The Selected Writings of Christine de Pizan (review)

Reviews 259 and the other proponents of the n e w religion intended to integrate Christianity into existing Irish culture, and h o w they gained ascendancy over the druidic hierarchy, and what aspects of pagan belief Patrick particularly combated are touched upon, but briefly. Important works of scholarship by Clare Stancliffe and Alannah Hopkin (The Living Legend ofSaint Patrick) are, among others, absent from the bibliography. In conclusion, The Sacred Isle is a good general book in some ways. 6 hOgain has an enthusiasm for the subject and writes extremely well, which makes the book a pleasure to read. However, it does not add anything to the current state of scholarship on pre-Christian Celtic religion, and would therefore be of use primarily to an interested amateur rather than a scholar or student. Carole M . Cusack Studies in Religion University of Sydney The Selected Writings of Christine de Pizan, ed. Renate BlumenfeldKosinski , N e w York and London, Norton, 1997; paper, pp. xvi, 392; R.R.P. US$14.75. In this collection Renate Blumenfeld-Kosinski seeks to bring togethe a sample variety of Pizan's works and critical discussion in a format suitable for classroom use. A collection of the many works of Christine de Pizan is long overdue. Despite the volume of recent English-language critical studies ofher works in the last twenty years or so, comparatively few modern English editions have been produced. Although the situation is somewhat better for French-language editions, Le livre de la Cite des Dames, the proto-feminist text for which Pizan is probably best known, was published for the first time in France as late as 1986. Beyond the literary sphere, Pizan's works provide vital primary source material about the lives and conditions of w o m e n of the late-fourteenth and early fifteenth centuries which deserves to be reproduced for use beyond a French-reading community alone. Blumenfeld-Kosinki and Kevin Brownlee have translated all the selected texts afresh, typically in a free flowing and easily accessible style. The choice of vocabulary is essentially modern which, while some 260 Reviews m a y argue that it loses the contemporary medieval feel of the language, probably renders it more functional for students w h o are often daunted by unfamiliar vocabulary and complex syntax. Blumenfeld-Kosinki has selected a large range of Pizan's texts covering both her prose and poetry, which allows for comparative studies as well as demonstrating the depth of Pizan's literary abilities. Eachtextis introduced by a brief discussion of the context of the work and the general introduction also goes some way towards placing Pizan's work within the context of her life and literary.career. I see this text as particularly useful for a student reader. Text selections are sufficiently lengthy to provide readings for tutorial discussion and offer an extensive coverage of Pizan's work and talent. Serious study into Pizan must of course go beyond such a text,todiscover the full variety and scope of her work, only possible in the full text editions and, eventually, through exploring many of the beautiful and lavish extant manuscripts of her works. Blumenfeld-Kosinski has also chosen to include in the collection a series of recent critical essays discussing aspects of Pizan's work. The emphasis in these rests clearly with examination of feminist issues in Pizan's work, such as whether Pizan can be considered feminist, the problems of establishing an authoritative female authorial identity, and discussion of the misogynist literary context in which Pizan was writing. What I feel is lacking here is some explanation from BlumenfeldKosinski as to w h y she chose these particular essays from so many to reproduce here. Are they representative of current trends in research on Pizan or exceptional, ground-breaking essays chosen to offer dynamic new approaches to her work in the future? I suspect the former, though some introductory comments would certainly help students understand the importance of these scholarly contributions in the wider contemporary discussion of Pizan. In a work which seeks to open up Pizan's work to readers, the bibliography needs to support that aim by providing an extensive...