Hello again! My name is Kellan Kissinger and I am an IDEA Grant recipient currently working on an Honors in the Major thesis about how female utopianism appears in medieval and contemporary texts. Specifically, my thesis aims to explore the intersections between Christine de Pizan’s medieval A Book of the City of Ladies and contemporary feminist literature, particularly focusing on themes of female utopianism, dystopianism, and gender roles.
De Pizan’s work, written in the early 14th century, constructs an allegorical city where notable historical and mythological women build a symbolic refuge, ultimately challenging the prevalent misogyny and inequality of de Pizan’s time that I believe has echoed into our future. While de Pizan’s work will serve as the foundational text for this project, two other texts will also be considered to trace the evolution of female utopianism and dystopianism through history: Mary Wollstonecraft’s A Vindication of the Rights of Woman and Sherri S. Tepper’s dystopian novel The Gate to Women’s Country.
I’d like to think that this research has the potential to inspire people to think about how literature can shape society and our understanding of others. Honestly, that is what inspired me to start researching this topic in the first place. Understanding how female utopian visions have evolved encouraged me to reflect on how contemporary ideas of gender and female empowerment have adapted and stayed constant. This demonstrates that not only can literature detail beautiful stories, it can also be a tool for both understanding the past and reimagining our futures.
Regarding the academic impact of my project, I hope that this work will contribute to the broader conversation in feminist literary studies by highlighting the continuity of female utopian thought. Even though I am just an undergraduate student and I’m not sure if I could be considered an expert on all of the little nuances involved in this vast topic, I still believe that my research can show that women’s aspirations for a more equal, women-centered society have been talked about for centuries, even if they might be ignored or brushed aside in favor of their male counterpart’s pieces.
This coming Fall is my last semester at FSU (cue cheers and maybe boos) so I plan to really take advantage of the next opportunities coming my way. As I finish this project and defend my thesis in front of my faculty committee, I will also be interning with the Museum of Everyday Writing (MoEW). From the MoEW’s website, they’ve described their purpose as being “dedicated to writing that is typically unseen or unacknowledged.” As someone who has dedicated three semesters to looking at female utopian literature, I think you can probably guess why this purpose attracted my interest. You can browse their website and catalog further here: https://museumofeverydaywriting.omeka.net/. Looking beyond my final semester, I hope to pursue a paralegal certification so I can hopefully help people whose stories are untold fight and win in court.
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