Le mythe au féminin et l'(in)visibilisation du corps ed. by Brigitte Le Juez and Mekta Zupančič

Abstract

Reviewed by: Le mythe au féminin et l'(in)visibilisation du corps ed. by Brigitte Le Juez and Mekta Zupančič Mallory Nischan Le Juez, Brigitte and Mekta Zupančič, eds. Le mythe au féminin et l'(in)visibilisation du corps. Brill, 2021. Pp [vi]-x; 267. ISBN 978-90-04-47021-7. 109€ (cloth). ISBN 978-90-04-47025-5. 112€ (eBook). This ambitious and entirely women-authored volume pulls together critical readings of classical mythology and contemporary rewritings of myth and combines them with readings of other texts connected to mythology and gender studies. Though the thirteen chapters and the introduction are written in French, the volume takes an overall transnational and comparative approach. The editors frame the volume with a brief introduction to the study of mythology, which they describe as "mythocritique," "mythodologie," and "mythanalyse," terms borrowed from Gilbert Durand, whose work several contributors cite throughout the book. The editors acknowledge the evolutive nature of mythology and the importance of the imagination in telling, writing, and reading myth, a useful concept for the reader. The volume intends to participate in the long tradition of studying mythology and to innovate and develop the discipline through the question of feminine visibility and the female body. Overall, the volume is successful, and it will interest scholars working on mythology, gender studies, contemporary literature, and cultural studies. Though challenging for a reader not already familiar with mythology, it is accessible and instructive. The methodology set forth in the volume may particularly interest scholars hoping to address lesser-known myths or those hoping to connect mythology to texts without an overt connection. The volume is organized into four parts, with themes progressing from specific figures—Medusa, Eurydice, and Orpheus—to broad theoretical concepts of the female body and the feminine as an imaginary or social construct. In Part I, "Reflets de la stupéfiante Méduse," Metka Zupančič in "(La) Méduse : comment le corps d'un mythe est-il appréhendé ?" and Christa Stevens in "Duras, Méduse et l'inquiétante féminité" deal with Medusa and her monstrosity and femininity. Zupančič particularly demonstrates the goals of the volume by showing how Medusa has been imagined, perceived, and transformed, and finishing with a discussion of Cixous's feminine reclamation of Medusa in Le rire de la Méduse. In "Le voile de Diane: corps dévoilé, érotisme voilé," Irène Kristeva considers Diane with connections to Medusa through feminine monstrosity, animality, and eroticism. All three pieces are connected by questions of the gaze—who sees, who or what can be seen, what are the consequences of seeing and being seen. [End Page 199] Part II, "Métamorphoses d'Orphée et retour d'Eurydice," while considering these two figures, more broadly engages with the idea of descending into and returning from an underworld. In "Reconstituer le corps d'Eurydice : le mythe d'Orphée chez Monique Wittig," Gina Stamm studies the use of this myth in Wittig's writing and proposes the author herself as a female Orpheus. In "Le récit apocalyptique à l'aune de la Shoah : du paradigme au mythe," Nathalie Ségeral studies the myth and its relationship to genocide, showing how the Holocaust has been inscribed as a myth and a symbol for the unspeakable in survivors' writing and cultural memory. Additionally, Ségeral addresses the effects of the Holocaust on women, especially critiquing the ways in which the genocide dehumanized and made women invisible. Part III, "(Re)construction du corps, de mère en fille," includes three pieces that analyze myths around mothers and their bodies, and address themes of rebellion and healing. In "Le corps maternel et les contes mythiques chez Scholastique Mukasonga," Cheryl Toman discusses the role of the colonial myth in the Rwandan civil war and genocide and shows how Mukasonga writes Tutsi myths into La femme aux pieds nus as a way of naming and remembering women who disappeared in the genocide and as a means of cultural transmission and rebuilding of Rwandan culture. In "Donner Corps à la condition féminine. Réécrire la sexualité dans le mythe de Phèdre," Salomé Paul looks at three contemporary...