Womens Stories in Le Mercure Galant (1672-1710) - Feminine Fictions in an Early French Periodical

What do women want to read? Jean Donneau de Visé, the founder and editor in chief of Le Mercure Galant, one of France's first newspapers, was arguably the first journalist to ask this question and to recognize and capitalize upon the influence of female readers and their social networks. By including "custom content" and performing the act of listening to women, Le Mercure Galant situates itself as an intermediary, using the nouvelle as a vehicle to amplify women's voices. These fictions, presented as true stories, depict incidents and situations that women often bore silently in real life: domestic violence, romantic betrayal, dishonor, or simply loneliness. By publishing these stories alongside its chronicle of historic events, the Mercure lends credence and prestige to depictions of the private life of anonymous individuals, exploiting the ostensibly anodyne genre of "women's fiction" to disseminate modern ideas about women's agency.

List of contents

List of Illustrations, Acknowledgments, Introduction, 1. What Women Want, 2. Befriending the Female Reader, 3. Girls with Guns, 4. True Crime?, 5. Obstinate Women and Sleeping Beauties in the Kingdom of Miracles, Epilogue, Bibliography, Index

About the author

Deborah Steinberger is Associate Professor of French and Comparative Literature at the University of Delaware. She specializes in French seventeenth-century literature. Her previous publications include critical editions of epistolary and dramatic works by Françoise Pascal, as well as articles on Molière, Donneau de Visé, and Le Mercure Galant.

Product details

• Authors: Deborah Steinberger, Steinberger Deborah
• Publisher: Taylor & Francis Ltd.
• Languages: English
• Product format: Paperback / Softback
• Released: 01.12.2025
• EAN: 9781041190868
• ISBN: 978-1-0-4119086-8
• No. of pages: 222
• Series: Gendering the Late Medieval and Early Modern World
• Subjects: Humanities, art, music > History > Modern era up to 1918; LITERARY CRITICISM / European / French, LITERARY CRITICISM / Feminist, LITERARY CRITICISM / Modern / 17th Century, Literary studies: general, Early modern history: c 1450/1500 to c 1700, Literary studies: c 1500 to c 1800, History and Archaeology