Book contents
- The Cambridge World HistoryVolume IV
- The Cambridge World History
- A World with States, Empires, and Networks, 1200 bce–900 ce
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Figures
- Maps
- Tables
- Contributors
- Preface
- 1 Introduction: the world from 1200 bce to 900 ce
- Part I Global histories
- 2 Global economic history
- 3 The gendering of power in the family and the state
- 4 Slavery
- 5 The Axial Age in world history
- 6 Developments in science and technology c. 800 bce – c. 800 ce
- 7 Discourses on gender and sexuality
- 8 Art
- 9 Pastoral nomads
- Part II Trans-regional and regional perspectives
- Index
- References
7 - Discourses on gender and sexuality
from Part I - Global histories
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 May 2015
Edited by
Book contents
- The Cambridge World HistoryVolume IV
- The Cambridge World History
- A World with States, Empires, and Networks, 1200 bce–900 ce
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Figures
- Maps
- Tables
- Contributors
- Preface
- 1 Introduction: the world from 1200 bce to 900 ce
- Part I Global histories
- 2 Global economic history
- 3 The gendering of power in the family and the state
- 4 Slavery
- 5 The Axial Age in world history
- 6 Developments in science and technology c. 800 bce – c. 800 ce
- 7 Discourses on gender and sexuality
- 8 Art
- 9 Pastoral nomads
- Part II Trans-regional and regional perspectives
- Index
- References
Summary
Traditional discourses on gender and sexuality, even as they helped shape the processes of urbanization, commercialization and state-building in the ancient world, were themselves profoundly affected by the growth of political, economic, and religious networks across Eurasia and northern Africa. This chapter examines literary representations of masculinity and femininity in 'world-encompassing' genres like epic and romance, showing how imaginative models of male and female behavior increased in variety and complexity in conjunction with the evolution of trans-regional political and economic network. The first millennium CE witnessed a transformation of ideal masculinity and femininity in Chinese literature as well. Women, indeed, wrote, and their writing on gender relations and sexuality can be found in a variety of the genres that emerged in the context of states, empires, and networks. Trans-regional networks connected human beings across communities and cultures, and thereby created trans-regional relations of gender and sexuality.
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- The Cambridge World History , pp. 154 - 178Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2015
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