ABSTRACTS

"Pour une littérature-monde au féminin": Global Women's Writing in French

Alison Rice
(University of Notre Dame)

Francophone women writers today hail from around the world, from places as diverse as Bulgaria and Japan, Algeria and Lebanon. I recently conducted interviews with fifteen women from various backgrounds and different ages whose groundbreaking written work is making an impact on the contemporary French literary scene. Four of these women contributed to a topical collection of essays titled Pour une littérature-monde (Gallimard 2007), adding their voices to a compelling call for a reconsideration of current writing in French as belonging to a world literature that extends far beyond the French/Francophone divide. Eva Almassy, Chahdortt Djavann, Anna Moï, and Brina Svit each relate personal journeys to France-and to French-from their respective places of origin: Hungary, Iran, Vietnam, and Slovenia. Their movements toward a language that is arguably chosen- not imposed-are important in an increasingly "globalized" world marked by American cultural domination and what Hélène Cixous referred to as "Anglophone hegemony" during our interview. My paper will examine the unique music, the special rhythms and themes that characterize the works of these women writers from elsewhere who are currently inflecting literature in French with renewed energy. Women who were not necessarily "destined" to come to France have embraced both the land and the language with open arms, lucidly addressing the nation's shortcomings, but contributing through their creative work toward an expanding conception of French identity that includes women from around the world with multilingual, multicultural perspectives. Their writing takes account of the past, but it is decidedly forward-looking, projecting (toward) a future of rich, diverse, and varied works of "world-literature" in French.