Premodern History and Art through the Prism of Gender in East-Central Europe

(Hardback)

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The common denominator of the texts collected in this volume is the (Art) History of the pre-modern period and gender perspective; to a certain degree the Czech milieu also, although not all the contributions focus on local issues. The book is divided into four parts, based on area of interest, time frame and research perspective. The first part sheds light on the state of research in the field of women's history and implementation of the concept of gender and highlights a certain paradigmatic conservatism of Czech (Art) historiography. The second section gathers contributions which analyze visual sources of Czech origin. The third part of the collection is reserved for texts that analyze gender issues on the level of literary representation. In the final part of the book, two case studies arising from an analysis of the pre-modern West European source base are presented. The volume cannot be regarded as exhaustive in any sense, however. It is a representative collection presenting current Czech research in pre-modern History and Art history that uses gender as a tool of analysis. It is innovative in the way it introduces this specific segment of Central European (Art) history addressing a broader audience and global academia.

Reviews

A fascinating and inspiring collection of contributions by Czech scholarship on gender issues in medieval and early modern history, visual and literary culture. The book will be a model for any future studies in the Central European research environment referring to questions about gendered identities and the relation between women and men in the past.

The volume presents genuinely innovative applications of gender and is by no means just an accumulation of facts from the field of women's history. However, the individual studies differ in their analytical depth... Moreover, the book enables scholars worldwide to keep their finger on the pulse of current research in Czech historiography, represented by the work of authors who have recognized the importance of gender in research in premodern history. The book's key intention--to present a specific segment of central European history and scholarship to global academia-- thus seems to have been successfully fulfilled.

This politically courageous collection of essays showcases the exciting work being conducted on premodern women and gender by young Czech scholars, helpfully opening up this material to an English-speaking audience. The focus is on central Europe and the contributors draw on an interesting range of sources, with particular attention paid to visual culture.

Author Bio

Michaela Antonn Malankov is assistant professor of medieval history at Palack University Olomouc.

Daniela Rywikov is assistant professor of art history at the University of Ostrava.