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Karen L Fresco

Research Interests

  • Medieval French literature and culture
  • Manuscript studies
  • Romance and lyric
  • Gender studies

My current research addresses the ways in which late medieval manuscript anthologies organize, communicate, and circulate knowledge. I am particularly interested in the place of Christine de Pizan's works in these manuscripts and am drawn to the interdisciplinary collaboration that enhances this research.

I am also interested in the cultural construction of gender and female voices in manuscripts, and especially in romance an lyric.

Education

Ph.D. Indiana University, Bloomington 1983

Additional Campus Affiliations

Professor Emerita, French and Italian

Honors & Awards

Palmes Academiques 2012

Recent Publications

Fresco, K. L. (Ed.) (2021). Renaut de Bâgé: Le Bel Inconnu: ('Li Biaus Descouneüs'; 'The Fair Unknown'). (Routledge Revivals). Routledge.

Fresco, K. L. (Ed.) (2017). Authority of Images / Images of Authority: Shaping Political and Cultural Identities in the Pre-Modern World. (Studies in Medieval Culture; Vol. 53). Medieval Institute Publications. https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctt1ws7x4w

Fresco, K. L. (2017). Introduction. In K. L. Fresco (Ed.), Authority of Images / Images of Authority: Shaping Political and Cultural Identities in the Pre-Modern World (pp. xiii-xviii). Medieval Institute Publications. https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctt1ws7x4w.5

Fresco, K. L., & Wright, C. D. (2016). Translating the Middle Ages. Taylor and Francis. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315549965

Fresco, K. L. (2013). Le Livre des fais d’armes et de chevalerie de Christine de Pizan dans trois recueils manuscrits du quinzième siècle: (BnF fr. 603, Bordeaux BM 815 et Bruxelles KBR 9009-9011). Paper presented at Journée d’étude sur le Livre des fais d’armes et de chevalerie de Christine de Pizan, Paris, France.

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