Conclusion

Abstract

The conclusion highlights that contemporary women’s writing has continued the questioning of societal norms that was first instigated by the second-wave feminists. Indeed, these contemporary texts contest attitudes towards the female fertility cycle that are promulgated within their fictional spaces, either through exposing their harmful impact on women or by creating rebellious characters. As the conclusion highlights, these fictionalised bodies are caught in a complex web of different discourses and beliefs. In stark contrast to the essentialism of second-wave feminist works, contemporary women’s writing considers how differences between women such as their ethnicity, socio-economic status, familial relationships, and religious beliefs, define their experiences. Overall, the Algerian novels contextualise women’s experiences within an Islamic patriarchal society, the Mauritian texts illustrate how Hindu doctrine or a woman’s ethnicity can influence female bodily experience, and the novels set in France primarily focus on the medicalisation of the body. The conclusion also underlines yet another new direction taken by contemporary women’s writing that sets it apart from earlier second-wave feminist writings: an exploration of how women’s bodily experiences can be shaped by violence and trauma. It also outlines avenues for future research.