A world apart: female adolescence in the French novel from 1870 to 1930

A World Apart is an analysis of representations of female adolescence in selected novels from 1870 to 1930. In the nineteenth century, several factors, including the shifting of educational power from Church to State and the related debate over why and how to educate girls, contributed to the shaping of a new social category for young women. Art and life echoed one another, as novels about female adolescents incited further discussion about the proper role for young women in French society. In exploring these novels thematically and chronologically, this interdisciplinary study traces shifting social values and gender roles, compares portrayals penned by male and female authors, and examines the ways in which various artistic, intellectual, or literary movements of each period may have influenced each portrait. The project is grounded in French studies, but also creates links to related fields such as cultural studies, the history of women, and gender studies. A World Apart illuminates both the grounding of female adolescence in a specific historic and cultural setting and the timelessness of adolescence as a literary and social theme. Beth Gale is Associate Professor of French at Clark University. This work will be particularly useful to scholars and students working on youth, coming-of-age novels, gender studies, cultural history, and/or French studies, but will also interest a general audience. It contributes to recent interest in adolescence by providing a pertinent cultural, historical, and literary perspective. The book covers relatively unexplored territory in French studies, but also creates links to related fields such as cultural studies, the history of women, and gender studies. A World Apart illuminates both the grounding of female adolescence in a specific historic and cultural setting and the timelessness of adolescence as a literary and social theme. --Book Jacket In this book, the author considers key novels of female adolescence from the period as a means of understanding the concerns and desires they embody. Examining these novels thematically and chronologically, Dr. Gale traces shifting social values and sexual roles and examines the ways in which various artistic, intellectual, or literary influences of each period shape its portraits of female adolescence. Novelists create their young female characters as French society undergoes parallel transformation. In this sense, female adolescents represent, for the novelists, the possible futures of France This is the first book-length study of female adolescence in the French novel of this period. It analyzes representations of the "world apart" of female adolescence in selected novels from the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. In the nineteenth century, several factors contributed to the shaping of a new social category for young women, which then gained increasing attention from writers. Art and life echoed one another, as novels about female adolescents created a social stir, and incited further discussion about the proper role for young women in French society Many of the novels analyzed in this study enjoyed mitigated success in France when they were first published, and are all but forgotten today. Societal conditions gave female writers secondary status and repressed the expression of subversive ideas regarding young women. These novels mark the birth of French interest in the documentation and shaping of young female experience through literature. Literary portrayals of the unique space of female adolescence reveal hopes and fears concerning the future, gender relations, social institutions, and a country's place in the world Analyses representations of female adolescence in selected novels from 1870 to 1930. In exploring the novels of the period thematically and chronologically, this interdisciplinary study traces shifting social values and gender roles, compares portrayals penned by male and female authors, and examines the ways in which various artistic, intellectual, or literary movements influenced each portrait. Contents......Page 5 Acknowledgments......Page 7 Introduction......Page 11 The Decadent Vision (1870–1890)......Page 20 Shifting Spaces (1890–1910)......Page 59 Beneath the Surface (1910–1930)......Page 122 Conclusion......Page 181 Appendix: Plot Summaries......Page 185 Notes......Page 193 Works Cited......Page 211 Index......Page 225