Books and bodies, women and books lie thematically at the center of The Gendered Palimpsest, which explores the roles that women played in the production, reproduction, and dissemination of early Christian books, and how the representation of female characters is contested through the medium of writing and copying. The book is organized in two sections, the first of which treats historical questions: To what extent were women authors, scribes, book-lenders, and patrons of early Christian literature? How should we understand the representation of women readers in ascetic literature? The second section of the book turns to text-critical questions: How and why were stories of women modified in the process of copying? And how did debates about asceticism - and, more specifically, the human body - find their way into the textual transmission of canonical and apocryphal literature? Throughout, Haines-Eitzen uses the notion of a palimpsest in its broadest sense to highlight the problems of representation, layering, erasure, and reinscription. In doing so, she provides a new dimension to the gendered history of early Christianity.

About the Author
H. Stanley Krusen Professor of World Religions and Professor of Early Christianity; Chair of the Department of Near Eastern Studies and Director of the Religious Studies Program at Cornell University

Reviews
The book is written in a lively and witty style which engages the reader and draws her into the world which Haines-Eitzen describes. * Morwenna Ludlow, University of Exeter *



Book Information
ISBN 9780195171297
Author Kim Haines-Eitzen
Format Hardback
Page Count 214
Imprint Oxford University Press Inc
Publisher Oxford University Press Inc
Weight(grams) 522g
Dimensions(mm) 160mm * 229mm * 23mm