In Dialogue with the Other Voice in Sixteenth-Century Italy: Literary and Social Contexts for Women's Writing
Editor: Maria Galli Stampino
Editor: Julie D. Campbell
Abstract: This excellent collection of essays and texts surveys the culture and intellectual context of early modern Italy in order to render more intelligible the writing of Italian women. The role of women in society and the persistent misogyny even of the most pro-woman texts are explored in the essays, and the recent critical debates are examined. These translations make available in English a selection of male-authored texts that directly or indirectly elicited the spirited responses of women, for which the volume is aptly entitled “In Dialogue.” A valuable classroom resource, the volume is an important addition to The Other Voice: Toronto series. See series website at http://othervoiceineme.com.
Year: 2011
Primary URL: http://www.worldcat.org/title/in-dialogue-with-the-other-voice-in-sixteenth-century-italy-literary-and-social-contexts-for-womens-writing/oclc/727455291&referer=brief_results
Primary URL Description: Worldcat listing
Secondary URL: http://crrs.ca/publications/ov11/
Secondary URL Description: Publisher's listing
Publisher: CRRS/Iter, University of Toronto
Type: Translation
Type: Scholarly Edition
ISBN: 9780772720856
Translator: Julie D. Campbell and Maria Galli Stampino

Jewish Poet and Intellectual in Seventeenth-Century Venice (Book)
Title: Jewish Poet and Intellectual in Seventeenth-Century Venice
Author: Sarra Copia Sulam
Editor: Don Harran
Abstract: Sarra Copia Sulam was the first Jewish woman to leave a significant mark ad a writer and intellectual. Harran has collected all of Sulam's previously scattered works--letters, sonnets, and a manifesto--as well as all known letters and poems addressed to her by others. She opened her home to Jews and Christians alike as a literary salon. see series website at http://othervoiceineme.com
Year: 2009
Primary URL: http://www.worldcat.org/title/jewish-poet-and-intellectual-in-seventeenth-century-venice-the-works-of-sarra-copia-sulam-in-verse-and-prose-along-with-writings-of-her-contemporaries-in-her-praise-condemnation-or-defense/oclc/317922876&referer=brief_results
Primary URL Description: WorldCat listing
Secondary URL: http://www.press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/J/bo6683606.html
Secondary URL Description: Publisher's listing
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
Type: Translation
Type: Scholarly Edition
ISBN: 9780226779898
Translator: Don Harran

Zayde: A Spanish Romance (Book)
Title: Zayde: A Spanish Romance
Author: Marie-MadeleinePioche de La Vergne, Comtesse de Lafayette
Editor: Nicholas D. Paige
Abstract: This work stands between traditional romance and early novelistic realism. It is set during the long medieval struggle between Christians and Muslims for control of the Iberian peninsula. Unlike romance, which is long and episodic, "Zayde" possesses a magissterial architecture of suspense. kChastre and faithful heroines and heroes are replaced by characters who are consumed by jealousy and unable to love happily. The work has been unavailable in English for two centuries. See series website at http://www.othervoiceineme.com.
Year: 2006
Primary URL: http://www.worldcat.org/title/zayde-a-spanish-romance/oclc/66463745&referer=brief_results
Primary URL Description: WorldCat listing
Secondary URL: http://www.press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/Z/bo3750486.html
Secondary URL Description: Publisher's lisitng
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
Type: Translation
Type: Scholarly Edition
ISBN: 9780226468518
Translator: Nicholas D. Paige

Enchanted Eloquence: Fairy Tales by Seventeenth-Century French Women Writers (Book)
Title: Enchanted Eloquence: Fairy Tales by Seventeenth-Century French Women Writers
Author: various
Editor: Lewis C. Seifert
Editor: Domna Stanton
Abstract: The focus is on unusual fairy tales that have never been translated before and are important for understanding the development of the literary fairy tale as genre. French women writers played an important role in this process. The tales subsequently influenced other writers of fairy tales in Europe. See series website at http://othervoiceineme.com.
Year: 2010
Primary URL: http://www.worldcat.org/title/enchanted-eloquence-fairy-tales-by-seventeenth-century-french-women-writers/oclc/689506796&referer=brief_results
Primary URL Description: WorldCat listing
Secondary URL: http://crrs.ca/publications/ov9/
Secondary URL Description: Publisher's listing
Publisher: Centre for Reformation and Renaissance Studies/ITER
Type: Translation
Type: Scholarly Edition
ISBN: 9780772720771
Translator: Lewis C. Seifert and Domna C. Stanton

Prizes

Choice Outstanding Academic Title
Date: 1/12/2012
Organization: Choice Reviews Online
Abstract: CHOICE is a publishing unit of the Association of College & Research Libraries, a division of the American Library Association. Every year in the January issue, in print and online, Choice publishes a list of Outstanding Academic Titles that were reviewed during the previous calendar year. This prestigious list reflects the best in scholarly titles reviewed by Choice and brings with it the extraordinary recognition of the academic library community.

Journeys of a Mystic Soul in Poetry and Prose (Book)
Title: Journeys of a Mystic Soul in Poetry and Prose
Author: Cecilia del Nacimiento
Editor: Margaret L. King, Series editor
Editor: Kevin Donnelly, Volume Editor
Editor: Sandra Sider, Volume Editor
Editor: Albert Rabil, Jr., Series Editor
Abstract: “This edition, which offers a bilingual selection of poetry and selected prose translated into English by the nun-author Cecilia del Nacimiento (1570-1646), increases contemporary scholars’ access to, and therefore understanding of, the Spanish early modern religious and intellectual milieu. A significant, rarely-studied mystic and poet, and member of the Discalced Carmelite Order in the years after St. Teresa of Avila’s death, Cecilia del Nacimiento exemplifies the range of possibilities used by women writers who worked within the conventions of hegemonic discourses, while creation a unique literary voice.” – Stacey Schlau, Professor, Department of Languages and Culture and the Women’s Studies Program, West Chester University, Pennsylvania
Year: 2012
Primary URL: http://www.worldcat.org/title/journeys-of-a-mystic-soul-in-poetry-and-prose/oclc/796918872&referer=brief_results
Primary URL Description: WorldCat listing
Secondary URL: http://crrs.ca/publications/ov18/
Secondary URL Description: Publisher's listing
Access Model: Book
Publisher: Iter, Inc. and the Center for Reformation and Renaissance Studies
Type: Translation
Type: Scholarly Edition
ISBN: 9780772721181
Translator: Sandra Sider
Translator: Kevin Donnelly

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