Women’s Lives in Contemporary French and Francophone Literature

These essays examine the trends and theoretical arguments informing current investigations into literary treatments of motherhood and aging. They explore how two key stages in women's lives -- maternity and old age -- are narrated and defined in fictions and autobiographical writings by contemporary French and francophone women. Through readings of Maryse Condé, Hélène Cixous, Zahia Rahmani, Linda Lê, Pierrette Fleutieux, and Michèle Sarde, among others, these essays examine related topics such as dispossession, female friendship, and women's relationships with their mothers. It shows how these significant transitional moments set the stage for women's evolving definitions (and interrogations) of their identities and roles.