CULTR ST 757 / Gender, Civility, and Courtliness in Early Modern Europe

3 unit(s)

M. Gough (cross-listed as English *757)

This seminar studies early modern discourses of gender and proto-Orientalism in connection with emerging notions of civility at European courts, particularly those of England and France. How did class intersect with gendered, religious, and ethnic difference in the formation and contestation of early modern civility? In what ways was European civility inflected by emerging contacts with the Islamic world? What role did elite women’s cultural production play in practices of civility, defined as prowess in “arms” but also excellence in “letters,” including music, dance, poetry, plays, and masques?