Catechisms and Women's Writing in Seventeenth-Century England

Erscheinungsjahr 2021
ISBN: 978-1-316-64808-7
Verlag: Cambridge University Press

Buch, Englisch, 220 Seiten, Format (B × H): 152 mm x 229 mm, Gewicht: 304 g

Catechisms and Women's Writing in Seventeenth-Century England is a study of early modern women's literary use of catechizing. Paula McQuade examines original works composed by women - both in manuscript and print, as well as women's copying and redacting of catechisms - and construction of these materials from other sources. By studying female catechists, McQuade shows how early modern women used the power and authority granted to them as mothers to teach religious doctrine, to demonstrate their linguistic skills, to engage sympathetically with Catholic devotional texts, and to comment on matters of contemporary religious and political import - activities that many scholars have considered the sole prerogative of clergymen. This book addresses the question of women's literary production in early modern England, demonstrating that reading and writing of catechisms were crucial sites of women's literary engagements during this time.

Autoren/Hrsg.

McQuade, Paula

Fachgebiete

• Interdisziplinäres Wissenschaften Wissenschaften Interdisziplinär Geisteswissenschaften
• Geisteswissenschaften Literaturwissenschaft Literaturwissenschaft

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Introduction. 'Milk for babes': catechisms and female authorship in early modern England; Part I. Domestic Catechesis and Female Authorship: 1. 'Mother bare me': catechisms and maternity in early modern England; 2. 'A tender mother': domestic catechesis in the household devotional of Katherine Fitzwilliam, circa 1603; Part II. Female Witness and Inter-Confessional Dialogue: 3. 'At Magdalin's house': maternal catechesis and female witness in the manuscript miscellany of Katherine Thomas (b. 1637); 4. Catholicism, catechesis, and coterie circulation: the manuscript of Barbara Slingsbury Talbot (b. 1633); Part III. Print and Polemic: 5. 'A knowing people': catechizing and community in Dorothy Burch's A Catechisme of the Severall Heads of the Christian Religion (1646); 6. Prophecy, catechesis, and community in Mary Cary's The Resurrection of the Witnesses (1648; reprint 1653); Epilogue.

Über Autor(innen)

McQuade, Paula
Paula McQuade received her Ph.D. from the University of Chicago in 1998. The recipient of a 1996 Charlotte Newcombe Fellowship, McQuade is the author of multiple articles on early modern women and gender. Her article on the female catechist Dorothy Burch was selected as the best article published in 2010 by the Society for the Study of Early Modern Women Writers. She is also the recipient of an Excellence in Teaching Award from DePaul University, Chicago.