Course Description
Summary
In this seminar, we’ll read an assortment of Medieval and Early Modern female visionary writers alongside contemporary writers that they inspired. Primary readings will include Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz (1648-1695), writer, nun, and polymath in colonial Mexico and poet Eileen Myles (1949- ), who wrote a play inspired by her life; Margery Kempe (1373-1438) and Margery Kempe by Robert Glück (1947- ); and Hildegard von Bingen (1098-1179) and Unknown Language by Huw Lemmey using language from Hildegard of Bingen’s work. We’ll supplement these primary readings with work situating these authors in their religious and cultural contexts, as well including relevant music and visual art.
Writing for the class will include short weekly reading responses, culminating in either a final essay examining one of these dyads or a critical/creative response which will include a short analysis of howone of these contemporary authors worked with their source text and a creative experiment using this author’s methods but with another source text.
