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Kalamazoo Book Blog: The Distaff Gospels
So I want to try something new this year. Rather than simply listing off all the books I picked up at the conference with a brief note on why I bought them, I'm going to try to blog them all individually a bit more in depth.
Jeay, Madeleine & Kathleen Garay. 2006. The Distaff Gospels. Broadview Editions, Peterborough (Ontario). ISBN 978-1-55111-560-3
This is a facing-page bilingual edition of several versions of a 15th century French text that wavers between documenting superstition and folk-magic and satirizing the women who perpetuate and transmit it. The "framing story" of the text asserts that the writer has stumbled on the regular social get-togethers of a group of old spinsters (in the sense of "women engaged in spinning", not at all in the sense of "unmarried women" -- they are all quite sexually experienced). The women have asked him to transcribe their conversations over the course of a series of evenings as they share their traditional lore with each other. The set-up is reminiscent of (and perhaps, again, satirizing) the story-telling framework of the Decameron, with the women electing a leader for each evening's discussion who presents the primary material, which other women then comment on and supplement.
The "gospels" of the title is not the modern editor's label but part of the original text. The shared lore is specifically framed as "gospels", complete with distinct chapters and commentaries, providing a stark contrast with the carnal and often borderline-heretical content of the lore. This content covers relations between men and women, how to manage a husband's behavior, medical advice, practices regarding the divination and/or shaping of the attributes of infants (e.g., gender, personality, health), managing the everyday supernatural (e.g., what to do if your husband is a werewolf), and practical issues around the salvation of one's soul.
Despite the satirical attitude of the author, one practical value of these texts is in providing examples of folk beliefs and practices that are likely close -- if not identical -- to those actually currant at the time. Example:
Another woman said: 'A long time ago I heard one of my relatives relate that she feared that her husband could be a werewolf. But as she had been advised, as soon as night was falling, she would drag her belt or her apron behind her and that way, he could not approach her.'
'This is not a bad strategy,' said another one, 'because it has been proven. But when he is following you, you ust have a consecrated candle with you and hold it in your hands without lighting it, and instantly he will turn away and will go elsewhere in search of adventure.'
Jeay, Madeleine & Kathleen Garay. 2006. The Distaff Gospels. Broadview Editions, Peterborough (Ontario). ISBN 978-1-55111-560-3
This is a facing-page bilingual edition of several versions of a 15th century French text that wavers between documenting superstition and folk-magic and satirizing the women who perpetuate and transmit it. The "framing story" of the text asserts that the writer has stumbled on the regular social get-togethers of a group of old spinsters (in the sense of "women engaged in spinning", not at all in the sense of "unmarried women" -- they are all quite sexually experienced). The women have asked him to transcribe their conversations over the course of a series of evenings as they share their traditional lore with each other. The set-up is reminiscent of (and perhaps, again, satirizing) the story-telling framework of the Decameron, with the women electing a leader for each evening's discussion who presents the primary material, which other women then comment on and supplement.
The "gospels" of the title is not the modern editor's label but part of the original text. The shared lore is specifically framed as "gospels", complete with distinct chapters and commentaries, providing a stark contrast with the carnal and often borderline-heretical content of the lore. This content covers relations between men and women, how to manage a husband's behavior, medical advice, practices regarding the divination and/or shaping of the attributes of infants (e.g., gender, personality, health), managing the everyday supernatural (e.g., what to do if your husband is a werewolf), and practical issues around the salvation of one's soul.
Despite the satirical attitude of the author, one practical value of these texts is in providing examples of folk beliefs and practices that are likely close -- if not identical -- to those actually currant at the time. Example:
Another woman said: 'A long time ago I heard one of my relatives relate that she feared that her husband could be a werewolf. But as she had been advised, as soon as night was falling, she would drag her belt or her apron behind her and that way, he could not approach her.'
'This is not a bad strategy,' said another one, 'because it has been proven. But when he is following you, you ust have a consecrated candle with you and hold it in your hands without lighting it, and instantly he will turn away and will go elsewhere in search of adventure.'