University of Canterbury Home
    • Admin
    UC Research Repository
    UC Library
    JavaScript is disabled for your browser. Some features of this site may not work without it.
    View Item 
    1. UC Home
    2. Library
    3. UC Research Repository
    4. Faculty of Arts | Te Kaupeka Toi Tangata
    5. Arts: Theses and Dissertations
    6. View Item
    1. UC Home
    2.  > 
    3. Library
    4.  > 
    5. UC Research Repository
    6.  > 
    7. Faculty of Arts | Te Kaupeka Toi Tangata
    8.  > 
    9. Arts: Theses and Dissertations
    10.  > 
    11. View Item

    Dressing for success in medieval France: the function of fashion in Christine de Pizan’s oeuvre (2022)

    Thumbnail
    View/Open
    Chai Alethea FINAL SUBMISSION.pdf (5.229Mb)
    Type of Content
    Theses / Dissertations
    UC Permalink
    https://hdl.handle.net/10092/105191
    http://dx.doi.org/10.26021/14286
    
    Degree Name
    Master of Arts
    Language
    English
    Collections
    • Arts: Theses and Dissertations [2051]
    Authors
    Chai, Alethea
    show all
    Abstract

    Christine de Pizan has attracted recent scholarship as both Europe’s first ‘proto-feminist’ and as a prolific medieval writer. Fashion plays a prominent role in both the text and imagery of her manuscripts, yet this aspect of her oeuvre has not received in-depth scrutiny. What Christine has to say about fashion is informative of fashion’s practical and symbolic functions in medieval society. A study of dress in her works also enriches our understanding of Christine’s viewpoints. Fashion is represented in two mediums in Christine’s manuscripts: through written text and visual manuscript illuminations. By analysing Christine’s advice and attitudes regarding female dress in her conduct manual, The Treasure of the City of Ladies (Trésor), the first chapter will reveal how clothing was a genuine social concern with significant social, moral and economic connotations for women. Fashion functioned as social regulation, yet could provide medieval women with the means to express themselves and control how they were perceived. The second chapter will draw on the concepts of the first chapter to analyse how Christine utilises fashion’s social, moral and economic connotations to build her authority as an author. Her attitudes towards the conventions and proprieties of fashion in the Trésor inform the meaning of these images and how she wished to be perceived. Fashion is a potent source of information about Christine and medieval culture in her opus. This analysis proves the worth of studying fashion as an historical source. This study of Christine’s oeuvre illustrates how fashion ‘speaks’ and analysing it can enrich our understanding of the past. Just as fashion is not merely decorative in Christine’s oeuvre, fashion history is not a frivolous field. In this dissertation, fashion history is shown to be a legitimate mode of enquiry that has value across a range of historical disciplines.

    Rights
    All Rights Reserved
    https://canterbury.libguides.com/rights/theses

    Related items

    Showing items related by title, author, creator and subject.

    • Factors that influence the success and failure of micro-hydropower (MHP) sites in disaster-prone areas : insights from the Philippines. 

      Bellen, Christine Sistoso (University of Canterbury, 2017)
      Although the Philippines has been identified as being rich in renewable energy resources, the archipelagic setting of the country and its vulnerability to disasters limit its rural communities’ access to national electricity ...
    • A functional attributes approach to secondary succession pathways in New Zealand. 

      Burrowes, Jodie Anne (University of Canterbury. Department of Biological Sciences, 1999)
      While for many years we have been attempting to conserve the remaining natural areas in New Zealand, interest has recently increased in the possibility of restoring degraded areas back to (predominantly) native vegetation. ...
    • Traditional Maori dress : rediscovering forgotten elements of pre-1820 practice. 

      Wallace, E. Patricia Y. (University of Canterbury. Maori, 2002)
      This thesis examines evidence of traditional Maori dress from the mid-seventeenth century to 1820. It focuses on ephemeral and perishable elements of dress which previous research appears to have forgotten, overlooked or ...
    Advanced Search

    Browse

    All of the RepositoryCommunities & CollectionsBy Issue DateAuthorsTitlesSubjectsThesis DisciplineThis CollectionBy Issue DateAuthorsTitlesSubjectsThesis Discipline

    Statistics

    View Usage Statistics
    • SUBMISSIONS
    • Research Outputs
    • UC Theses
    • CONTACTS
    • Send Feedback
    • +64 3 369 3853
    • ucresearchrepository@canterbury.ac.nz
    • ABOUT
    • UC Research Repository Guide
    • Copyright and Disclaimer
    • SUBMISSIONS
    • Research Outputs
    • UC Theses
    • CONTACTS
    • Send Feedback
    • +64 3 369 3853
    • ucresearchrepository@canterbury.ac.nz
    • ABOUT
    • UC Research Repository Guide
    • Copyright and Disclaimer