The Francophone Women's Magazine. Inside and Outside of France (review)

Inspired by the 2006 Conference at the University of Surrey, U.K., Francophone Women's Magazine. Inside and Outside of France is an original and valuable book collection that develops a subject quite new to literary studies. The editors let us know that while very little research has been done on women's magazines from a non-sociological point of view, even rarer are studies on French feminine press published in countries other than France. This is perhaps the reason why the fourteen contributors consider their essays as introductory texts. Several geographical areas are embraced in the book: Quebec, Switzerland, France, Algeria, Morocco and Cameroun. Divided in three parts, the first section is devoted to the historical development of feminine magazines in France, Canada and Switzerland. This instructive overview highlights the cultural, social and political contexts within which the first feminine journals developed as well as the compulsory marketing aspects behind journals. At different degrees, the five articles recognize how magazines offered visibility for women and the creation of a virtual forum, where controversial topics were discussed. The second section is highly informative and focuses on women representations in feminine press produced in Algeria, Morocco and Cameroun. It addresses linguistic issues and the emerging of a multidimensional image of woman. It also identifies challenges related to illiteracy, magazine funding and circulation, differences in income among the population and the consequential limited fruition of feminine magazines. The far-reaching third part is dedicated to the images of more contemporary professional women, fathers and families as portrayed in the press published in France and Canada. A constructive diffidence surfaces towards the feminine publications examined also as a result of the way women's bodies are still exploited and illusory representations of the new fathers are portrayed.

Because of the multidimensional nature of a feminine magazine, which includes articles, rubrics, advice, pictures, advertisements, and private announcements, this press often becomes, on the one hand, a space of conflicting messages, while on the other hand, one of unexpected possibilities. This is perhaps the most consistent and captivating message of all the chapters. Concerning the first aspect, the magazine as a space of self-contradictory advice given to women readers, the editors underline how in it women are supposed to be: "both independent and modern, yet continue to adhere to more traditional values—be they in the form of finding a perfect mate or adhering to religious values" (xiv). In the case of North African feminine magazines, contradictions and spaces are more complex. The graphic contained in Kamila Ouhibi Aitsiselmi and Farid Aitsiselmi's article constitutes an excellent example. In the two Algerian magazines analyzed, they notice how the promoted image of women finds its place at least among three centers of representation: the Islamic east, western globalization and Algerian traditions. However, the authors also underline how this almost paradoxical hybrid state breaks dichotomist oppositions, by offering fluctuating mediations between global practices, local customs, the west, the east, traditions and Islam. The term "hybrid" in Dawn Marley's article refers to both a linguistic choice and a projected identity emerging from Moroccan feminine magazines. By addressing "'modern' working women," this press uses French, the language reminiscent of colonization, to treat issues related to women's rights and emancipation (101). Those magazines also convey an image of women who are proud to be Moroccan while they also "enjoy all the benefits of being modern Westernized women" (108). Concerning the second aspect, the magazine as a space of unpredicted possibilities, as Gabrielle Saint-Ives' article details, the early linguistic debate and consequent feminization of words that Le Coin du Feu promoted in Quebec from 1893 to 1896 should be considered one of those. It was a revolutionary challenge that impacted patriarchy and served as a basis for subsequent Quebecois feminist movements.

In conclusion, challenging journalists and scholars' common views of feminine press "as...