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Strange Adventures examines portrayals of womanhood in the works of prize-winning French author Pierrette Fleutiaux. Fleutiaux's refreshing pictures of womanhood offer insights into how women can become more whole, substantial and free in themselves and in their relationships, as well as how they can contribute to the external world through their creativity and leadership. The study demonstrates how Fleutiaux's heroines navigate the external, bodily and inner situations of adolescence, early adult life, marriage, motherhood, maturity, leadership and death, in the process developing greater inner resources of wisdom, compassion and resilience. This volume considers selections from Fleutiaux's oeuvre, from her first short fiction Histoire de la chauve-souris to her recent Loli le temps venu, including Métamorphoses de la reine (Goncourt de la nouvelle) and Nous sommes éternels (Prix Femina). Using a theoretical framework which draws on Jungian concepts and the philosophy of Simone de Beauvoir, the study analyses women's individuation trajectories at each stage of life. Throughout, Fleutiaux's depictions are shown to pose a challenge to existing conceptions of womanhood and individuality, thus opening up new understandings of what it means to be a woman, and to be human.
List of contents
Contents: Towards a New Theory of Womanhood - (Co)-Creating the Woman in Histoire de la chauve-souris, Histoire du tableau and Allons-nous être heureux? - Negotiating (with) the Mother in Métamorphoses de la reine and Des phrases courtes, ma chérie - Relating (to) the Other in Nous sommes éternels and Les Amants imparfaits - Invigorating Women's Leadership in L'Expédition, La Saison de mon contentement, Bonjour, Anne and Loli le temps venu.
About the author
Elizabeth Anne Sercombe is the Director of evolute, a human transformation consultancy based in the UK. She holds a PhD in French Literature from the University of Southampton. Her consultancy work combines research, writing and facilitation to enable individuals and organizations to thrive in the adventures of twenty-first-century life.
Report
«Elizabeth Anne Sercombe's excellent book focuses on female protagonists to highlight the conception of womanhood in the oeuvre of Pierrette Fleutiaux. [...] By paying equal attention to Fleutiaux's every novel, some often ignored, Sercombe builds a solid framework that looks at womanhood by linking past, present, and future in a more optimistic manner.»
(Claudine G. Fisher, French Studies, Vol. 71, Number 4 2017)
