A World Apart: Female Adolescence in the French Novel 1870-1930 (review)

During the sixty-year period examined in this study, the portrayal of young women in French novels evolves significantly. The depiction of the female adolescent becomes decreasingly objectified and increasingly varied and complex. Changing social behaviors, such as delaying the age for marriage for girls, create literary interest in the figure of the (middle-class) young woman who does not fit into her previously limited roles of daughter or wife. By complementing her analyses of literary texts with explanations of the social mores of the same time period, Gale presents a comprehensive view of the conceptualization of French female adolescence. By placing each group of novels within a historical context, with a particular emphasis on the changing educational structures for girls and young women, Gale demonstrates how novelistic representations of female adolescents reflect a shifting cultural reality. Finally, by giving equal attention to works both by canonical authors (such as Emile Zola) and by lesser-known (female) writers (such as Camille Pert), Gale attempts to include all key texts that played a role in shaping the new social category of the female adolescent; examples include Minette by Rachilde, Renée Mauperin by the Goncourt brothers and the Claudine series by Colette.

In her chapter on the fin-de-siècle period, Gale focuses on the decadent presentations of young women in works by Zola, the Goncourt brothers and Rachilde that can be interpreted as critiques of the social constraints that kept young women repressed (particularly with regard to their sexuality). Her detailed analysis of Edmond de Goncourt's Chérie reveals a successful attempt to give a realistic portrayal of the adolescent female (in his preface, de Goncourt describes his determination to avoid the "idealized" version of female adolescence found in so many novels). Describing both the fear and dismay experienced by his female protagonist as she undergoes puberty, de Goncourt critiques French society's "conspiracy of silence surrounding menstruation and the developing body, resulting in shock and shame for unprepared girls" (42).

Gale then explores the explosion of novels devoted to the representation of the female adolescent during the Belle Époque in works by authors such as Romain Rolland, Marcelle Tinayre, Anna de Noaille, Colette, and Marcel Prévost. The female adolescent becomes not merely a legitimate, but a compelling figure to portray in literature. Of particular interest is Gale's comparison of the construction of female adolescence by male and female authors during this period. She sees these differences, particularly the trend of female authors to use first-person narrative, as evidence of writers attempting to depict an authentic vision of society in their work. Both men and women writers of this time who are dealing with the figure of the female adolescent focus on her education, home life, and relationships with friends, but there is an additional authoritative element in the works of the female authors who show "the struggles of the girl to advance in a society that doesn't necessarily recognize her as a cognizant being" (63).

Finally, during the 1920's and 1930's, at the height of the surrealist and psychoanalytical movements in France, there is an increased emphasis on the psychology of female protagonists in French novels and an effort, by both male and female authors, to express the personal experiences of young women who play an increasingly active role in determining their own paths. Works discussed here include novels by Marguerite Audoux, Camille Pert and Lucie Delarue-Mardrus, among others. Gale suggests that her study could be furthered by looking at other literary genres and also by comparing the representations of the female adolescent in French texts to those in Francophone literature. A study comparing the treatment of male and female adolescents (touched upon here but not at great length) would also make for a compelling extension to this important contribution to literary and cultural studies on a previously neglected part of women's history in France...