Marie et Magdalene
by Istvan Sandorfi
Department of French & Italian Student-Faculty Forum Series presents
From Alterity to Hybridity: the Theatricality of Femininity in Contemporary Francophone Novels
by
Michèle Schaal
Friday, December
1, 2006
2;30-3:30pm
Walnut Room
Indiana Memorial Union
Twentieth-century literature witnessed the emergence of women authors and women’s writing, and the rise of “second wave” feminism triggered a close examination of both public and personal female identity. Literary productions as diverse as philosophical treatises, (semi)autobiographies, fictional accounts as well as scientific discourses have thus grappled with the elaboration, construction, (re)enforcement, (re)casting and challenge of traditional gendered identities, both masculine and feminine.
A string of contemporary francophone writers have predominantly centered their plots on the performance of femininity in public and/or private spheres. In this presentation, four novels will be examined: Sébastien Japrisot’s Piège pour Cendrillon (1963), Marie Darieussecq’s Truismes (1996), Jacqueline Harpman’s Orlanda (1996) and Virginie Despentes’s Les Jolies Choses (1998). In these narratives, the main characters tackle, struggle with, and eventually perform femininity, usually through, and because of, a confrontation, with a body double or an alterity occurring within themselves. This gendered theatricality leads them to forge a hybrid identity, where the protagonists become a more or less harmonious mixture of the two former, and often opposite, personalities. This lecture will attempt to explore the path from alterity to hybridity via the theatricality of femininity.
Michèle Schaal is a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of French & Italian. She received a Master’s degree in American Civilization from the Université March Bloch de Strasbourg in 2001 and a Master’s degree in French Literature from Indiana University in 2004. Her doctoral research focuses on women’s writing, both theoretical and fictional, and on performances of gendered identities in particular.
This presentation will be in English, to be followed by discussion and refreshments.
If you have a disability and need assistance, accommodations can be made to address most needs. Please call 855-5458.
