This volume presents the first results of the PRIN 2022 research project involving the universities of Siena, Turin, Naples “L’Orientale” and Florence. It examines how otherness was constructed in non-canonical, vernacular texts addressed to popular audiences in Northwestern Europe from the late Middle Ages to the early modern period. The essays explore how theological and demonological ideas were absorbed and reshaped through exempla, street literature, chronicles, and sermons, often featuring magical, wondrous, or witch-like figures. Special attention is given to the gendered portrayal of women and to the interplay between elite and popular discourses in shaping perceptions of marginality
University of Florence, Italy - ORCID: 0000-0002-7635-2657
Book Title
Monsters, Sorcerers, and Witches of Northwestern Europe
Book Subtitle
The Medieval and Early Modern Construction of Otherness in Literature
Editors
Letizia Vezzosi
Peer Reviewed
Publication Year
2025
Copyright Information
© 2025 Author(s)
Content License
Metadata License
Publisher Name
Firenze University Press
DOI
10.36253/979-12-215-0729-4
eISBN (pdf)
979-12-215-0729-4
eISBN (xml)
979-12-215-0730-0
Series Title
Biblioteca di Studi di Filologia Moderna
Series E-ISSN
2420-8361