Synopses & Reviews
Between 1690 and 1715, well over one hundred literary fairy tales appeared in France, two-thirds of them written by women. The first part of this book situates the rise of this genre within the literary and historical context of late-seventeenth-century France, and the second part examines the representation of sexuality, masculinity and femininity within selected groups of tales. The book proposes a new model for the application of feminist and gender theory to the literary fairy tale, from whatever national tradition.
Review
"This is in many ways an outstanding scholarly achievement." Marvels &Tales: Journal of Fairy-Tale Studies, Vol. 11,Nos. 1-2"This impressive study provides great insight into not only the Marvellous and the conte de f^D'ees, but also issues of sexuality and gender under the ancien r^D'egime and at times of cultural transition and unease in general. It is a compelling tale, well told." Mererid Puw Davies, Eighteenth Century Fiction
Review
"This is in many ways an outstanding scholarly achievement." Marvels &Tales: Journal of Fairy-Tale Studies, Vol. 11,Nos. 1-2"This impressive study provides great insight into not only the Marvellous and the conte de fées, but also issues of sexuality and gender under the ancien régime and at times of cultural transition and unease in general. It is a compelling tale, well told." Mererid Puw Davies, Eighteenth Century Fiction"Seifert provides us with a solid and learned study of French fairy tale in its beginnings. He has much to tell us, and he shows us that we have much to learn." Modern Philology
Synopsis
A study of the genre of the literary fairy tale in late seventeenth-century France.
Description
Includes bibliographical references (p. 261-270) and index.
Table of Contents
Acknowledgments; Introduction; Part I. Marvelous Storytelling: 1. Marvelous realities: toward an understanding of the merveilleux; 2. Reading (and) the ironies of the marvelous; 3. The marvelous in context: the place of the contes de fées in late seventeenth-century France; Part II. Marvelous Desires: 4. Quests for love: visions of sexuality; 5. (De)mystifications of masculinity: fictios of transcendence; 6. Imagining femininity: binarity and beyond; Afterword; Notes, Selected bibliography; Index.