Teaching the Ditiè de Jehanne d'Arc

Deborah Fraioli, Simmons College

Two obstacles impede the casual inclusion of works from the Middle Ages in the design of mainstream survey courses: the difficulty of finding the texts in a convenient format for students, and the need for efficient access to the historical resources through which informed discussion and interpretation can take place by the non-specialist. Using Christine de Pizan's 1429 Ditie de Jehanne d'Arc (The Poem of Joan of Arc) as a model, this article conceptualizes the Ditie metaphorically posted in cyperspace and, through the image of hypertext, selects phrases from the poem to serve as imaginary hot links, connecting to elucidative excerpts from primary sources. This conceptualization represents the preliminary and intellectual phase of an anticipated teaching project on the Ditie to be realized in the future on the internet.