The authorial ciphers of Aphra Behn

Ferguson, Margaret W.

doi:10.1017/ccol0521563798.011

Cited by 59 publications

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“…Although the translations in the earlier part of our period were mainly produced by elite women who had the guidance of tutors or fathers – with the notable exception of the maidservant Margaret Tyler – the greater number of women translators of the 17th century were non‐elite, culminating in Aphra Behn, whose family origins remain enigmatic (Ferguson, ‘Authorial Ciphers’). Some female translators, moreover, such as Hutchinson and Behn, used their linguistic skills to translate ancient or modern writers whose ideas were distinctly unorthodox.…”

Section: Women's Literacy In Foreign Languagesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Although Dryden remarks in his preface that he was “desir'd to say that the Authour, who is of the Fair Sex, understood not Latine” (qtd. in Ferguson, ‘Authorial Ciphers’ 227), it is quite possible that Behn – like many of her contemporaries who lacked access to grammar schools and universities – could read some Latin with the help of translations. She wittily complained that Vergil and Homer were “concealed” from women like “Divine Mysteries” in a poem praising a male contemporary for translating Lucretius' De rerum natura and thus bringing “forbidden” knowledge into women's reach (qtd.…”

Section: Women's Literacy In Foreign Languagesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…She wittily complained that Vergil and Homer were “concealed” from women like “Divine Mysteries” in a poem praising a male contemporary for translating Lucretius' De rerum natura and thus bringing “forbidden” knowledge into women's reach (qtd. in Ferguson, ‘Authorial Ciphers’ 240). It is a pity that Behn lacked access to the manuscript containing Hutchinson's translation of that controversial text.…”

Section: Women's Literacy In Foreign Languagesmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Women's Literacies and Social Hierarchy in Early Modern England

Ferguson

Suzuki

2015

Literature Compass

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This article argues for a historically contextualized investigation of literacy that attends to early modern literacies in different and mixed media and to literacy as a complex set of practices and theories. Early modern literacy, for example, does not necessarily include both reading and writing: the criterion of measuring literacy by the signature is biased against women of various ranks as well as against poor men. Therefore, literacy rates of women should not be measured solely by means of their ability to sign their names but also by evidence provided by books dedicated to noblewomen or addressed to women of different ranks. A more expansive conception of authorship that includes anonymously, pseudonymously, and collectively written documents, as well as translations, can give a more accurate idea of the literacy of women of different social groups. Future research on literacy will be advanced by the discovery of hitherto unknown writings, and scholars will need to work on cultural documents of many kinds to gather evidence on the so-called "unlettered women," and thereby to focus our attention on the negatively charged side of the literacy/illiteracy dyad.for the negative part of the dyad "literate/illiterate"; the expression litteras (ne)scire, "not to know letters," may refer to lack of culture rather than to illiteracy in the narrow sense (Harris 5).Although Adam Fox argues that "by the end of the 14th century the modern usages [of literacy], denoting basic ability to read and write in the vernacular, were becoming widespread," and that "[i]n the 16th century they were normal" (46; our emphasis), he offers no evidence for this claim that literacy was considered to be the ability both to read and write by the 16th century. In fact, reading and writing skills were not taught together, either in schools or homes, and this fact has significant consequences for students of early modern literacy. 2 Children in England learned to read religious textsand recite catechismsseveral years before they learned to write, if they learned the latter (expensive) skill at all. 3 Many children, especially girls and lower-class boys, did not stay in school long enough to embark on writing instruction. Moreover, in some early modern primary schools, curricula were differentiated in ways that ref lected the views of pedagogical authorities such as Thomas Salter, who advised women to work with the "distaffe, and Spindle, Nedle and Thimble" rather than develop "the skill of well using a penne" (Trill 1). 4 Fox's view of literacy as "widespread" in England by the 16th century is countered by the research of many scholars and particularly by the statistics compiled by David Cressy and others who use the "signature method" of measuring literacy rates across the population. Cressy, who shares R. S. Schofield's view that the ability to sign one's name on a document constitutes an imperfect but nonetheless the best available measure of literacy (see Schofield 319), concludes from his research on signed documents, including business a...

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Section: Women's Literacy In Foreign Languagesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Women's Literacy In Foreign Languagesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Women's Literacy In Foreign Languagesmentioning

confidence: 99%

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