Now that we have reached the end of the semester, I hope that you have made some connections in your mind between the various authoresses that you have read. As you work to prepare for the Final Exam, discuss the following questions here on the blog as well as with your classmates. These questions serve merely as a springboard to the Final Exam Question.
"In this course, we have studied, in part, the ways in which French Women Writers comment on the relationship between gender and society. We have discussed the notions of gender and identity and the ways in which our authoresses works represent the effects of the individual's gender and identity on her functioning within her own society."
Therefore:
How is gender formed?
What is the importance of gender in the formation of an identity?
What is the relationship between gender and society?
What are the challenges of the characters depicted in the works from this course?
What interconnections exist between the works that we have read and discussed?
What do the characters learn in the course of their adventures?
Do we find similar character types throughout the works that we have read?
How do the characters in these works portray the struggle of women throughout the ages?
12 comments:
In this course we have looked at women writers and what it means to be a female writer. Feminine writing is not literature just written by a woman but rather the characteristics that encompass women. It is the sensitivity and the struggles of the female voice. gender is not formed necessarily by actual male or female but the characteristics that society names as male or female. These are important because they help each person to discover who they are. men usually find themselvs to be strong and courageous whereas women are usually sensitve, strong willed, and have maternal instincts.All of these characteristics are important in discovering who we are as a person. Most challenges of these women are their desire to be heard and make a difference as well as their battle of being known. There is a common thread of solitude as well as defining love and being loved and known in society. I think that all of the authoresses have discussed in one aspect or another how they fit into society. Whether it was through love and marriage or the cultural struggles that they face. All of the characters learn the reality of society as well as how they really feel about their reality. Each of these characters portray the struggles of women. It may be thier struggle with love and affairs to making ends meat in a male dominated society or even getting their works read and heard.
And the rest of you...have you anything to ad? :)
Feminine writing is as Anna said, not just writing by a female. It is everything from discussing women's issues to poetry written by women to even just sensitivity in general, but I would argue that not all of these women had sensitive tones in their writing. The later authors we read such as Conde, and both of the Duras(es?) showed incredible strength in their characters, along with courage and strong will, these women in their writings were truly strong enough to conquer the world if they had had the opportunity. Not just the characters, but the authoresses as well. It was almost as if Marie de France put a dent in the wall and all of the rest of our writers chipped away at it, binding them all together. In most of the works, we typically had a whore (YAY MY FAVORITE WORD) and a saint. Sometimes the whore was the heroine, sometimes the saint. Conde's whore won out, as well as Marguerite Duras' whereas Mme de Layfayette showed us what benefits the virtous Princesse de Cleves had. The wide variety of these women relates a great deal in my mind to the wide variety of women in the world today. Inside everyone there's a blushing Princesse de Cleves, maybe a little bit of a sensual poet out of Louise Labe and maybe even a whore out of Marie de France or Maguerite de Navarre. This probably relates to none of those questions, but those are my thoughts. :D
I agree with Anna and Katie that feminine writing is not just literature wrtten by a female.It is writing about women or writing in a style that reflects feminine attributes. Gender,unlike biological sex,is specificities of social and cultural roles expected of men and women,or which they are to follow. Gender fashions society. As people or children grow up, there is the propensity of picking up an identity of a prescribed gender based on sex. Even what defines certain words for both genders is different. E.g Virtue, as discussed in class. I think the definition of right and wrong and what’s capable of causing unrest in the conscience is different for the two genders. Mme de Cleves was very disturbed by her affection for M.de Nemours in an environment where married men had not a mistress, but mistresses. Similarly, Roselie said it is not with a glad heart that a woman sells her body. What about the person giving money in exchange for it? They seem to do it with much pride, ease, and pleasure. Roselie who wasn’t even married to Stephen initially felt guilty after having an affair with this African man who was still married. A woman’s struggles are essentially the same, with differing magnitudes based on the culture. That’s what interconnects these authoresses – the portrayal of women’s struggle with having a voice, love, money, identity…etc
considering what you have all said about feminine writing, how would you explain that 20th century French feminists have maintained that there has only been one French male writer (Jean Genet) capable of engaging in "écriture féminine"?
Well, just as Madame de Stael was able to write in a more masculine tone, why couldn't we consider Genet a feminine writer?
I would have to say that more often than not it is difficult for men to capture the essence of feminine writing because of the characteristics that are evident in their writing. The strong will yet sensitivity is so evident in feminine writing and the struggles that they face in order to overcome the obstacles that women still face today...it just seems difficult for men to engage in writing that represents these strongholds in women's lives. I know that it is possible for some men to capture that spirit...but i would say that it is very difficult!
To write in a more masculine tone may not be the same as engaging in "écriture féminine".
feminine writing is also having an eye for subject and sensibility generally associated with women writers. Genet may be more aware of women's condition. He may associate his own condition with them, he may have grown up in a matriarchal/feminist household, he may understand women very well.
I think men can write in the feminine voice if they wanted to. The evolution of feminine writing, as seen in this course, goes from a description of women's "place" to an attempt to break out of that pattern and establish a new place and voice based on the potential of women. It has been about changing society's view in different ways, be it actively from a treatise on women's rights to passively through the story of one woman writing for herself about her struggle to find her identity. Gender and a voice associated with gender has components defined by society. The voice is establish when we fall into the established guidelines society sets. A new voice (comes from the struggle to change those societal norms).
so,just out of curiosity, does anyone else see a de-gendering tendency, so to speak, within the literature we have read (maybe not so much in the style of the writing, but at least in the characters portrayed? I feel like there has been a shift within literature from an attempt to create a feminine character to an attempt to create characters unhindered by their gender (at least in our last novel). The characters still express the struggle of women, but it is not their intention to give off the impressin of femininity. I feel like within modern literature it would far more easy for a male writer to engage in feminine writing, because the modern era is on a quest to release the individual from gender oriented constraints. Just a thought- let me know what you think.
I agree with Brett that Genet may have a background that puts him in a position to better understand women and their position and therefore engage in Ecriture feminine. In addition, he may be the only one who has advocated the female voice in society, and maintained feminine attributes such as sensibility in his writings. Sensibility, on the part of a man, generally carries a more negative connotation.
I don't get that though. It wasn't that way in ancient Greece. When did we decide that men can't be sensible or whatever the adjective form of sensibility is?
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