Monastic writings
This panel was sponsored by the Group of Studies about Women in Spain and the Americas (pre-1800.) I went to hear one particular paper, but found all three fascinating.
The first paper was "In Defense of the Literate Woman: Teresa de Cartagena," about a conversa (converted from Judaism) nun in the fourteenth/fifteenth century in Spain who was one of the first women to write a defense of women's rights to study and learn.
The third was "The Real and Mystical Gardens of Teresa de Avila," about the use of garden imagery in the writings of Teresa of Avila, a famous 16th century Spanish mystic. We saw slides of medieval and renaissance gardens to help us picture what Teresa de Avila meant when she used the metaphor of gardens in her writings.
The second paper, "Sor Juana and Portugal: Writing and Imperial Politics within the Convent," was the reason I attended. Sor Juana Ines de la Cruz was a 17th century Mexican nun, scholar, poet and scientist who ran afoul of the Inquisition. Her most infamous work was the "Carta atenagorica," a theological treatise disputing the central point of a sermon of a well-known Portuguese Jesuit. The presenter explored the political milieu of Mexico, Spain, Brazil and Portugal, and how that both influenced Sor Juana's decision to write this letter, and the fallout that ensued. That's the short version, anyway.
So now I'm fired up to try to get one of the chapters of my dissertation published. I'm glad I attended.
The first paper was "In Defense of the Literate Woman: Teresa de Cartagena," about a conversa (converted from Judaism) nun in the fourteenth/fifteenth century in Spain who was one of the first women to write a defense of women's rights to study and learn.
The third was "The Real and Mystical Gardens of Teresa de Avila," about the use of garden imagery in the writings of Teresa of Avila, a famous 16th century Spanish mystic. We saw slides of medieval and renaissance gardens to help us picture what Teresa de Avila meant when she used the metaphor of gardens in her writings.
The second paper, "Sor Juana and Portugal: Writing and Imperial Politics within the Convent," was the reason I attended. Sor Juana Ines de la Cruz was a 17th century Mexican nun, scholar, poet and scientist who ran afoul of the Inquisition. Her most infamous work was the "Carta atenagorica," a theological treatise disputing the central point of a sermon of a well-known Portuguese Jesuit. The presenter explored the political milieu of Mexico, Spain, Brazil and Portugal, and how that both influenced Sor Juana's decision to write this letter, and the fallout that ensued. That's the short version, anyway.
So now I'm fired up to try to get one of the chapters of my dissertation published. I'm glad I attended.