Autobiographical writings was the inroad to identity formation among female mystics and authors.
Late Medieval Female Subject Consciousness. Italian and English Mystics, Boccaccio, Chaucer, and Beyond
By Stephanie Amsel
Palgrave 2026 
Late Medieval Female Subject Consciousness: Italian and English Mystics brings together disparate feminist theoretical approaches to explore the formation of medieval female subject consciousness in writings by female mystics including Angela of Foligno, Catherine of Siena, and Margery Kempe, as well as secular writings of Christine de Pizan, and powerful female characters of Giovanni Boccaccio and Geoffrey Chaucer. The rise of what Amsel calls “medieval female subject consciousness” shows that increased self-awareness and sense of self relates to how the authorship of texts reconstructs traditional female roles, particularly in Italian and English. These writing women challenged prevailing norms as they forged literal and figurative spaces to self-actualize through writing, even if the act of writing was performed by male amanuenses. This book explores how Boccaccio and Chaucer serve as witnesses by creating female characters who reflect changes in women’s writing in late medieval society in Italy and England.
FEATURED PHOTO:
A miniature of the Erythrean Sibyl, writing. British Library, Royal 16 G V f. 23., CC BY-SA
TABLE OF CONTENTS:
- Lo Specchio Spaccato
- From Subaltern to Self-Actualization: Defining Medieval Female Subject Consciousness
- Medieval Women’s Work: Women’s Writing as Intellectual, Productive Work
- Writing the Body in Medieval Texts: Autobiography and Testimonio
- Witnessing Medieval Female Subject Consciousness in Works of Giovanni Boccaccio and Geoffrey Chaucer
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Stephanie Amsel is professor at Southern Methodist University, Dallas, USA
