Imagining Joan of Arc

Joan of Arc, arguably one of the most famous celebrities of the Middle Ages, left her small village as a girl, dressed in men's clothes, convinced a prince to give her an army, and turned the tide in France's war with England, only to be burned at the stake for her trouble. This seminar surveys the numerous retellings of this dramatic story, from the original transcripts of her heresy trial in 1430 to her invocation as a transgender hero today. Working with a range of literary and filmic works, we will focus particular attention on the shifting meanings accorded to Joan's cross-dressing, thereby collaborating on a broader history of gender.