Book review for The Power of Women: A Topos in Medieval Art and Literature, Susan L. Smith, University of Pennsylvania Press, Philadelphia, 1995

Keifer-Boyd, Karen

English

VCU Scholars Compass

8Z GII[[H REFERENCES Becker, C. (1996). LJnes of ronzt>ltion. N.Y.: StlIte Unh"ef'Sity o f New Yo rk Press. Qur, lmer, G. (1996). Celebrating pluralism: .... n. education. and cultural divusity. C.A.: The Gerty Educalion Institu te for the Am. Giroux, H. (1993). Border crouings: Cultural worken and tile politics of education. N.Y., New York: Rouded~_ Gomez.Pena, G. (1996). Temples of ~onftssion: Mexicon iNasts and living SI1ntos. N.Y., N.Y.: powerHouse Books. Harper, G. (1991). Introduction to Artists alld ~ommu"ities. Adanta, G.A.: An Papers.. laq.-, S. (1995). Mapping tlu! termin: New genre p"blic art. Sullie, W.A.: Say Press. Lippard, L (19950. "Looking around: Where IO'C are, where IO'C could be; in Mapping II,e terrain: New publi~ genre aTt. Suttle, W.A.: Bay Press_ B OOK REVIEW SUSAN L. SMITH ( 1 995); THE POWER OF WOMEN: 8001( REVIEW 83 A ToPOs IN MEDIEVAL ART AND LITERATURE, Philadelphia: Universil)' of Penll$ylvania Press. 295 pages, 49 black and white reproductions. Typestl in Linonon Galliard, main· ing many fealUres of lhe 16th century trpebce. Primed on acid·free ...... c ISBN: 0-8 122-3279-8 (harcko\'Crl approx. S65.00 KAREN KEIFER-BoYD While browsing Ihe librar)" shdves I came upon a 1995 book, The Power of Women by Susan L. Smilh. I .... -as surpr ised 10 find inside Ihe book manr images of a woman riding a old nu.n wjlh the lide under each image, "The Mounted Arislotle." E'-en more unU5ual w;as lhallhese carved stone reliefs, embroideries, and manuscripl i1lumiRlll-tions wen: included in the $acred ,·mues of Medieval churchc$_ Later at a social gathering. I a$l.::ed a group of colleagues if they Iud C\·er seen or heard about lhe mounted Aristotle_ A historian who had uken a series of graduate courses in the 1980$ laught by a leading $Chotar of Medieval times had never $CCn these images or heard about the topic in Ihe Ihree courses he Iud taken. An an historian, woo specialized in Renaissance an, while not familiar with Ihe images thought that they mighl refer to the wonu.n as representing the spirit ..... hile Aristotle rep resented merely secular knowledge. The university an educators in the group had never $CCn the images. A brief perusal of the book only made me more pumed. Once I began to read the 202 page book (wi th an additiOfl.llI 74 pages listing the abbreviations U5td, notes to each chapter, works cited, and an index) I could not PUI il down until I had read the whole Ihing and explored Smith's interpmation of·The Mounled Aristotle." 84 BOOK R[vIEW I ~~Iiud rlat vari~tions of the mounted AristOiIe u k in West-ern Europe, wbich were ~buncb.nt from 1200- 1600, is still a common theme in contemporary art, film, aoo literature. I U$oC'd the Power of Women topos in a course on appro.aches to art criticism and anocher course on women and their art in order to introduce undergraduate and gradu.ate studenu to the concepts of intervisU,3lity and intertextu.aliry, and 10 issues of interpretation and empowerment. It also is a potent example of the use of marginalized spaces to redefine StatUS quo belief structures of marginal iud people. Topes finl took visual form around the end of the 13th cenTUry in the margins of medit'"al art. It appeared along the edges o f manLlSCript painrings and on the arms and bacb of choir n~lIs, under choir seats, and other peripheral zones in Gothic churches. It also occurred in textiles, tableware, musical instrumenu, and objects o f per$OT\ll.l use (Smilh, p. 16). Perlaps due to thefr marginalized StatUS:l$ probne images in sacred spaces and as ·minorw or "decoutive" an, scholars did OOt study the power o f .... 'Omen topos until women began to mhink art and history. There a~ six chapters: (a) Introduction: The Power of Women and the Rhetor;c of Example, (b) "Thise Olde Ensamples Ought 1-Nowgh SuffICe," (c) Tales o f the Mounted AriSlode, (d) "Body It Forth": The Mounted Aristotle's Visu.al Ex-~mple, (e)1'he Power of Women Topes in Foun ccnth.Cnllury Visual Art, and (f) Conclusion: The Topos in Fifteenth Century and Beyond There are 48 figura of t he Power of Women Topes from ",'OOdcuu, brassplates, ~ drawing by Albrecht Durer, painted personal objectS, mini~ture illustrations in manuscripts., embroideries, stain-glass .... indows, etchings, and sculpted reliefs in ivOf)', wood, and none. There is one diagram showing the relationship of topos images in a church. The author began the research for th is book in the 19705:1$ hc-r doctoral dissertation. In writing the book in the 1990s she d rew upon recen t crilicalthcory to examine t he multivoc~lity of Medieval discourse concerning gender relations. Smith goes be)'ond tr~ditional iconog.r~­phy to an investigation o f how text and image ~cquire meaning, contradict each other, and are sources of reinvenrion by a rtists ~nd viewers. She argues tlat, ~~'isu:al images cannot be truted ~s if t bey were reducible to texts,:as merely thefr sccond~ry represenrarions.:as tOO often occun" (1995, p. xiv). She exploce:s the intervisualiry o f the topos images by interpreting them in their physical relationship to one anocher and to the s~cc,:as well as their relationship to OI"al tradi-tions, text, ideology, and to Othet images outside the immediate SOOK R[VIEW 85 context hut known to the Vi~'CN. Tht otigirullanguages of the M iddle Aga arc inserted throughout the book ~i th English t ran$l~­dons to allow Medieval scholars and nompeci~l ists access to the material. Smith's scholuship is well grounded and explained in an accessible: mantlCr for non-specia listS. She also encour~ges re~der contemplation and reinterpreution by providing thorough inform.a-tWn. uterally, topos means place: "A plact where arguments arc found " (Smith, p. 4). It relates to the English concepts of topics or commonplaces. Origin~lIy the term topes w~s introduced b)' ArislOde (400-320 IKE) in the Topics (I.i.) to refer to generally accepted principles or re~soning. A topos is a fOl"m of argument with strong pcrsuasi"e power since it use sexamples:as if they arfe truths or com-mon occurrences. AriSf<xelian logic examines ~rricuLa r cases from which a gmeral principle may be: infetttd and then applied to ~ simil~ r insu nce. However, women's experifeIKCS have often been discounted or ignored in history, phi losophy, and other areas as nOt establ ished or not the canonical examples. Yel re~den; vary ~nd. therefcu, the topos has operated in multi\'ocai ways since individuals may deri" e contrary or unintfended inte:rpre'latibns depending on how they sec the ex~mplfe. The Power of Women topes included mediev~l debates about gender hierarchy and female idemil}'. It used celebrated men of the past from biblical and secular spheres to prove the power of women. It has textual, oral, aM visual forms. Much like ad.'ettising techniques used toeby, the topos was used by preachers not as proof but ra thc-r to stit emotions. Persuasi"e, ness -dcri ,'es I10t from the ~uthoril}' o f the history but from the authoriry of the speaker and fro m the inherent plausibility of the story itself which anyone could, in princip le,la,'e seen or heard~ (Smith, p. 9). For the poet , the topos was expressed in such a way to a llow different imerpretat ions to please the specific audiences who filled the poet's purse. The mounted Arisrorlfe talc las three main ,·erSK>ns. The: basic outline o f the: StOf)' startS with tlat Akxander the Grut warned by his mentor, Aristotle, to abandon his Io\'!: for Phyllis to allow for serious ~nd important study. Akxander follows AristOlk's ~dvice:_ Phyllis, angry at being abandoned by her lover (or in some \·erstoru. her husband) retaliates against the source of such ~dvicc. She flirtS wi th AristOile outside his study window. A window, in the tale, served:as a 86 8 00K IttVI(W "metaphor for Ihe: eyes Ihrough whi!h women arouse men's desire" (Smith, p. ISS). This me:taphoc referred ro the belief that we: are: de:crive:d by sight. Aristotle: se:duc:e:d by Phyllis' raised skirtS s ..... ears his love and asks her to provide: him .... i th sexu.al pleasure. She agrees if he will prove hu 10ve by allo ..... ing ber to ride him like: a hone in the: garden prior to tnrir rendavous.. Phyllu invites Alexander 10 the: garden. wheR" he witne:sse:s the folly brought to his wise maste r by a woman. The Christian sermon \'ersion used the ule to prove that ",-omen are evil temptresses. 1be: poet version changed to suit aristo-cratic audie:oce:s. love wins out in these: versions which e:mphasized that love o r passion is stronger than reason. Women are: the objtttS of lust in the: poet \·crsions. Christine: de Pisan. a 13th century wri ter, arg~ Ih:lt the: ale was not an example of ..... omen·s e:xperience and that differen t stories would be told if ""omtn's \'oices weR" te:-corded. She believed that mtn created the Story to deal with "'-omen's rejtttion of male: attentions. Her inlerpretation o f the: mounted Aristotle (.tIe e:mph.asized women avenging faithless men. She also maintains that it represents men who are insistent in their pursuit of women ..... ho are not inltr'tsled in them, and how women act 10 get rid of the unwanted attentions, My srudentS and I began to compile lists of contempor;ary an. film. and literature that convey these three themes. The Christian sermon version can be fOl.lnd in films such as Faul Anr;action. My Best Friend's Wedding, and l...egcnds o( the Fall. For the poet \'ersion we identified Maid Marian in Robin Hood, Aladdin, Bridges of Madison County, and Ge:nrude in Hamlet. \'(Ie: fOl.lnd several enmples tha t fit Christine: de: Pisan's version of the mounted Aristotle tale including: Nine 10 Five, TrJe First Wives Oub, \Va;I;ng 10 Exhale, and Thelma and l.ouiM. I highly rtcommtnd the book as a sour« to stimulate disaluion about gender power relationships expressed inconte:mporary images that ha\'e long, enduring histories. CONTRIBUTORS jan jagodzinski Professor, Unive:nity of Alberta, Dept. of Secondary Education, Room 341, Education South, EdmontOn, Alberta, Canada T6G 2G5 403-492.3n7IFax 40]·492·9402 Jjj3@gpu.srv.ualbena.ca Deborah Smith-Shank Professor, Northern Illinois Uni\'eoit)', School of Art, DeKalb,ll601lS·2883 debatarteTliu.edu Rita L hwin, Ed.D. Associa te Professor. Department of Curriculum Studies, UBC 2125 Main Mall, Vancou\'er, Be, Canada V6T lZ4 (604)822-5322 work 1822·9366 fax 1 ritajrwin@Ubc.a Christine Ballengee: Morris Assistant professor, The Ohio Sute Uni\'ersi ty. 11 79 University Drive, Newark, OH 43055 kmorrisllpop.se:rvicc.ohio-statc.e:du Seymour Simrnotl$, ill Assuunt Professor, Department of Art and Design Winthrop University Rock Hill, South Carolina 29733 (8031323·2670 (:ONTR I8IITORS 87 88 CONTRI BUTORS Gaye Leigh Green Assistant Professor, Weslern Wahingron University, School o f An , Bellingham, . W.A. 98226 I glgrecn@cc.wwu.t du Kartn T. Kit"ftr-Boyd Associatt Proft'Ssor, Tt'Xas Tech Uni,·trsity, Dtpl. of An, Box 42081, Lubbock, TX 79409·208 1 (806)742-30 10 (phont)l (806)742-1971 (fax) I KartnKB@n u.edu -I I ~ Journal of Social Tbrorr in An Education USTAEJ is a public:ltion of 1M, Caucus on Soci~llheory & Art EdlK2tion (CSTAE), an ~ffiline of the National An Education .o\s.s.oocia-rion. 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Book Review: Susan L. Smith (1995), The Power of Women: A Topos in Medieval Art and Literature

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Book Review: Susan L. Smith (1995), The Power of Women: A Topos in Medieval Art and Literature

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