Gender, Status, Space: An Intersectional Analysis of Sexual Violence in the Middle Dutch Play ‘Lanseloet van Denemerken’

Abstract

This essay examines the topic of sexual violence in Middle Dutch literature, centring on the play ‘Lanseloet van Denemerken’ (c.1405). Although medieval literature is known for its gender-based violence, the topic has not received much attention from scholars of Middle Dutch. This article aims to renew the scholarly debate by analysing the Middle Dutch text from an innovative intersectional perspective, integrating the analytical categories of gender, social status and narrative space and adopting those categories for literary studies. This analysis uncovers new meanings in the play and demonstrates that gender, status and space work together in creating an unsafe situation, in which the female protagonist Sanderijn is raped by the male protagonist Lanseloet. Subsequently, this article analyses recent scholarly publications on ‘Lanseloet van Denemerken’ to investigate how scholars in Middle Dutch literature are handling the sensitive topic of rape. It is demonstrated that our interpretations and discussions of the medieval text run the risk of being involuntarily influenced by present-day rape myths–false beliefs and attitudes about sexual violence that prevail in our current culture. Therefore, this article calls on researchers’ shared responsibility to ensure a continuous and open discussion of sensitive topics in the field of Middle Dutch literary studies.