Women and Power in Contemporary French and Francophone Cultures and Societies

The women represented in this volume as both authors and protagonists exert power by resisting the social paradigms that govern how they ‘should’ behave – by thwarting expectations of typical ‘feminine’ conduct (whether in relation to female corporeality and sexuality) or by their (non)adherence to the institutions of marriage and motherhood. However, they also claim power by espousing more conventionally ‘feminine’ roles, recuperating and revaluing those that entail caring and nurturing. They emphasise, in ways consistent with the growing body of feminist work on care relations, the positive, life-affirming potential that such roles embody. This volume focuses on women who, through smaller and larger acts of empowerment, seek to exert influence over their life choices. Its diverse contributions acknowledge the contextual, historical and intersectional specificities governing every woman’s power to choose her own present and future, and the important role played by even incremental changes in contributing to a greater sense of personal independence and self-knowledge, without which there can be no meaningful political change.

About the Author

Siobhán McIlvanney is Professor of French and Francophone Women’s Writing at King’s College London.

Shirley Jordan is Professor Emerita of French Studies at Newcastle University.