Gender in progress. Feminine and masculine representation in the Roman des sept sages.

This project brings together philology, manuscript studies and gender theory in a study of the neglected Old French Roman des sept sages, a frame-story in which a series of tales is told by the eponymous Sages to demonstrate the wickedness of woman. Drawing on the understanding that gender is not biologically determined but is the product of a discourse performed by a given society, this project focuses upon storytelling as a key element of that performance. It explores the mechanisms and narrative techniques by which gendered discourse is constructed and performed across the eight redactions, providing new approaches to reading the text.