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IMC 2012: Sessions

Session 1528: Medieval Gender and Sexuality: After the Middle Ages

Thursday 12 July 2012, 09.00-10.30

Moderator/Chair:Jamie Page, St Andrews Institute of Mediaeval Studies, University of St Andrews
Paper 1528-aHeteronormative Medievalism: Just How Timeless is the Love Story of Tristan and Isolde?
(Language: English)
Karina Marie Ash, Department für Germanistik, Komparatistik, Nordistik, Deutsch als Fremdsprache, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München
Index terms: Gender Studies, Language and Literature - German
Paper 1528-bFemale Practitioners and Their Reputation in Medieval England: The Case of Ken Follet's World Without End
(Language: English)
Cristina Mourón-Figueroa, Departamento de Filoloxía Inglesa e Alemá, Universidade de Santiago de Compostela
Index terms: Medicine, Women's Studies
Abstract

Paper -a:
Abstract withheld by request

Paper -b:
The British writer Ken Follet not only chose a female physician as the unquestionable and formidable protagonist for his best-seller World without End (2007) but he also included other female characters in medieval medical occupations such as nurses, midwives, and healers or herbalists. This paper aims to thoroughly examine the world of female practitioners in medieval England and compare it to how it was portrayed by Follet in his novel. The main objective is to find out to what extent the novel depicts the life and the reputation of those women who dared to break the rules by practising medicine, a field characteristically dominated by men.