ANGLO-SAXON WOMEN: A FLORILEGIUM

CALL FOR PAPERS

Co-editors:     Emily Butler (John Carroll University)

        Irina Dumitrescu (Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn)

        Hilary E. Fox (Wayne State University)

Project email: anglosaxonwomen@gmail.com

Abbess Hild. Empress Helen. Mary of Egypt. Juliana. Bugga. King Alfred’s
mother. Grendel’s mother. The Welsh slave of Riddle 12. The nuns of
Barking. The lamenting wife. Prudentius’ virtues and vices. The African
woman picking up gold in *Exodus*. The Geatish woman with a dark vision of
the future in *Beowulf*. What might it mean to tell the stories of
Anglo-Saxon women -- historical, fictional, allegorical -- together?

This project confronts the frequent marginalization and erasure of women by
contemporary scholarship from the historical record, and shows, by means of
brief essays, what can be gained by focusing on female figures in the past.
For example, an examination of the roles and rights of women in Anglo-Saxon
England undermines narratives of societal progress. This is especially true
in areas such as education or property rights, where women often had
greater agency in the Anglo-Saxon period than in later periods. The lives
and careers of the women featured in this collection also illustrate the
complexity of Anglo-Saxon authorship and the roles of female audiences in
male authorship, sanctity, and heroism.

We seek contributors for a collection of short, interpretive pieces
(600-800 words) on a range of women in Anglo-Saxon England. These women
include not only those long-recognized and studied, but those who occupy
the background of texts--mothers, daughters, brothel-keepers--and who may
not even have a name. The goal is the compilation of a florilegium of women
from across the textual and material record that will reveal the obvious
and obscure roles women played in Anglo-Saxon culture and their often
over-looked, yet palpably felt, presence in their texts. We hope that this
florilegium will be a resource for teachers to use in the classroom and for
students to use while selecting research topics. We also hope that it will
be a pleasure to read, both for Anglo-Saxonists and for those curious about
the field.

By September 30, 2016, email the following to anglosaxonwomen@gmail.com:

   - A list of 3-4 women on whom you would like to write, in order of
   preference
   - A short academic biography or *vita* (no more than 1 page)
   - Indication of willingness and ability to write more than one entry, if
   necessary

Article assignments will be made on a first-come, first priority basis.

The list of potential entries can be found at https://goo.gl/J3K4YY.

If any woman or female figure does not appear on this list, please feel
free to include them, along with the text in which they appear, in your
list of choices.