Female Intimacies in Seventeenth-Century French Literature by Marianne Legault (review)

hubris and/or as the source of linguistic confusion resulting in human disharmony. Despite common manifestations of the myth, Khordoc shows that contemporary usage provides more nuanced versions, including the notion that multiplicity of languages does not necessarily imply a malediction. The novels under scrutiny all rely on specific reference to the Babel myth, and all are products of authors from diverse cultures who use French as a vehicle of expression. Khordoc’s first chapter is devoted to a helpful review of the transformation of the myth from the biblical story in Genesis to contemporary representations. Even if the reader is not familiar with the novels in Khordoc’s study, this chapter offers a comprehensive overview, easily applicable to other texts referencing the Babel myth. Two Babelian references are suggested immediately in the title of Semprún’s novel: translation and confusion. Khordoc explains that agarabía is a Spanish word of Arabic origin, signifying“confusion,”rendered in French form in the novel’s title. This framed novel takes place in Paris, an example, as Khordoc notes, of the metonymic associations of the Tower of Babel with the city or metropolis. The novel’s complicated structure is an example of literary construction and deconstruction . Noël and Bouraoui both situate their novels in Canadian cities, Montreal and Toronto. Canada has become a locus of diversity and Khordoc examines how both writers attempt to grapple with issues related to the multicultural and multilingual cityscape. Bosco’s Babel-Opéra questions literary genre: is it an opera? A prose poem? A novel? This generic confusion highlights chaos caused by heterogeneity and hybridity more broadly within the Babel theme. Hybridity and créolisation are the focus of the Babel myth in Pépin’s novel. Khordoc interprets Pépin’s novel as showing that confusion and blending of languages, even the ‘language’ of music and drumming, can result in a renewal of language, presenting thus an optimistic view of the myth. Khordoc’s study left this reviewer with a way to explore facets of the Babel myth in other texts besides those in the study. It is recommended as both a historical review of the myth itself and as a companion for those interested in the novels under scrutiny. Rider University (NJ) Mary L. Poteau-Tralie Legault, Marianne. Female Intimacies in Seventeenth-Century French Literature. Burlington, VT: Ashgate, 2012. ISBN 978-0-7546-6945-6. Pp. 250. $99.95. Throughout literary history, female friendship is a topic that has been avoided and oftentimes seen as taboo.As the author states, philosophers, writers, and moralists from antiquity to the modern era, “have denied women the capacity for perfect friendship”(30). Seventeenth-century writers, highly influenced by patriarchal power relations, are no exception. Legault demonstrates that in the vast majority of their works “the only emotional outlet women are allowed is through love, and of course, love directed at men” (30). Examining how writers narrate sexuality and female friendship in early modern literature, this book is part of a growing critical trend 234 FRENCH REVIEW 88.1 Reviews 235 focusing on gender studies. The book is divided into three chapters: “Historical Overview: The Refusal of Female Intimacy,” “Female Intimacy in the Masculine Imagination: From Sexual Fantasy to Apprehension,”and“Female Intimacy in Women’s Imagination: The Death of Prince Charming.” The first chapter demonstrates how a male-centered discourse in the writings of Plato, Cicero, and Aristotle systematically excludes women from the Greco-Roman vision of friendship. The author successfully argues that early modern writers follow in their footsteps, restricting women “to the realm of heterosexual love” (36). In the final section, the author concludes that this tendency is not limited to female friendship alone; and that throughout literary history the existence of “the most intimate form of relationship between women, the lesbian relationship” (37) is denied existence. Chapter two focuses on the works of two male authors: Honoré d’Urfé’s pastoral novel, L’Astrée, and Isaac de Benserade’s comedy Iphis et Iante. Legault shows how both “betray a masculine hysteria” (56) towards female relationships that are not directed toward men or heterosexual love. Chapter three is devoted to narrative strategies that...