![]() ![]() Housemaid's scurrilous song moves indignant Brother of The Common Life to compose a religious contrafact Ga naar eind 4 Such a functional perspective - for example of the kind informing Nederlandse literatuur, een geschiedenis - would have noted the very different roles occupied by women and men in this episode, and might have introduced its discussion as follows: Suppose, however, that we reexamine this incident from a perspective seeking the larger picture of how literature functions, rather than primarily identifiable authors of texts, together with an alert eye for gender issues. Ga naar eind 3 The religious women have disappeared completely. The women are all but invisible: only Kalff mentions the maid who sings ‘een ijdel, eenigszins oneerbaar liedje in de volkstaal’, while at least one interpretation extrapolates from the maid's song to characterize the maid herself as ‘zekere ligtvaardige vrouw’. Ga naar eind 2 The song is mentioned in many literary histories in those organized primarily around authorship, Dirc van Herxen is the only hero of the piece (e.g. This incident is often cited and especially treasured because we know both Van Herxen's Latin composition and the vernacular translation of that Latin song text. On urging by sisters and girls alike, our father translated his song into the vernacular, quite elegantly and on the same melody. Many people, having been moved by that song so elegantly and piously composed, and inspired by affection for the poet, were moved and inflamed to a love for purity it was spread and copied and sung endlessly with devotion by pupils and the religious. When he had finished it, he gave it to Master Livinus, at that time rector of the pupils, so that Livinus might teach it to them in place of the accustomed song. This made the venerable father indignant and he seized the opportunity to write a very devout song in praise of virginity and purity, on the melody and with the same notes as the secular song. It once happened in the same place that a maid near our house, as is the habit of the laity, often sang a frivolous Netherlandic song that sounded somewhat scurrilous. In this article I seek to tease out a number of the issues that must be addressed, with particular attention to questions relevant to including women's contribution to song in literary histories.ĭirc van Herxen, rector of a house for Brothers of the Common Life in Doesburg, was moved to compose a song of which we still know today. In my continued explorations I have come to agree that Burke was correct in identifying women's presence in this area, but that the work of excavating the nature of that presence by reconstructing and interpreting their agency is more challenging than one might first think (Joldersma 1989). In his brief discussion of song Burke mentions various aspects that merit attention: genre (one collection distinguishes between love-lyrics and ballads as ‘women's songs’ and ‘men's songs’ respectively, 49-50), function (women's work is accompanied by spinning songs, waulking songs, songs for grinding grain, 50), and transmission (women as compilers, 28). ![]() The two areas in which women seem to have carved out identifiable and possibly traceable niches are song and religion. My own interest in a wider connection, one which includes secular as well as sacred song, was piqued initially by Peter Burke's cautiously formulated challenge in his 1978 Popular Culture in Early Modern Europe, where he notes that the already formidable difficulty ‘of reconstructing and interpreting the culture of the inarticulate’ is at its most acute when attention is focused on gender variations (49). Van Buuren 1992, Joldersma 1997, Joldersma and Van der Poel 2000). Wilbrink (1930: 261), in literary histories such as Kalff (1907: II, 283) and Van Mierlo (1950: II, 134-138), and more focused attention in recent articles (e.g. It is a distinct red thread in the context of pre-reformational religious song, receiving mention in specialized studies such as J.A.N. ![]() The connection between women and song in the late-medieval period, though regularly made, still awaits thorough exploration. ![]()
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