Women and the Literary Tradition: An Anthology from the Middle Ages to the Present - Other Literary Studies

French Literature Reviews - 2026

Women and the Literary Tradition: An Anthology from the Middle Ages to the Present
Other Literary Studies

Les femmes et la tradition littéraire, a two-part anthology, offers a sweeping historical overview of women's writing in France from the 12th century to the present day. Enhanced by numerous illustrations and critical commentaries, it features pioneering writers such as Hélisenne de Crenne, Gabrielle de Villeneuve, Louise Ackermann, and Renée Vivien, alongside more widely known authors like Labé, Lafayette, Sand, Beauvoir, Colette, and Duras. In addition to novel excerpts, short stories, and poems, the collection includes fairy tales, sentimental and philosophical letters, political and literary manifestos, as well as texts from the Middle Ages and the Renaissance published here in modern French for the first time.

Publication of the first part: 12th–18th centuries.
The second part, 19th–21st centuries, will be released in June 2006.

Yale University Press: New Haven and London.
First part: ISBN 0-3000-11443-5 paperback / 0-300-10844-3 pocket edition.
Second part: ISBN 0-300-11441-9 paperback / 0-300-10845-1 pocket edition.

Vicki Mistacco is a specialist in the French novel and centuries of women's writing in France. She is a professor of French at Wellesley College in the USA.

Les femmes et la tradition littéraire is a two-part anthology that provides a historical overview of women's writing in France from the 12th century to the present day. The collection includes a wide array of forms, such as novel excerpts, short stories, poems, fairy tales, letters, and manifestos. By including texts from the Middle Ages and the Renaissance published in modern French for the first time, the anthology makes these works more accessible. Readers interested in the evolution of women's voices in French literature may find this historical overview relevant.

The anthology features both widely known authors, such as Lafayette, Sand, and Beauvoir, and pioneering writers like Hélisenne de Crenne and Louise Ackermann. Organized chronologically, the two-part work spans from the 12th century through the 21st century. The inclusion of numerous illustrations and critical commentaries provides context for the diverse range of texts presented, reflecting the breadth of women's contributions to the development of the French literary tradition over several centuries.