French Literature Reviews - 2026
A. Oberhuber, A. Arvisais and M.-C. Dugas (eds.), Fictions modernistes du masculin-féminin, 1900-1940
Other Literary Studies
Fictions modernistes du masculin-féminin, 1900-1940
Edited by Andrea Oberhuber, Alexandra Arvisais, and Marie-Claude Dugas
Rennes, Presses universitaires de Rennes, coll. "Interférences", 2016
314 p.
ISBN: 978-2-7535-4884-8
Price: €20.00
Publisher's overview:
This volume brings together insights from European and North American researchers examining the social, cultural, and identity issues in modernist fiction. The collection of studies outlines the contours of modernist aesthetics, drawing notably on the works of Marcel Duchamp, Elsa von Freytag-Loringhoven, Hannah Höch, Pierre Loti, Colette, Maya Deren, Marcelle Tinayre, Natalie Barney, Georges Bernanos, Claude Cahun, and Mireille Havet.
The period between 1900 and 1940 was a time of profound social and cultural upheaval, marked by the rise of modernism in literature and the visual arts. This collection situates itself at the intersection of gender studies and modernist aesthetics, exploring how writers and artists challenged traditional binaries of masculinity and femininity. By examining figures who pushed the boundaries of identity—such as the surrealist Claude Cahun, the novelist Colette, and the avant-garde artist Marcel Duchamp—the contributors trace how the crisis of representation in the early twentieth century was deeply intertwined with a crisis of gender roles.
This book is highly valuable for researchers and students of comparative literature, gender studies, and art history. It addresses crucial questions about how modernist narratives and visual media reconfigured the self, desire, and social norms during the interwar period. Readers interested in the French and international avant-garde will find insightful analyses of both canonical and marginalized figures, from Georges Bernanos to Elsa von Freytag-Loringhoven. Ultimately, the volume demonstrates that the aesthetic innovations of modernism cannot be fully understood without analyzing their radical engagement with the fluid boundaries of the masculine and the feminine.