Gender discourse manifestations in the works of Marie de Gournay

Abstract

The article is devoted to the gender aspect of the study of the literary work of the French writer and philosopher Marie Le Jars de Gournay (1565–1645). Interest in gender issues in European literature at the turn of the 17th century is explained by a new round of the “The Woman Question” polemic about the relationship of the sexes. In many European countries, texts appear that address the problem of the position of women in society and their role in social and cultural life. In France, the works of Marie le Jar de Gournay – “The equality of men and women” (L’Egalité des hommes et des femmes, 1622) and “The Complaints of Ladies” (Le Grief des dames, 1626), become a kind of response to iconic anti-feminist pamphlets, in which the author defends not female superiority, but gender equality. The purpose of the study is to identify and justify the features of textual practices as self-expression of a female subject in literature. The article clarifies the concept of “feminine style of writing” and analyzes some productive strategies in the study of women’s texts. The specificity of gender discourse is analyzed using the example of the work of Marie Le Jar de Gournay, who continued the tradition of women’s essays in defense of representatives of the same gender. A conclusion about the prospect of using the concept of a woman’s writing is made. The aforementioned can be used for the further research of the authorship phenomenon and features of representation of women in texts and culture.

References

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