The Destabilization of Gender Identity in the Gran flos sanctorum

Abstract

This dissertation will discuss the destabilization of gender identity in the Gran flos sanctorum by offering a literary analysis of the legends of Saints Agatha, Christina, Vincent, Paul of Thebes, Margaret, Marina, and Pelagia. The corporeality and external transformations of these saints will be used as a focal point for the discussion of gender paradigms and as mechanisms for its subversion. The first chapter will consider the destabilization of female identity and will place this within a wider context of Catholic doctrine, drawing on the works of critics such as Marilyn Yalom and Andrew M. Beresford to assess the significance of the breast in the construction of identity. Chapter Two will analyse masculinity through an exploration of both torture and asceticism as a means of subverting identity, considering notions of anthropophagy and postcolonialism to further the discussion. The third and final chapter will discuss gender fluidity as a means of engaging in asceticism, questioning the patriarchal structure of the Catholic Church and the dynamic of power attached to gender within it. All three chapters focus on corporeality and the body as a means of performing gender identity. The dissertation will have a theoretical angle, drawing upon the work of critics such as Judith Butler in a consideration of gender, as well as Homi K. Bhabha and Edward Said to support discussions of postcolonialism that are relevant to the corporeality of some of the saints, especially in artistic representations of their martyrdoms, and Julia Kristeva to theorize the notion of abjection that is linked to the corporeal transformations analysed in this dissertation.