Heroines in History: A Thousand Faces

Summary

Heroines in History: A Thousand Faces moves beyond stories of individual heroines, taking a thematic, synthesizing, and global in scope approach to challenge previous understandings of heroines in history.

Responding to Joseph Campbell's Hero with a Thousand Faces, Katie Pickles explores the idea of a transcultural heroine archetype that recurs through time. Each chapter addresses an archetypal theme important for heroines in history. The volume offers a new consideration of the often-awkward position of women in history and embeds heroines in the context of their times, as well as interpreting and analyzing how their stories are told, retold, and represented at different moments. To do so it recovers and compares some women now forgotten, along with well-known recent heroines and brings together a diversity of women from around the world. Pickles looks at the interplay of gender, race, heredity status, class, and politics in different ways and chronicles the emergence of heroines as historical subjects valued for their substance and achievements, rather than as objects valued for their image and celebrity.

In an accessible and original way, the book builds upon developments in women's and gender history and is essential for anyone interested in this field.