The Perfect Servant: Eunuchs and the Social Construction of Gender in ByzantiumUniversity of Chicago Press, 1 de nov. de 2007 - 312 páginas The Perfect Servant reevaluates the place of eunuchs in Byzantium. Kathryn Ringrose uses the modern concept of gender as a social construct to identify eunuchs as a distinct gender and to illustrate how gender was defined in the Byzantine world. At the same time she explores the changing role of the eunuch in Byzantium from 600 to 1100. Accepted for generations as a legitimate and functional part of Byzantine civilization, eunuchs were prominent in both the imperial court and the church. They were distinctive in physical appearance, dress, and manner and were considered uniquely suited for important roles in Byzantine life. Transcending conventional notions of male and female, eunuchs lived outside of normal patterns of procreation and inheritance and were assigned a unique capacity for mediating across social and spiritual boundaries. This allowed them to perform tasks from which prominent men and women were constrained, making them, in essence, perfect servants. Written with precision and meticulously researched, The Perfect Servant will immediately take its place as a major study on Byzantium and the history of gender. |
Conteúdo
1 | |
PART I GENDER AS SOCIAL CONSTRUCT | 31 |
PART II BECOMING PROTAGONISTS | 109 |
Conclusion Present and Past Perceptions of Gender | 194 |
Appendix Spelling Equivalents Traditional and Reformed | 213 |
Frequently Used Abbreviations | 215 |
Notes | 217 |
Bibliography | 257 |
287 | |
Outras edições - Ver todos
The Perfect Servant: Eunuchs and the Social Construction of Gender in Byzantium Kathryn M. Ringrose Visualização parcial - 2007 |
The Perfect Servant: Eunuchs and the Social Construction of Gender in Byzantium Kathryn M. Ringrose Prévia não disponível - 2003 |
Termos e frases comuns
acculturation ambiguity Andrew the Fool appearance assumptions attributes authors Basil Basil II bearded behavior Bekker body Byzan Byzantine culture Byzantine society Byzantine sources Byzantine world Byzantium castrated celibacy ceremonial chapter chief eunuch church Constantine Constantine VII Constantinople context court eunuch cubiculum Daniel Defense of Eunuchs discussion distinctive emperor Empire empress escorted Euphratas Galen gender categories gender construct Greek Hagia Sophia hagiographical holy honored imperial important individuals John Chrysostom John Tzimiskes Kedrenos koubikoularios language Late Antiquity Lekapenos Leo Diac Leo the Deacon male masculine Metrios Michael Michael Psellos monastery monk Narses Nikephoros Nikephoros Bryennios Niketas nuchs palace patriarch perfect servant physical Prokopios prophet Psellos rhetorical roles Roman saint Samonas sanctity says Sergius served sexual Skyl Skylitzes social spiritual story suggests Symeon Metaphrastes tenth century testicles Theophanes Continuatus Theophanes the Confessor tion tradition trans twelfth century typikon Vita of St women