Spanish 285: Women Writers of Medieval Iberia
Instructor: Professor Nasser Meerkhan
This course will examine, explore and analyze the literary practices employed by medieval Iberian women writers. Their texts have survived in anthologies, manuscripts and incunables. Readings will include poetry by some thirty-eight Andalusian (Islamic Iberian) women poets; poems by Florencia Pinar and Doña Mayor Arias; Leonor López de Cordoba’s Memorias, the first known autobiography written in Castilian; as well as selections from Isabel de Villena’s Vita Christi, a spiritual manual aimed at fellow nuns in the convent of The Holy Trinity for Poor Clares in Valencia; and selections from Teresa de Cartagena’s religious-philosophical works Arboleda de los enfermos and Admiraçión Operum Dey.
The class will be conducted in English and all the texts will be available in translation, with Arabic and Spanish speakers having the option to read the texts in their respective original languages.