In an effort to enhance disciplinary understanding of agency especially for women,
recover evidence of women exercising agency historically, and shed light on current
debates concerning the interaction between word and image in rhetoric, I explore the
extent to which Christine de Pizan, a medieval woman writer, invented and articulated
her rhetorical agency. For Christine, the text, the image, and the medium of the
manuscript are significant in the development of rhetorical agency; the focus of this
thesis is on the nature of that agency, particularly how rhetorical agency is invented
within the "City of Ladies" folios from her collected works in Harley Ms. 4431. I frame
my study of Christine de Pizan and rhetorical agency with Karlyn Kohrs Campbell's work
on agency, a particularly powerful construct for my project, because it provides space
for both text and paratext and it grapples with the postmodern moment while
simultaneously retaining its applicability for historical studies. I begin by examining
how Christine's agency emerged through the dialogic between conventions of textual
forms. In particular, I consider Campbell's definition that rhetorical agency occurs in
texts, because "texts have agency" and are "effected through form" (Campbell 3).
Rhetorical agency emerges as Christine complies with cultural expectations concerning
the different conventions of form and then subsequently subverts those same conventions
to create a space of resistance for women. I explore how Christine reveals her artistry
or rhetorical skills when she manipulates the visual aspects of the manuscript page or
paratexts, the incidentals and the miniatures, so that they demonstrate her agency.
According to Campbell, artistry occurs when "heuristic skills" respond to contingencies"
for which there are no precise or universal precepts, although skilled practitioners are
alert to recurring patterns" (Campbell 12). Christine complies with the traditional
patterns of the paratext, but subverts those patterns, when she repeats traditional
paratext with differences. These differences gesture to the text, other elements of the
page, and beyond and, in the process, layer new meaning into the manuscript. I then
follow with an examination of the manuscript as a medium, where text and paratext
function together to communicate meaning. Though both text and paratext have their own
rhetorical agency, Christine invents her agency as the "point[s] of articulation" for
the manuscript (Campbell 3). Christine executed a great deal of control over the
production of her manuscript, which means her rhetorical agency occurs when she
articulates her meaning through her authority and negotiation of the materiality and
cultural significance of the medium. Because Christine's rhetorical agency emerges from
the text, paratext, and manuscript, an examination of Christine's manuscript, Harley Ms.
4431, provides a new look at postmodern agency and the rhetorical agency of medieval
manuscripts. Interestingly, Christine wrote at a significant transitional period for
ideology and technology and instead of articulating a traditional historical or humanist
theory of agency, she performs a complex agency, which is reminiscent of postmodern
agency and raises some questions regarding the nature of agency during the medieval era.
In addition, the complicated agency created within medieval manuscripts as the verbal
and visual texts came together within the medium will contribute to questions of agency
and media. / A Thesis submitted to the Department of English in partial fulfillment of the
requirements for the degree of Master of Arts. / Degree Awarded: Spring Semester, 2008. / Date of Defense: March 27, 2008. / Christine de Pizan, Manuscripts, Rhetorical agency, Historical rhetoric, Medieval women writers / Includes bibliographical references. / Kristie S. Fleckenstein, Professor Directing Thesis; A.E.B Coldiron, Committee Member; Michael Neal, Committee Member.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:fsu.edu/oai:fsu.digital.flvc.org:fsu_168489 |
| Contributors | Smith, Julia Marie (authoraut), Fleckenstein, Kristie S. (professor directing thesis), Coldiron, A.E.B (committee member), Neal, Michael (committee member), Department of English (degree granting department), Florida State University (degree granting institution), () (Thesis advisor), () (Committee member), (Degree grantor) |
| Publisher | Florida State University |
| Source Sets | Florida State University |
| Language | English, English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Text, text |
| Format | 1 online resource, computer, application/pdf |
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