Medieval Women in the Celtic-speaking West

Weeks 1-6 will focus on medieval Irish evidence about the lives and literary representations of women, introducing students to a range of legal and literary sources which can allow us to investigate the status, position and agency of women in early Irish society and culture. An overview of the extant sources for the socio-legal position of women will be given, and close reading of a variety of literary texts will help to provide a nuanced view of the relationship between women and men in medieval Irish society, of gender values in medieval Ireland and of female roles in medieval Irish culture. All sources will be read in English translation. Weeks 7-12 will draw and build on the themes explored in the first half of the course, focusing on the construction and representation of gender and sexuality within medieval literary texts. It will explore the representation and role of female agency in the context of the themes of liminality, sovereignty, and death in particular, and will examine the influence and presence of such understandings within popular, folkloric culture in Ireland in the early modern period and beyond. The course will introduce students to some important concepts within contemporary feminist and queer theory, and explore medieval discourses on gender and sexuality in that critical context.