Damned women : lesbians in French novels, 1796-1996

Damned Women charts the previously unexplored literary territory of the place of lesbians in the French novel. Beginning with the early depictions of lesbians as "decadent monsters" by nineteenth-century male authors such as Diderot, Balzac, and Gautier, Jennifer Waelti-Walters shows how later, little-known female writers struggled to tree lesbian characters from imposed stereotypes.While homosexual men are legion in the history of French literature and criticism, until now no critic writing in French or English has given the same sort of attention to lesbians. Waelti-Walters covers two hundred years of fiction, beginning with the publication of Diderot's The Nun in 1796 and ending with present-day lesbian writers Jocelyne Francois, Mireille Best, Helene de Monferrand, and the authors connected to Genevieve Pastre's lesbian publishing house. While she deals with renowned authors such as Violette Leduc and Monique Wittig, including their respective literary and personal relationships with Simone de Beauvoir and Helene Cixous, many of the writers discussed will be unknown to most readers. Their novels vary from the extraordinarily powerful to the utterly trite; by providing the first comprehensive guide to this body of work Waelti-Walters sheds light on French literary and cultural history.Waelti-Walters shows how the lesbian authors of this literature had little or no contact with each other, let alone with lesbians outside France. She describes their world and its effects on their work, showing how their situation differs from that of British and North American lesbians. Damned Women tells a story of alienation, persecution, and isolation within a culture. It is a cultural andliterary commentary full of new information, forgotten or little known authors, poignant surprises, and unexpected interrelationships. While homosexual men are legion in the history of French literature and criticism, until now no critic writing in French or English has given the same sort of attention to lesbians. Waelti-Walters covers two hundred years of fiction, beginning with the publication of Diderot's The Nun in 1796 and ending with present-day lesbian writers Jocelyne François, Mireille Best, Hélène de Monferrand, and the authors connected to Geneviève Pastre's lesbian publishing house. While she deals with renowned authors such as Violette Leduc and Monique Wittig, including their respective literary and personal relationships with Simone de Beauvoir and Hélène Cixous, many of the writers discussed will be unknown to most readers. Their novels vary from the extraordinarily powerful to the utterly trite; by providing the first comprehensive guide to this body of work Waelti-Walters sheds light on French literary and cultural history. Waelti-Walters shows how the lesbian authors of this literature had little or no contact with each other, let alone with lesbians outside France. She describes their world and its effects on their work, showing how their situation differs from that of British and North American lesbians. Damned Women tells a story of alienation, persecution, and isolation within a culture. It is a cultural and literary commentary full of new information, forgotten or little known authors, poignant surprises, and unexpected interrelationships. Acknowledgments A note on translations and sources Introduction Pt. 1. The male gaze, 1796-1929. 1. Damned women: the prototypes ; 2. Contrasting attitudes: male and female writers Pt. 2. Through women's eyes, 1929-1968. 3. Constrained desires ; 4. Contrasting generations: Leduc and Beauvoir, Wittig and Cixous Pt. 3. Specifically French lesbians, 1968-1996. 5. Exporing lesbian identity ; 6. Contrasting perspectives: François, Best, and Monferrand Conclusion Notes Appendix: French quotations Bibliography. A. French lesbian novels ; B. Works cited and general works on lesbianism in France ; C. Sources of French medical attitudes to lesbianism, 1870-1960 ; D. Bibliographies of lesbian fiction Index. Machine generated contents note: PART ONE: THE MALE GAZE, 1796-929 1 Damned Women: The Prototypes 2 Contrasting Attitudes: Male and Female Writers 49 PART TWO: THROUGH WOMEN'S EYES, 1929-1968 3 Constrained Desires 97 4 Contrasting Generations: Leduc and Beauvoir, Wittig and Cixous I27 PART THREE: SPECIFICALLY FRENCH LESBIANS, 1968-I996 5 Exploring Lesbian Identity 151 6 Contrasting perspectives: Francois, Best, and Monferrand 187.