Louise Labé 2005 (review)

This is a valuable collection of eighteen essays on the works of Louise Labé. In her introduction "En guise de Préambule," Béatrice Alonso explains the editors' choice of essays: she sees the Epître Dédicatoire as a feminist manifesto. In her conclusion, she expresses the wish that this tome will, in Labé's words in her dedication to M. C. D. B. L, "serve as a guide" and be food for thought.

It should be noted that most of the essays have been previously published, except the introductory chapter by Alonso and the first essay by Éliane Viennot, who selected the essays with her. The last part of the book is a very comprehensive and extensive "Bibliographie d'Agrégation 2004-2005," compiled by Daniel Martin, which will be very useful to Labé researchers. It shows that Labé's works have inspired many scholars to produce books, essays, and articles. Therefore, given such a large quantity of works to choose from, this collection of essays had to be selective.

Most of the essays are in French, with two in English and one in Italian, and they are by scholars from both sides of the Atlantic. The choice of essays in this collection is reflective of the universality and the appeal of Labé's work. However, some critics such as Edith Joyce Benkov, Ann Rosalind Jones, Kazimierz Kupisz, Caridad Martinez, and Sharlene May Poliner are unfortunately not represented. In some instances, Alonso explains, these authors' writings could not be included because of restrictive publishing rights.

After the introductory chapter the collection is divided into three parts. The first part, "Généralités," mostly probes the various facets of Labé's feminism. To begin, Éliane Viennot examines the spread and influence of feminism at the time, while François Rigolot specifically explores the ambiguities of censorship for dames Lyonnaises such as Louise. Michèle Weil Bergougnoux demonstrates that Labé's dialogie led her to the affirmation of self and to writing. Gabriel-André Pérouse, by comparing the poetry of Labé and Taillemont, which he links to Jeanne Flore's Contes Amoureux, views all three as similar feminists. Christine Clark-Evans examines closely the preface to the Débat that, she concludes, is a program of instruction, a guide and an example "to encourage feminine and masculine writing . . . in a literary progression toward enlightenment." Finally, Evelyne Berriot-Salvadore provides a significant list of early feminist writers. In addition, she analyzes the works of two little-known writers at the end of the sixteenth century, Gabrielle Coignard and Marie Le Gendre, who were most likely influenced by Labé. She concludes that Labé's unique views left a "rich legacy" which subsequent women writers have well heeded.

The second part of the book, "Louise Labé Lyrique," focuses principally on Labé's poetry. Deborah Lesko Baker examines Sonnets 13 and 14, where she sees a subversion and transcendence of the Petrarchan tradition that gives way to "the emergence of a poetic voice that both incarnates and demands growth and change in the Petrarchan lyric tradition." Paolo Budini analyzes Labé's Italian Sonnet, which many critics ignore, and explores Italian influence on her form (language) and her content (Petrarchism). This sonnet is also analyzed by Françoise Leclerc, who insists on its importance in the Canzoniere. She considers it to be a fundamental link not only between the sonnets, but also the elegies and the Débat.

The last section of the book, "Autour d'un Débat," centers mostly on Labé's prose. Françoise Charpentier, in the first of her two essays, concludes that the Débat is a "false debate" since folie and amour cannot live without each other. Moreover, in her other essay, this critic sees a close bond between Labé's poésie and her satirical Débat: in all these works many facets of love are depicted and debated...