Teaching code

4S010426

Teacher

Giulia Pedrucci

Coordinator

Giulia Pedrucci

Credits

2

Also offered in courses:

• International Workshop Mothers in the Time of the Church Fathers: Maternal Thought and Maternal Practice between Normative Representations and Individual Transgressions of the course Bachelor’s degree in Humanities
• International Workshop Mothers in the Time of the Church Fathers: Maternal Thought and Maternal Practice between Normative Representations and Individual Transgressions of the course Master’s degree in Publishing and Journalism

Language

Italian

Scientific Disciplinary Sector (SSD)

NN - -

Period

1 B, 2 A

Lessons timetable Moodle Seminars 0

Learning outcomes

This workshop builds on a long-lasting research project that aims at investigating how and to what extent religion, through the words of mainly male authorities, has dictated the female perception of the role of mother and has affected the daily life of mothers. The epistemological framework offered by matricentric feminism (Andrea O’Reilly 2016) rejects any essentialism and does not conflate the categories of “woman” and “mother.” Not all women become mothers and people who are not women can assume maternal roles. As Sarah Ruddick (1989) suggests, “mother” is better understood as a verb (to mother) than as a feminine substantive. A mother is anyone who engages in maternal practice, or motherwork, and makes this a central part of their life. Therefore, “to mother” is a gender-inclusive concept. To some extent, in a similar way, in the ancient Rome pater was the person who wielded the patria potestas.

Another pivotal key tenet of the maternal theory is the distinction made by Susan Starr Sered (1994) between “womAn as symbol” (e.g., images of goddesses and normative stereotypes created by male religious authorities) and “womEn as agents” (real practice, historical mothers). This can be linked to the distinction made by Adrienne Rich (1976) between “motherhood as an institution” and “motherhood as experience” (women’s experience of and relation to her own reproductive capacities) are particularly relevant here. In fact, evidence suggests a widespread gap between normative representation and actual practice.

Doubtless, norms elaborated and imposed by the Church Fathers have been a fundamental turning point in the perception of the maternal role in the so-called Western societies.

This workshop is meant to explore case studies in which:

“motherhood as an institution” imposed by the Church Fathers as well as changes and continuity with previous norms are investigated;
mothers’ response to religious norms imposed by the Church Fathers can be singled out. In particular, case studies that show to which extent mothers felt free to transgress norms without blaming themselves for not being “good” mothers and obedient member of their religious community, whether Christian or otherwise, in Late Antiquity (“motherhood as an experience”);
the legacy derived from the Church Fathers around and beyond the Mediterranean.

Program

International Workshop to be held at the University of Verona (Italy), 11 February 2022, organized by Dr. Giulia Pedrucci



Mothers in the Time of the Church Fathers: Maternal Thought and Maternal Practice between Normative Representations and Individual Transgressions



Programme



[Introductory papers]



Chair: Giulia Pedrucci (Gerda Henkel Stiftung, Germany – University of Verona, Italy)



12:00 Sonia Giusti (University of Cassino, Italy), Costruzione storico-culturale di uno stereotipo: la donna come madre amorosa e sposa ubbidiente

12:20 Gabriella Aragione (University of Strasbourg, France) Motherhood: A Controversial Topic in Ancient Christian Thought (Fourth and Fifth Centuries)



12:40 Cristina Soraci (University of Catania, Italy), Physical motherhood and spiritual motherhood between theory and practice: some Late Antique examples



13:00 Discussion



13:30 Lunch





[Papers on specific authors]



Chair: Roberta Franchi (University of Firenze, Italy)



15:00 Ilaria Ramelli (Università Cattolica, Milano, Italy), Maternity in De infantibus praemature abreptis by Gregory of Nyssa: Between Consolation and Restoration

15:20 Giulia Pedrucci (Gerda Henkel Stiftung, Germany – University of Verona, Italy), The “hysterical pregnancy” of the Pythia: female sexuality in the reinterpretation of the Greek myth by Origen and John Chrysostom

15:40 Rosa Marina Sáez (University of Zaragoza, Spain), Church fathers and mothers’ education in the Juan Luis Vives’ De institutione feminae Christianae



16:00 Discussion



16:30 Coffee break





[Papers on saints and martyrs]



Chair: ?

17:00 Isabella D’Auria (University Federico II, Naples, Italy), Madri di martiri bambini: modelli di maternità in Prudenzio Peristephanon 10



17:20 Roberta Franchi (University of Firenze, Italy), Following the Maccabean Mother: Motherhood and its Implications in Ancient Christianity



17:40 Mary Dunn (Saint Louis University, US), Motherhood Transfigured: Between Patristic Norms and Maternal Practice in the Lives of the Saints



18:00 Claudia Tavolieri (University Tor Vergata, Rome, Italy), The “Desert Mothers”: Between freedom and tradition. Ascetic models and aristocratic society



18:20 Discussion and final round table

Examination Methods

Short written report