Breastfeeding and Mothering in Antiquity and Early Byzantium

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Synopsis

This volume offers the first comparative, interdisciplinary, and intercultural examination of the lactating woman – biological mother and othermother – in antiquity and early Byzantium. Adopting methodologies and knowledge deriving from a variety of disciplines, the volume’s contributors investigate the close interrelationship between a woman and her lactating breasts, as well as the social, ideological, theological, and medical meanings and uses of motherhood, childbirth, and breastfeeding, along with their visual and literary representations.
Breastfeeding and the work of mothering are explored through the study of a great variety of sources, mainly works of Greek-speaking cultures, written and visual, anonymous and eponymous, which were mostly produced between the first and the seventh century AD. Due to their multiple interdisciplinary dimensions, ancient and early Byzantine lactating women are approached through three interconnected thematic strands having a twofold focus: society and ideology, medicine and practice, and art and literature.
By developing the model of the lactating woman, the volume offers a new analytical framework for understanding a significant part of the still unwritten cultural history of the period. At the same time, the volume significantly contributes to the emerging fields of breast and motherhood studies. The new and significant knowledge generated in the fields of ancient and Byzantine studies may also prove useful for cultural historians in general and other disciplines, such as literary studies, art history, history of medicine, philosophy, theology, sociology, anthropology, and gender studies.

Book details

Series:
Routledge Research in Byzantine Studies
Author:
Stavroula Constantinou, Aspasia Skouroumouni-Stavrinou
ISBN:
9781000997460
Related ISBNs:
9781032208756, 9781032208763, 9781003265658
Publisher:
Taylor and Francis
Pages:
328
Reading age:
Not specified
Includes images:
Yes
Date of addition:
2023-09-29
Usage restrictions:
Copyright
Copyright date:
2024
Copyright by:
selection and editorial matter, Stavroula Constantinou and Aspasia Skouroumouni-Stavrinou 
Adult content:
No
Language:
English
Categories:
History, Nonfiction