Constructing Gender in Medieval Ireland -- a New Book

Here is the press release for a new book on Constructing Gender in Medieval Ireland (Palgrave Macmillan 2013), edited by Sarah Sheehan and Ann Dooley:

"Constructing Gender in Medieval Ireland
Palgrave Macmillan (The New Middle Ages, Dec. 2013)
Sarah Sheehan and Ann Dooley, editors

Medieval Irish texts reveal distinctive and unexpected constructions of gender. Constructing Gender in Medieval Ireland illuminates these ideas through its fresh and provocative re-readings of a wide range of texts, including saga, romance, legal texts, Fenian narrative, hagiography, and ecclesiastical verse. This ground-breaking collection presents new research by emerging and established scholars, who explore a variety of perspectives on sexual difference in medieval Irish culture. The contributors examine the intersections of gender with narrative, visuality, law, speech acts, transgression, and performance - painting a compelling picture of the many ways in which authors and audiences conceptualized gender in medieval Ireland.

Contributors: Judith L. Bishop (Mills College), Ann Dooley (U Toronto), Joanne Findon (Trent U), Giselle Gos (Harvard U), Amy C. Mulligan (U Notre Dame), Máirín Ní Dhonnchadha (NUI Galway), Jennifer Karyn Reid (Mercy Spirituality Centre, NZ), Sarah Sheehan (U Toronto), Catherine Swift (U Limerick).

Hardback and ebook. 236 pages. Illustrated. Available now from Palgrave Macmillan.

In North America: http://us.macmillan.com/constructinggenderinmedievalireland/
In Europe & the UK: http://www.palgrave.com/products/title.aspx?pid=509326"