The Ideal Feminine: Gender, Regendering, and Competition in the Acts of Thecla and the Acts of Xanthippe and Polyxena
This article offers a close literary and feminist reading of the Acts of Thecla (A. Thecl.) and the Acts of Xanthippe and Polyxena (A. Xanthipp.). Although the former is ubiquitous among Christian apocrypha and feminist studies, the latter has received relatively little scholarly attention despite t...
| Main Author: | |
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| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
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| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
Johns Hopkins Univ. Press
2024
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| In: |
Journal of early Christian studies
Year: 2024, Volume: 32, Issue: 1, Pages: 101-131 |
| Standardized Subjects / Keyword chains: | B
Acts of Paul and Thecla
/ Acta Xanthippae et Polyxenae
/ Christian woman
/ Femininity
/ Masculinity
/ Asceticism
/ Baptism
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| IxTheo Classification: | CB Christian life; spirituality KAB Church history 30-500; early Christianity NBE Anthropology NBP Sacramentology; sacraments |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) |
| Summary: | This article offers a close literary and feminist reading of the Acts of Thecla (A. Thecl.) and the Acts of Xanthippe and Polyxena (A. Xanthipp.). Although the former is ubiquitous among Christian apocrypha and feminist studies, the latter has received relatively little scholarly attention despite the fact that both stories share interest in ascetic practices and conflict with patriarchal institutions, albeit in strikingly different ways. By focusing on the views expressed and actions taken with regard to ascetic practices by the female protagonists, I argue that A. Xanthipp. can be read as a response to A. Thecl. and as evidence of the regendering of women's ascetic renunciation, but also as an indication of competing ideas and intra-Christian disputes over marriage, ascetic practices, and the role of women in late antiquity. |
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| ISSN: | 1086-3184 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Journal of early Christian studies
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1353/earl.2024.a923170 |