Forgotten Engagements

Women, Literature and the Left in 1930s France
Erscheinungsjahr 2007
ISBN: 978-90-420-2169-3
Verlag: Brill | Rodopi

Buch, Englisch, Band 291, 306 Seiten, Format (B × H): 155 mm x 235 mm, Gewicht: 490 g

Reihe: Faux Titre

This study is the first to examine the contribution made by women writers to politically committed literature in 1930s France. Its purpose is to bring to light the work of female authors of left-wing fiction whose novels are comparable to those of well-known male practitioners of littérature engagée, such as Paul Nizan and Louis Aragon. It analyses the work of Madeleine Pelletier, Simone Téry, Edith Thomas, Henriette Valet and Louise Weiss in the context of the inter-war models of committed literature in relation to which they were produced. Consideration of this body of fictional texts, not previously brought together by literary historians, shows how women were able to relate to fiction and to politics in inter-war France. Situating the novels within their social, historical, literary and political environment, the book contributes to the literary and cultural history of twentieth century France. The analysis of inter-war political writing by women calls into question the criteria against which women’s writing has been evaluated by feminist scholarship.

Fachgebiete

• Geisteswissenschaften Literaturwissenschaft Literatursoziologie, Gender Studies
• Geisteswissenschaften Literaturwissenschaft Romanische Literaturen Französische Literatur
• Geisteswissenschaften Geschichtswissenschaft Weltgeschichte & Geschichte einzelner Länder und Gebietsräume Geschichte einzelner Länder Europäische Länder
• Geisteswissenschaften Geschichtswissenschaft Weltgeschichte & Geschichte einzelner Länder und Gebietsräume Europäische Geschichte

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Acknowledgements
Abbreviations
Introduction
Women, Politics and Fiction in 1930s France
Gender and Genre: The Political Novel
Fictional Representations of Female Commitment
Politics and Female Sexuality
Politics and the Maternal Body
Conclusion
Bibliography
Index