Reading Europe in the Renaissance: continent, personification and myth in Ronsard's Discours de l'alteration et change des choses humaines

Abstract

AbstractRenaissance readers were familiar with two traditions of visualizing the continent of Europe as a woman: the myth of Europa and the bull, and personifications of Europe as a queen. This article examines the impact of these traditions on the geographical, political and cultural discourses of Europe through the example of the French poet Ronsard's Discours de l'alteration et change des choses humaines. It argues that the reference in the Discours to the Ottoman Empire assailing Europe the continent would evoke for readers a female figure. The article conducts an analysis of the poem in light of this, exploring how the spectre of sexual violence associated with the Europa myth enhances the political critique of the Ottoman Empire in the Discours. As such, the article shows how the dynamic interplay of myth, personification and geographical space enriched the meanings and associations of the signifier ‘Europe’. In doing so, it articulates a method for approaching how ‘Europe’ was used and understood in Renaissance texts.