Mary Magdalene in Medieval Culture

<p>This innovative and multidisciplinary collection visits representations and interpretations of Mary Magdalene in the medieval and early modern periods questioning major scholarly assumptions behind the examination of female saints and their depictions in medieval artworks literature and music. Mary Magdalene's many and various characterizations from reformed prostitute to conversion-figure to devotee of Christ to apostle to the apostles to spiritual advisor to the Prince of Marseilles to hermit in the desert to list just a few examples mean that the many conflicted representations of Mary Magdalene apply to a staggering variety of cultural material including art liturgy music literature theology hagiography and the historical record. Furthermore Mary Magdalene has grown into an extremely popular and controversial figure due to recent books and movies concerning her and due to a groundswell of general speculation concerning her relationship to Jesus: was she his acquaintance follower companion wife family-member or lover? This volume employs a broad spectrum of theoretical methodologies in order to present poststructuralist postcolonial postmodernist hagiographic and feminist readings of the figure of Mary Magdalene addressing and interrogating her conflicting roles and the precise relationship between her sacred and secular representations.</p>