Search results for ""Author Alison Fell""

The concept of motherhood emerges strongly in the writings of Simone de Beauvoir, Violette Leduc and Annie Ernaux, whose work is examined here in the light of current debates about women's reproductive function and the longstanding glorification of the mere au foyer in France, driven by fear of a falling population. In this interdisciplinary study of twentieth-century French women's writing, Fell uncovers tensions at the heart of the literary critique. She shows these authors challenging the patriarchal view of motherhood as the sole justification for a woman's existence while at the same time confronting the conflict inherent in their relationship with their own mothers. A survey of theoretical and historical material demonstrates vividly that the changing concept of motherhood remains a problematic and highly contentious issue for French feminists, whether writing in 1940 or 1999.

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Historical and literary scholars have become increasingly interested in women’s roles in and approaches to war. In times of conflict, French and francophone women have made crucial contributions in aid of the patrie, but wars have also set women against the governing powers, frequently forcing them to choose between their concerns as women, and the economic and social demands of their belligerent nations. This volume, the proceedings of the 9th UK Women in French conference entitled ‘Les femmes et la guerre’, brings together scholars from different academic disciplines – history, sociology, politics, literary criticism and gender studies – who explore the impact of war upon women in French and francophone societies. Les critiques littéraires et les historiens s’intéressent de plus en plus aux rôles des femmes pendant les périodes de guerre. Les femmes françaises et francophones ont, par leurs actions cruciales, aidé la patrie en temps de guerre ; cependant, les conflits ont également opposé les femmes à leur gouvernement, en les obligeant souvent à choisir entre leurs intérêts en tant que femmes et les exigences économiques et sociales de leur pays belligérant. Ce volume, reproduisant les actes du 9e colloque britannique organisé par « Women in French », intitulé « Les femmes et la guerre », rassemble des spécialistes de diverses disciplines – histoire, sociologie, sciences politiques, critique littéraire et études de genre – pour analyser les effets de la guerre sur les femmes en France et dans les pays francophones.

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