Subversive subjects: reading Marguerite Yourcenar

Abstract

Subversive Subjects: Reading Marguerite Yourcenar is the first collection of articles in English to deal with many of this very private author's best-known works. Its contributors make use of a variety of literary theories to probe the complex ambiguities at the heart of Yourcenar's writings. Each contributor ventures beyond traditional readings of Yourcenar's complex texts, pushing against the boundaries of interpretation that the Belgian-born writer carefully established. Many of the essays read like a mystery; hence they follow Yourcenar's call for rigorous explications du texte as they probe her complex ouevre. Judith Holland Sarnecki is Associate Professor of French at Lawrence University. Ingeborg Majer O'Sickey is Associate Professor of German and Women's Studies at the State University of New York, Binghamton.