Details

Subject(s)

• Sex in literature [Browse]
• Social classes in literature [Browse]
• Politics in literature [Browse]
• Marguerite Queen, consort of Henry II, King of Navarre 1492-1549—Criticism and interpretation [Browse]
• Marguerite Queen, consort of Henry II, King of Navarre 1492-1549—Heptaméron [Browse]

Series

Women and gender in the early modern world [More in this series]

Summary note

Marguerite de Navarre's Heptaméron, composed in the 1540s and first published posthumously in 1558 and 1559, has long been an interpretive puzzle. De Navarre (1492-1549), sister of King Francis I of France, was a controversial figure in her lifetime. Her evangelical activities and proximity to the Crown placed her at the epicenter of her country's internecine strife and societal unrest. Yet her short stories appear to offer few traces of the sociopolitical turbulence that surrounded her. In Marguerite de Navarre's Shifting Gaze, however, Elizabeth Zegura argues that the Heptaméron's innocuous appearance camouflages its serious insights into patriarchy and gender, social class, and early modern French politics, which emerge from an analysis of the text's shifting perspectives. Zegura's approach, which focuses on visual cues and alternative standpoints and viewing positions within the text, hinges upon foregrounding "les choses basses" (lowly things) to which the devisante (storyteller) Oisille draws our attention in nouvelle (novella) 2 of the Heptaméron, using this downward, archaeological gaze to excavate layers of the text that merit more extensive critical attention. While her conclusions cast a new light on the literature, life, and times of Marguerite de Navarre, they are nevertheless closely aligned with recent scholarship on this important historical and literary figure. -- From publisher's website.

Bibliographic references

Includes bibliographical references (pages 251-260) and index.

Contents

• 1 Introduction
• 2 Between life and literature: the many faces of Marguerite de Navarre
• 3 Gender and patriachy: a many-sided view
• 4 Upstairs, downstairs: the dynamics of class and rank in the Heptaméron
• 5 Power, politics and modes of governance in the Heptaméron
• Conclusion
• Select bibliography
• Index.

Show 5 more Contents items

ISBN

• 1472487303 ((hardcover))
• 9781472487308 ((hardcover))

OCLC

951926525

Statement on language in description

Princeton University Library aims to describe library materials in a manner that is respectful to the individuals and communities who create, use, and are represented in the collections we manage. Read more...