FF:RLB45 Woman and man in Christianity - Course Information

RLB45 Woman and man in Christianity

Extent and Intensity

1/1/0. 4 credit(s). Type of Completion: k (colloquium).

Teacher(s)

PhDr. Iva Doležalová (lecturer)

Guaranteed by

Mgr. Jana Valtrová, Ph.D.
Department for the Study of Religions – Faculty of Arts
Contact Person: Mgr. Kateřina Sedlářová
Supplier department: Department for the Study of Religions – Faculty of Arts

Timetable of Seminar Groups

RLB45/Kombi: Fri 1. 3. 16:00–17:40 G02, Fri 29. 3. 16:00–17:40 G02, Fri 26. 4. 16:00–17:40 G02, I. Doležalová
RLB45/Prez: Wed 8:00–9:40 G31, I. Doležalová

Course Enrolment Limitations

The course is also offered to the students of the fields other than those the course is directly associated with.
The capacity limit for the course is 30 student(s).
Current registration and enrolment status: enrolled: 0/30, only registered: 0/30, only registered with preference (fields directly associated with the programme): 0/30

fields of study / plans the course is directly associated with

• Study of Religions (programme FF, B-HS)
• Study of Religions (programme FF, B-PH) (3)

Course objectives

The course focuses on basic problems of rise and changes of women–men relations within the Christian culture. It aims at problems of religious legitimization of the relation on religious and paralel social level. This topic is grasped within the broader context of the methodology of the academic study of religions and gender studies.

During Antiquity and Middle Ages the course introduces feminine and masculine dimension of Christianity on official/normative level presented e.g. in the rise and development of the cult of Mary, cult of saints as an exaples of theologically based patterns challenged in the level of lived religion of common Christians.

The course provides an overwiew of the history of the cult of Virgin Mary, concept of virginity and chastity, sacralisation of marriage, ideals of knighthood culture and construction of Madonna image, as well as contextual changes of positive/negative evaluation of particular lives of various women by men (saint – witch) representing the variability of social roles and conditions which have influenced their lives.

Particular case studies introduce genuine lives of women and men following ideal patterns as well as contradictory examples. The base of the study is a contextual analysis of sources.

Learning outcomes

At the end of the course, students should be able to:

provide a comprehensive survey on the Christian koncept and history of women-men relation;

to understand and explain the complexity of factors conditioning the status and roles of women and men during the Ancient and Medieval history of Christian culture;

interpret religious aspects of women/men lives during the times and its coherence with the social level of their lives;

summarize and interpret sources analytically.

Syllabus

• Sylabus
• Introduction. Basic draft of the problem: religion and construction of gender, woman – man, concept of a body. Authority – control, power.
• Woman-man and Christianity: tradition - a comparative view (Hellenism/Greek and Roman culture - Judaism – Christianity)
• Status and role of women and men during the early Christian period (The New Testament, Apocrypha: Acts of Paul and Thecla – status of a man face to face the God and in a society). Women and men: Church hierarchy – laymen
• Rise of the cult of Mary. Early Christian view of Mary: Ideals and roles of women in the Christian Church. (The cult of Mary as means of creating models for women's lives. Celibacy/marriage - virginity/motherhood - understanding purity and sexuality
• Mysogynic charakter of the early patristic literature? Understanding women in Tertullian, Ambrosius, Hieronym, Augustinus and its consequencies for ritual practice and social life
• Mary as the pattern of an ideal woman – Virgin and Mother, Christ's Bride, Mary as New Eve, Virgin Mother of God - council in Efesus 431
• Stereotype patterns in the interpretation of women's roles: Women and heresy (e. g. Montanism, Kollyridians)
• Woman, man and Medieval Christianity (multiple roles): monasticism, laymen, clergy, social hierarchy
• Woman and authority during the Middle Ages. Understanding body/sexuality. Mystical spirituality
• Mary during the Medieval period – Mary as New Eve, Madonna; changes within the cult of Mary. An example of Marian spirituality: Bernard from Clairvaux
• Love during the High Middle Ages: ideals and their realisation
• Sacralization of the marriage: ideals against reality
• Saints and witches, inquisitional framework of Late Middle Ages. Woman and power, problem of control. Religious life of women and men

Literature

required literature
• BROWN, Peter. Tělo společnosti :muži, ženy a sexuální odříkání v raném křetanství. 1. vyd. Brno: CDK-Centrum pro studium demokracie a kultury, 2000, 435 s. ISBN 80-85959-72-0. info
• DINZELBACHER, Peter. Světice, nebo čarodějky? : osudy "jiných" žen ve středověku a novověku. Translated by Petr Babka. Vyd. 1. Praha: Vyšehrad, 2003, 283 s. ISBN 8070216506. info

recommended literature
• DUBY, Georges. Rytíř, žena a kněz :manželství ve Francii v době feudalismu. Praha: Garamond, 2003, 238 s. ISBN 80-86379-44-2. info
• DUBY, Georges. Vznešené paní z 12. století. Edited by Josef Válka, Translated by Růžena Ostrá. Vydání první. V Brně: Atlantis, 1997, 126 stran. ISBN 8071081353. info
• DUBY, Georges. Vznešené paní z 12. století. Edited by Jitka Uhdeová, Translated by Růžena Ostrá. Vyd. 1. V Brně: Atlantis, 1999, 149 s. ISBN 8071081671. info
• DUBY, Georges. Vznešené paní z 12. století. Edited by Jitka Uhdeová, Translated by Růžena Ostrá. Vyd. 1. V Brně: Atlantis, 1999, 149 s. ISBN 80-7108-167-1. info

not specified
• LE GOFF, Jacques and Nicolas TRUONG. Tělo ve středověké kultuře. Translated by Věra Dvořáková. Vyd. 1. Praha: Vyšehrad, 2006, 155 s. ISBN 8070218266. info

Teaching methods

Lectures, seminar discussions based on reading of selected sources and literature to particular lectures. Home reading of selected historical sources and compulsory literature

Seminar presentation: short presentation on selected topic (15 minutes) presented during seminar according to schedule in IS

Closing test

Assessment methods

Colloquim
Requests for colloquim:

Preparation and oral presentaion of paper on selected topic (15 minutes). Text with notes and bibliography is supposed to be submitted till the given deadline into the IS. (40%)

Active participation in seminar discussions based on reading of given texts (20%)

Written test based on the required reading, lectures, and presentations (100 points each, the minimum of 60 points is required to pass the test) (40%)
See Study materials in IS for detailed information.

Language of instruction

Czech

Further comments (probably available only in Czech)

Study Materials
The course is taught once in two years.
Information on course enrolment limitations: Zápis mimo religionistiku je podmíněn souhlasem vyučující.

• Enrolment Statistics (recent)
  
• Permalink: https://is.muni.cz/course/phil/spring2019/RLB45