La féminité entre injonctions et transgressions dans l'Europe ibérique des XVIe et XVIIe siècles : discours et représentations dans la littérature picaresque et les manuels d'éducation

Details

Supervisors

Mostaccio, Silvia

Faculty

Faculté de philosophie, arts et lettres

Degree label

Master [120] en histoire

Abstract

enThis dissertation deals with the discourse and representations of women in Iberian Europe in the 16th and 17th centuries. The upheavals of the time had a profound impact on modern societies, not only in terms of the economic context, but also in terms of the ideas conveyed, especially with regard to the perception of gender. On the one hand, the boundaries between the female and male sexes were reinforced, on the other hand, they were blurred. More and more authors spoke of "feminine men" or "virile women". It is these women who occupy a central place in our study. The figure of the virago had been defined and codified in previous centuries and was then at the heart of plural representations. However, the ambiguous and irreconcilable term "virile woman" gives rise to questions about respect for gender norms and their transgressions. We will therefore study the discourse on femininity, and more particularly on deviations from the feminine standards of the modern age. In our study, we have mobilised a very rich and heterogeneous body of sources. On the one hand, we have used educational manuals addressed to women, and on the other hand, works of Spanish Picaresque literature. Both types of sources aim to inculcate morality. The authors of the textbooks give conduct injunctions while the picaresque literature proceeds by way of comic counterexamples. These two sources, interpreted in parallel, will allow us to analyse the discourse of femininity, considering both the injunctions and the transgressions.