Thinking gender from a standpoint of translation with Christine de Pizan

Abstract

This article examines translations of biblical and other religious texts by late medieval French
author Christine de Pizan, who counts translation among her tools to expose and counter misogyny
and to move philosophy, biblical exegesis, history, and politics from an exclusively masculine
clerical sphere to a lay audience that included women. While acknowledging Christine’s own
prejudices and limitations, it finds in her translations and her critical commentary a potent example of translation's potential to deconstruct biased assumptions encoded in language and construct new
reading communities.