French Literature Reviews - 2026
A. M. Paliyenko, Envie de génie. La contribution des femmes à l'histoire de la poésie française (XIXe siècle)
Poetry and Poetics
Envie de génie. La contribution des femmes à l'histoire de la poésie française (XIXe siècle)
Adrianna M. Paliyenko
Translated by Nicole Albert
Presses universitaires de Rouen et du Havre, 2021
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336 p.
ISBN-13 9791024014623
25.00 €
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Literary history has traditionally focused on men, often overshadowing a substantial body of work by women writers. While some female poets achieved recognition, their contributions were frequently reduced to a mere expression of their femininity. This book aims to demonstrate that these women poets actively engaged with the nature of poetic creation, challenging the notion that male authorship was the sole benchmark of literary originality.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Introduction
Part One: Questions of Reception
Chapter I
(De)gendering Genius
Chapter 2
Unease in Literary Reception
Chapter 3
The Other History of French Poetry, 1801-1900
Part Two: Women's Reflections: Through Poetry and Beyond
Chapter 4
Anaïs Ségalas: Reflections on Race, Gender, and France's "Civilizing Mission"
Chapter 5
Labor, Genius, and the In-Between in Malvina Blanchecotte
Chapter 6
Louisa Siefert's Dualism: A Poetics of the Threshold
Chapter 7
Louise Ackermann’s Scientific Turn
Chapter 8
Marie Krysinska on Eve, Evolution, and the Ownership of Genius
Conclusion
Sources and Bibliography
Critical Bibliography
List of Figures and Credits
Index of Proper Names
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Adrianna M. Paliyenko's study examines how nineteenth-century French women poets engaged with the nature of poetic creation, challenging traditional literary histories that treated male authorship as the sole benchmark of originality. By revisiting the works of figures such as Anaïs Ségalas, Malvina Blanchecotte, Louisa Siefert, Louise Ackermann, and Marie Krysinska, the book explores themes of gender, labor, science, and evolution. It provides valuable insight into how these writers negotiated reception and redefined intellectual authority beyond the confines of expected femininity.
Translated by Nicole Albert and published by the Presses universitaires de Rouen et du Havre, this volume serves as a resource for scholars of French literature, gender studies, and nineteenth-century poetics. It addresses central questions of literary historiography and reception, making it particularly useful for researchers seeking to broaden their understanding of the canon. The book helps contextualize the broader intellectual traditions surrounding poetic genius and the historical marginalization of women's literary contributions in France.