Rediscovering the Feminist Utopia in Middle Ages: Christine de Pizan's The Book of the City of Ladies
Cumhuriyet 9th International Conference on Social Sciences, Afyonkarahisar, Turkey, 30 August 2023, pp.232, (Summary Text)
- Publication Type: Conference Paper / Summary Text
- City: Afyonkarahisar
- Country: Turkey
- Page Numbers: pp.232
- Open Archive Collection: AVESIS Open Access Collection
- Ankara Yıldırım Beyazıt University Affiliated: Yes
Abstract
Italian-born French poet and author Christine De Pizan (1363-1430) stands out as a revolutionary female figure in the male-dominated Middle Ages. De Pizan is one of the first professional female writers to earn her living by pen. As a feminist avant la lettre, she advocated for women’s equality and education. Published in 1405, The Book of the City of Ladies is known as the first feminist prose on women’s history. Written over six hundred years ago, the text offers a utopian city populated by noble, educated and powerful women, challenging the patriarchal practices and hierarchical structures of that time. De Pizan casts herself as one of the characters; she is visited by three allegorical women named Reason, Rectitude and Justice as paragons of virtue and granted the honour of constructing the City of Ladies for all women of virtue. This paper, with reference to contemporary feminist trajectories, rediscovers The City of Ladies and explores how Pizan subverts the patriarchal perception of women by reconstructing a narrative space within which she sees herself mirrored. Functioning both as the herald of feminist philosophy and a critical reinterpretation of women’s history, the text opens up a window into the medieval women’s realm.
Keywords: Christine de Pizan, The Book of the City of Ladies, Feminist Utopia, Feminism, Medieval Women.