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IMC 2020: Sessions

Session 1508: Approaches to Gendered Landscapes, I: Women Outdoors

Thursday 9 July 2020, 09.00-10.30

Organisers:Karen Dempsey, School of Archaeology, Geography & Environmental Science, University of Reading
Emma Bridget O'Loughlin Bérat, Institut für Anglistik, Amerikanistik und Keltologie, Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn
Moderator/Chair:Rachel Delman, University College, University of Oxford
Paper 1508-aBounded Spaces: Devotional Practice in the Castle Garden
(Language: English)
Karen Dempsey, School of Archaeology, Geography & Environmental Science, University of Reading
Index terms: Archaeology - General, Daily Life, Gender Studies, Women's Studies
Paper 1508-b'Enterprising Ladies': Women Travellers and the Saga-Steads of Iceland
(Language: English)
Emily Lethbridge, Department of Anglo-Saxon, Norse & Celtic, University of Cambridge
Index terms: Gender Studies, Historiography - Modern Scholarship, Language and Literature - Other
Paper 1508-c'Upon the ground… was born': Outdoor Childbirth in History Writing
(Language: English)
Emma Bridget O'Loughlin Bérat, Institut für Anglistik, Amerikanistik und Keltologie, Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn
Index terms: Gender Studies, Language and Literature - Old English, Language and Literature - Other, Women's Studies
Abstract

Interactions with medieval landscapes often appear innately masculine, from Brutus's foundation of the eponymous Britain to patrilineages derived from castle names to metaphorically feminine (virginal and untamed) lands awaiting male domination. But medieval women also shaped, curated, and cared for the medieval landscape. Our three interdisciplinary panels explore how women, both historical and representational, took control of and shaped geographical landscapes and borders at a variety of scales. Our first panel investigates women's experiences of the 'outdoors', ranging from different expressions of devotional practices to aspects of personal pilgrimage and political land claims through childbirth.