Sarah Schäfer-Althaus: The Gendered Body. Female Sanctity, Gender Hybridity and the Body in Women’s Hagiography. Heidelberg: Universitätsverlag Winter, 2016.

• Nicole Nyffenegger

This multifaceted study by Sarah Schäfer-Althaus tackles gender hybridity in female saints’ lives by investigating the functions of gendered body parts for the narratives and their reception. After an extensive Introduction, the author discusses in three thematic chapters a selection of saints’ lives that feature female breasts, hair, and mouths respectively. She pays particular attention to the ways in which the removal of these body parts during martyrdom or their hiding in voluntary acts of cross-dressing effect a shift in gender. Throughout, the author highlights the ambiguities of gender expectations and the many impossible choices female saints were consequently faced with, such as whether to hide their bodies or rejoice in their destruction. She concludes her study with an exploration of diverse theoretical concepts of gender hybridity and fluidity.