Research Catalog

Details

Additional authors

1. Allison, Maggie
2. Rocheron, Yvette

Description

1. 230 p.; 23 cm.

Summary

1. The chapters in this book were first presented at the Women in French Biennial Conference held in Leeds in May 2004. The twelve essays explore the multifaceted commodification of the female body and provide insights into the mutations of French society and culture. British and French scholars examine the paradoxes and contradictions embodied in various images and discourses related to health and illness from different perspectives, ranging from sociological studies to analyses of working diaries, children's medical encyclopaedias and literary texts. The 'resilient female body' as epitomised by the First World War nurse tends by the end of the twentieth century to be construed as the 'sanitised female body', subjected to mind/body dualities largely controlled by the medical professions. Thus, maternity and related issues such as birth and contraceptive technologies figure as major themes with contributors revealing unresolved ambivalences. Other chapters focus on how women's economic activity can affect their individual health and, potentially, that of others. A further prominent theme shows how, for contemporary women writers, serious illnesses such as cancer and madness in women can be seen as rich metaphors for the ills of a male-dominated society. Duras's alcoholism and Aragon's portrayals of prostitution are also discussed.

Subject

1. Geschichte 1900-2000
2. Women's Health
3. Social Control, Informal
4. Literature, Modern
5. Women's Health > history
6. Women
7. Social Control, Informal > history
8. Literature, Modern > history
9. History, 20th Century
10. Body Image
11. Gender Identity
12. Women > Congresses
13. Women's rights > Congresses
14. Sex factors in disease > Congresses
15. France

Genre/Form

1. Congress
2. Conference papers and proceedings
3. Conference papers and proceedings.

Contents

1. Machine derived contents note: MAGGIE ALLISON AND YVETTE ROCHERON -- Introduction 9 -- Part 1 Of First World War Babies and Nurses -- JOANNA SHEARER -- French Women's First World War Political Journalism: -- War's Impact on the Female Body 17 -- ALISON S. FELL -- Fallen Angels? The Red Cross Nurse in -- French First World War Discourse 33 -- Part 2 At the Helm of Power -- EDITH TATEB -- Hubertine Auclert: les cons6quences mortif&res -- de 'l'impr6voyance' des hommes seuls au pouvoir 51 -- MAIRI MACLEAN -- Women Directors in France and the UK: Health at the Helm 67 -- Part 3 Health and Malaise -- RENATE GONTHER -- 'Une femme qui boit, c'est scandaleux': -- Marguerite Duras and Female Alcoholism in France 87 -- ANGELA KIMYONGUR -- Towards a Healthy Social Status for Women? Capitalism -- and the Figure of the Prostitute in the Novels of Louis Aragon 101 -- ANNE SIMON -- Embryon, femme, m6decin: accouchement et avortement -- chez les romanci6res contemporaines 115 -- HELEN VASSALLO -- Metaphors of Dis(-)ease: Malady and Malaise in -- Jeanne Hyvrard's Les Prunes de Cyth&re and Le Cercan 133 -- CATHY WARDLE -- Controlling the Female Body: Medicine, Technology -- and Maternity in the Work of Jeanne Hyvrard 145 -- Part 4 Commodification of the Female Body -- CHRISTINE DETREZ -- 11 6tait une fois le corps la construction biologique -- du corps dans les encyclop6dies pour enfants 165 -- ALISON MARTIN -- Birth Culture in France: A Painless Subjectification 179 -- FLORENCE POTOT -- Has Contraception become a Virtual Freedom for French Women? -- Le paradoxe contraceptif franVais 197 -- Contributors 209 -- Bibliography 213.

Owning institution

1. Harvard Library

Bibliography (note)

1. Includes bibliographical references (p. [213]-226) and index.

Language (note)

1. Chiefly in English with 3 contributions in French.

Processing action (note)

1. committed to retain