Worldwide Women Writers in Paris

(3 Credit Hours) · Undergraduate

Women writers from around the world, from places as diverse as Algeria and Vietnam, Slovenia and South Korea, are currently exerting an influence on the Parisian literary landscape. These singular individuals hail from very different locations, but many of their experiences as French-language authors in the French capital are quite similar, particularly when it comes to perceptions of them as foreigners. Even if they often feel excluded and even ostracized, these writers continue to write, pouring their creative energies into innovative texts that are transforming the publishing world and adding layers of depth to what it means to be a Francophone author today. In this course, we will read a variety of publications by such women writers as Nathacha Appanah, Bessora, Hélène Cixous, Maryse Condé, Julia Kristeva, Anna Moï, Pia Petersen, Zahia Rahmani, Leïla Sebbar, Shumona Sinha, and Brina Svit. Our readings of primary texts will be complemented by a series of interviews with these authors (http://francophonemetronomes.com and an accompanying critical volume (Oxford University Press, December 2021). We will also address the process of literary and academic publishing in our discussions. Taught in French.