Description
An Open Access edition of this book is available on the Liverpool University Press website and through Knowledge Unlatched.
In this original study, Siobhan McIlvanney examines the beginnings of the women's press in France. Figurations of the Feminine is the first work in English to assess the most significant publications which make up this diverse, yet critically neglected, medium. It traces the evolving representations of womanhood that appear over the first ninety years of women's journals in France. McIlvanney's insightful readings demonstrate that these journals are often characterised by a remarkable degree of 'feminist' content. This refutes the general conception of the women's press as an idealised, hyper-feminised space inhabited by the intellectually idle - whether in the form of readers or writers - disseminating and legitimating a limited range of patriarchal stereotypes and idees recues. Through textual analyses of different 'generic' subsections, whether the literary journal, the fashion magazine, the domestic press or more explicitly politicised outputs, Figurations of the Feminine challenges the critical commonplaces which have been applied to the women's press since its genesis, both in France and elsewhere. It demonstrates the political richness of this medium and the privileged perspectives it gives us on female self-expression and on the everyday lives of French women from across the class spectrum during this key historical period.
About the Author
Siobhan McIlvanney is Professor of French and Francophone Women's Writing at King's College London.
Reviews
'Early French women's journals were about so much more than fashion. Not only do they provide today's reader with valuable insights into the cultural backgrounds of their writers and readers, but they were also a key means of promoting women's emancipation at the time. And this is what Siobhan McIlvanney's excellent book is all about.'
Dr Annemarie Kleinert, Author of Le Journal des dames et des modes ou la conquete de l'Europe feminine (1797-1839)
'An engaging and valuable contribution to the field of early French women's history.'
Professor Joyce Dixon-Fyle, DePauw University
'The book splendidly debunks assumptions about early women's press...For anyone interested in media, communication, representation politics, and feminism, this constitutes a captivating account of an overlooked literary genre, also providing a model for studies in other places or times.'
Helene B. Ducros, Europe Now
'This thoroughly researched monograph, deeply grounded in historical documentation, sheds light on a little-studied literary genre that could be considered 'as more pivotal to the proliferation of Enlightenment ideas...than more "heavyweight" literary and philosophical texts'. It will appeal to scholars and students of French history, French education, early modern women and gender studies.'
Anne R. Larsen, French History
'[McIlvanney] bridges a significant gap in scholarship by synthesizing a rich array of previous work on specific authors, periodicals, and historical contexts in a finely crafted comparative study subtended by strong theoretical readings of the ways in which the women's press, consisting for the most part of women journalists, gave voice to the concerns of their gender.'
Mary Rice-DeFosse, Modern Language Review
'A rich contribution to the history of French women and their press, this book will undoubtedly generate dialogue among scholars interested in the history and role of women in French print culture.'
Cheryl Morgan, French Studies
'Figurations of the Feminine is a detailed, solidly useful contribution to women's history as well as cultural studies, spanning the end of the Ancien Regime through the rise of the Second Republic. Highly recommended.'
Kate M. Bonin, French Review
'Figurations of the Feminine is a beautifully written, rigorously researched study, an absolute must-read for anyone interested in the history of journalism, feminism, and women's writing in general.'Hope Christiansen, Dalhousie French Studies
Book Information
ISBN 9781802070163
Author Siobhan McIlvanney
Format Paperback
Page Count 280
Imprint Liverpool University Press
Publisher Liverpool University Press
In this original study, Siobhan McIlvanney examines the beginnings of the women's press in France. Figurations of the Feminine is the first work in English to assess the most significant publications which make up this diverse, yet critically neglected, medium. It traces the evolving representations of womanhood that appear over the first ninety years of women's journals in France. McIlvanney's insightful readings demonstrate that these journals are often characterised by a remarkable degree of 'feminist' content. This refutes the general conception of the women's press as an idealised, hyper-feminised space inhabited by the intellectually idle - whether in the form of readers or writers - disseminating and legitimating a limited range of patriarchal stereotypes and idees recues. Through textual analyses of different 'generic' subsections, whether the literary journal, the fashion magazine, the domestic press or more explicitly politicised outputs, Figurations of the Feminine challenges the critical commonplaces which have been applied to the women's press since its genesis, both in France and elsewhere. It demonstrates the political richness of this medium and the privileged perspectives it gives us on female self-expression and on the everyday lives of French women from across the class spectrum during this key historical period.
About the Author
Siobhan McIlvanney is Professor of French and Francophone Women's Writing at King's College London.
Reviews
'Early French women's journals were about so much more than fashion. Not only do they provide today's reader with valuable insights into the cultural backgrounds of their writers and readers, but they were also a key means of promoting women's emancipation at the time. And this is what Siobhan McIlvanney's excellent book is all about.'
Dr Annemarie Kleinert, Author of Le Journal des dames et des modes ou la conquete de l'Europe feminine (1797-1839)
'An engaging and valuable contribution to the field of early French women's history.'
Professor Joyce Dixon-Fyle, DePauw University
'The book splendidly debunks assumptions about early women's press...For anyone interested in media, communication, representation politics, and feminism, this constitutes a captivating account of an overlooked literary genre, also providing a model for studies in other places or times.'
Helene B. Ducros, Europe Now
'This thoroughly researched monograph, deeply grounded in historical documentation, sheds light on a little-studied literary genre that could be considered 'as more pivotal to the proliferation of Enlightenment ideas...than more "heavyweight" literary and philosophical texts'. It will appeal to scholars and students of French history, French education, early modern women and gender studies.'
Anne R. Larsen, French History
'[McIlvanney] bridges a significant gap in scholarship by synthesizing a rich array of previous work on specific authors, periodicals, and historical contexts in a finely crafted comparative study subtended by strong theoretical readings of the ways in which the women's press, consisting for the most part of women journalists, gave voice to the concerns of their gender.'
Mary Rice-DeFosse, Modern Language Review
'A rich contribution to the history of French women and their press, this book will undoubtedly generate dialogue among scholars interested in the history and role of women in French print culture.'
Cheryl Morgan, French Studies
'Figurations of the Feminine is a detailed, solidly useful contribution to women's history as well as cultural studies, spanning the end of the Ancien Regime through the rise of the Second Republic. Highly recommended.'
Kate M. Bonin, French Review
'Figurations of the Feminine is a beautifully written, rigorously researched study, an absolute must-read for anyone interested in the history of journalism, feminism, and women's writing in general.'Hope Christiansen, Dalhousie French Studies
'McIlvanney's primary research, mostly conducted in the archives at the Bibliotheque Nationale and Bibliotheque de l'Arsenal in Paris, demonstrates thorough and meticulous attention to the details of the journals both as material objects and as written and illustrated texts in society... the book is a tremendous resource for scholars of French periodicals or women's journalism in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.' Tonya J. Moutrey, *ABO: Interactive Journal for Women in the Arts, 1640-1830 *
Book Information
ISBN 9781802070163
Author Siobhan McIlvanney
Format Paperback
Page Count 280
Imprint Liverpool University Press
Publisher Liverpool University Press
