This notice is from the archives of The Notice Board. Information contained in this notice was accurate at the time of publication but may no longer be so.
Wednesday, March 11th
3:00-4:00 in D 634
According to E. A. Peers, Teresa of Avila (1515-1582) is “the greatest woman in Spanish history” (15). A 16th c. nun, she has captivated readers for centuries as a visionary and particularly as a writer, burdened by the “double hindrance of being both female and sinful” (Hollis 26). Being a woman necessitated that she cast herself as obedient, and thus virtuous. Ironically, to achieve this, she portrayed herself as an ordinary, sinful woman and constructed a discourse around obedience that enabled her to write. She represented herself as obedient to her confessors, Orthodox doctrine, and to the female condition. This tactic did not go unnoticed in her day, or in ours. Both Teresa’s advocates and detractors have noted this obedience as virtue and/or method. Some find it factual and genuine while others have assessed her emphasis on humility and obedience as a rhetorical strategy. I will discuss how her rhetoric of obedience has been received over time while demonstrating that Teresa’s readers depend on their own respective objectives and circumstances to assign meaning to Teresa’s discourse.
Contact:
Alain F. Takam | alain.takam@uleth.ca | (403) 329-2561