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Joan of Arc: The Image of Female Heroism Paperback – November 4, 1999
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- Print length388 pages
- LanguageEnglish
- PublisherUniversity of California Press
- Publication dateNovember 4, 1999
- Dimensions6.13 x 0.88 x 9 inches
- ISBN-100520224647
- ISBN-13978-0520224643
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- Publisher : University of California Press; First Edition (November 4, 1999)
- Language : English
- Paperback : 388 pages
- ISBN-10 : 0520224647
- ISBN-13 : 978-0520224643
- Item Weight : 1.2 pounds
- Dimensions : 6.13 x 0.88 x 9 inches
- Best Sellers Rank: #2,562,970 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #4,963 in French History (Books)
- #5,769 in General Gender Studies
- #25,633 in Women's Biographies
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I'm writing this to take issue with other reviewers here who have wrongly, in my mind, eviscerated Warner's great work. As I'm not an historian, I can't speak to the alleged inaccuracies. What I can say is that the book is clearly not so much about the historical Joan as it is about the various images and "ideas" of Joan that persisted during her lifetime and afterwards. She first achieved hero status, as Warner states, not in the traditional ways that women did - and often still - do but rather through her achievements as an astonishingly brave warrior. Her experience at the trial transcended even that achievement. Since then, Joan's image has been adopted, co-opted, exploited, modified and transformed by numerous, often mutually antagonistic groups: French nationalists, communists (Joan's icon was found in Vietnamese tunnels); gay American women; right wing extremists; and artists. Warner's book describes and analyses this remarkable after-life and does an utterly brilliant job at it.
I strongly recommend this book.
If, however, you turn to Regine Pernoud for an "unbiased" version of Joan's life -- whatever that might be -- you are on much more dangerous ground. Pernoud conveys opinion by omission; if a document is at odds with her reading of Joan's life or actions, she simply ignores it, leaving it unmentioned. An example of this is a crucial letter Joan dictated on the necessity of taking Paris. Yes, Pernoud IS French (or rather, she was), and she writes as though she has on-line access to 15th-century feelings and personal opinions -- a big problem, in my view. But Pernoud's relentlessly pro-Charles interpretation of events is much more distorting and misleading than anything generated by Warner's British feminism, which is fairly presented as the lense through which the material will be viewed.
If you want another good book on Joan, try Charles Wood's study of Joan and Richard II.
No one scholar is going to write a book which satisfies everyone on such a complex figure. But Warner is a good place to start reading and/or thinking about Joan of Arc.
It is unsound scholarship to attempt an uncritical reading of any trial whose conviction was later overturned on appeal. Abundant evidence confirms that the original verdict was rigged and that parts of its transcript were falsified. Warner barely acknowledges the retrial and offers little pretext for disregarding it. This is the reverse of proper analysis.
If the twenty-five year gap between trials is an excuse for Warner's preference, then consistency demands that Warner accord still higher value to surviving letters from Joan of Arc's own lifetime. She is not consistent.
A newcomer to Joan of Arc biography would do far better with Regine Pernoud's "Joan of Arc by Herself and Her Witnesses." Pernoud's approach is to offer the reader relevant excerpts from original historic documents. Organized thematically, Pernoud summarizes leading debates and invites readers to reach their own conclusions. The work is admirably impartial. Pernoud is perhaps the most respected twentieth century scholar of Joan of Arc.