Figurations of the Feminine in the Early French Women's Press, 1758-1848 by Siobhán McIlvanney

Abstract

MLR, .,   Figurations of the Feminine in the Early French Women’s Press, –. By S MI. Liverpool: Liverpool University Press. .  pp.£. ISBN ––––. In this volume Siobhán McIlvanney traces the evolution of the early women’s press in France over a period of ninety years from its beginnings in  to the revolution of . She bridges a significant gap in scholarship by synthesizing a rich array of previous work on specific authors, periodicals, and historical contexts in a finely craed 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. e book examines representations of womanhood, both conventional and radical, in women’s journals, as well as the extratextual realities of women’s lives. e author is especially attentive to the implied readers of these journals, including their contributions in letters and articles. McIlvanney defines the term ‘feminist’ capaciously as that which challenges the pre-eminence of the masculine in culture and society. Aer an Introduction to the volume, a preliminary chapter provides socio-political context, tracing the roles ascribed to women as well as women’s actions to improve their position in what was a period of political volatility. e volume then focuses more specifically on the rise of the women’s press from its elitist origins to a medium with increasingly broader appeal and more diverse readership. Since the period from  to  was one of the most turbulent in French political and intellectual history, this chapter necessarily presents it using broad strokes. However, despite a certain unevenness, the focus on social class, gender, and journalism lends coherence to this historical overview and prepares the ground for subsequent chapters. e author structures the remaining chapters to reflect the multiple feminist strategies used in these journals, highlighting particular characteristics in various kinds of journal, from the first publications targeted at an elite group of wealthy, educated women to reformist journals such as the single issue of Les Étrennes Nationales des Dames (), La Femme Libre (–) associated with Saint-Simonian women, or La Voix des Femmes (), with its calls for cross-class solidarity. e volume unfolds in large part chronologically, reflecting fluctuations in the political and social climate, although it also highlights common projects, such as the interpellation of women readers to enter into dialogue and thus become textual producers, beginning with Le Journal des Dames (–). ere are also common themes, in particular the call for better education for girls and women, although the journals that appealed to working-class readers in the nineteenth century figured education as a means to a woman’s financial independence as well as an important component in her self-worth or when serving as a moral role model. McIlvanney’s analyses reveal that early fashion journals heightened the reader’s consciousness of herself as a consumer contributing to the national economy as well as a ‘sujet en devenir’ (p. ), active in her own self-construction. e author signals that the seemingly conservative turn to marriage and motherhood in the early domestic press included a feminist thrust: within the private sphere, letter writers could  Reviews express their feelings about their personal lives and marriages. As McIlvanney points out, ‘the radicalness of providing women readers with the opportunity to construct their own intimate subjectivities textually for the first time should not be underestimated’ (p. ). Ultimately, the dichotomy of private and public spheres breaks down in the liminal space of these journals, which offered readers a gendered community and raised awareness of women’s civic contributions to French society. B C M R-DF Writing the Landscape: Exposing Nature in French Women’s Fiction –. By C M. Cambridge: Legenda. .  pp. £. ISBN – –––. Recovering the works of women writers from the past and incorporating them into an established field of scholarship happens in stages. It begins with the crucial excavation work that leads to the publication of modern editions of texts, thereby increasing their accessibility. Next comes a period in which synthesizing overviews appear, introducing these new names, their lives and texts to wider audiences. In the final stage scholars...