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Fantasy et Féminismes
Par la création qu’elle permet de mondes secondaires alternatifs et par ses codes génériques sujets à la réappropriation, la fantasy est un genre de l’imaginaire dont les potentialités sont illimitées, et qui offre l’opportunité d’interroger les systèmes normatifs en place. Ce n’est donc pas un hasard si elle a été investie, au fil des décennies, par des discours issus de divers courants féministes et queer .
Que se produit-il lorsque la fantasy rencontre ces perspectives ? Comment peuvent-elles éclairer les œuvres (livres, nouvelles, séries télévisuelles), mais aussi les phénomènes faniques et militants qui les entourent ? Comment aborder la fantasy (l’analyser, mais aussi l’écrire) en s’intéressant aux dynamiques genrées, sexuelles, sexuées, ainsi qu’aux savoirs féminins et aux cultures des marges ?
Sous la direction de Marie Lucie Bougon (Université d’Artois), de Marion Gingras-Gagné (Université du Québec à Montréal) et de Pascale Laplante-Dubé (Université du Québec à Montréal/Université d’Artois), cet ouvrage rassemble des articles académiques de chercheurs et chercheuses et des créations d’autrices de fantasy, originaires de la France comme du Québec. Il est l’aboutissement d’un colloque organisé par l’Université du Québec à Montréal et l’Université d’Artois en 2021, qui a réuni universitaires, artistes et fans des deux côtés de l’Atlantique autour de dialogues fertiles sur les pouvoirs de l’imaginaire.
Que se produit-il lorsque la fantasy rencontre ces perspectives ? Comment peuvent-elles éclairer les œuvres (livres, nouvelles, séries télévisuelles), mais aussi les phénomènes faniques et militants qui les entourent ? Comment aborder la fantasy (l’analyser, mais aussi l’écrire) en s’intéressant aux dynamiques genrées, sexuelles, sexuées, ainsi qu’aux savoirs féminins et aux cultures des marges ?
Sous la direction de Marie Lucie Bougon (Université d’Artois), de Marion Gingras-Gagné (Université du Québec à Montréal) et de Pascale Laplante-Dubé (Université du Québec à Montréal/Université d’Artois), cet ouvrage rassemble des articles académiques de chercheurs et chercheuses et des créations d’autrices de fantasy, originaires de la France comme du Québec. Il est l’aboutissement d’un colloque organisé par l’Université du Québec à Montréal et l’Université d’Artois en 2021, qui a réuni universitaires, artistes et fans des deux côtés de l’Atlantique autour de dialogues fertiles sur les pouvoirs de l’imaginaire.
450 pages, Paperback
Published June 21, 2023
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
July 19, 2023
~•~ aux intersections du/des genre(s) ~•~
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Et bien c'était fort chouette !
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"Pour des dialogues fertiles sur les pouvoirs de l'imagination" peut-on lire en 4e de couverture, et je suis bien d'accord. C'est une des forces de cet ouvrage, qui se présente comme un dialogue entre essais et fictions. Sa très belle originalité, d'ailleurs est d'incorporer à ses réflexions des nouvelles de fiction exclusives à caractère d'exemple de ce qu'il est possible de faire lorsque l'on s'affranchit des contraintes de notre réalité pour perforer les frontières de l'imaginaire.
.
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D'ailleurs, sachez-le, il faut absolument que Geneviève Blouin, autrice de la nouvelle "Les gardiennes" présente dans ce livre, transforme son magnifique texte en roman ! Comme elle était courte cette nouvelle, comme je rêve de la voir se muer en grand récit !
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.
Mais au-delà des belles fictions, ce sont surtout les essais qui m'ont intéressée. S'ils ne m'ont pas tous convaincue, ils m'ont en revanche permis de m'interroger sur mes propres références culturelles.
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Je vois ce livre comme une belle porte d'entrée dans des recherches plus personnelles. La quantité impressionnante de références et de sources donne d'ailleurs le vertige !
Mais il n'y a pas à s'inquiéter du caractère très académique de sa présentation, car les différentes autrices ont su travailler leur texte pour rester abordables et pédagogiques. On n'est très peu perdu•e, sauf peut-être lorsque l'ouvrage aborde la sémiotique chez Tolkien (là moi j'ai rien compris et j'ai même eu des frissons en repensant à mes cours de linguistique d'il y a 10 ans).
.
.
En bref, j'ai adoré plonger mon esprit dans ce recueil. Cela fait du bien de se questionner, d'interroger ses référents culturels et d'imaginer rencontrer d'autres possibles.
.
.
Et vous, quel est le roman de fantasy qui vous a proposé un autre modèle que celui du patriarchat capitaliste ?
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.
Livre reçu en service de presse.
.
.
Et bien c'était fort chouette !
.
.
"Pour des dialogues fertiles sur les pouvoirs de l'imagination" peut-on lire en 4e de couverture, et je suis bien d'accord. C'est une des forces de cet ouvrage, qui se présente comme un dialogue entre essais et fictions. Sa très belle originalité, d'ailleurs est d'incorporer à ses réflexions des nouvelles de fiction exclusives à caractère d'exemple de ce qu'il est possible de faire lorsque l'on s'affranchit des contraintes de notre réalité pour perforer les frontières de l'imaginaire.
.
.
D'ailleurs, sachez-le, il faut absolument que Geneviève Blouin, autrice de la nouvelle "Les gardiennes" présente dans ce livre, transforme son magnifique texte en roman ! Comme elle était courte cette nouvelle, comme je rêve de la voir se muer en grand récit !
.
.
Mais au-delà des belles fictions, ce sont surtout les essais qui m'ont intéressée. S'ils ne m'ont pas tous convaincue, ils m'ont en revanche permis de m'interroger sur mes propres références culturelles.
.
.
Je vois ce livre comme une belle porte d'entrée dans des recherches plus personnelles. La quantité impressionnante de références et de sources donne d'ailleurs le vertige !
Mais il n'y a pas à s'inquiéter du caractère très académique de sa présentation, car les différentes autrices ont su travailler leur texte pour rester abordables et pédagogiques. On n'est très peu perdu•e, sauf peut-être lorsque l'ouvrage aborde la sémiotique chez Tolkien (là moi j'ai rien compris et j'ai même eu des frissons en repensant à mes cours de linguistique d'il y a 10 ans).
.
.
En bref, j'ai adoré plonger mon esprit dans ce recueil. Cela fait du bien de se questionner, d'interroger ses référents culturels et d'imaginer rencontrer d'autres possibles.
.
.
Et vous, quel est le roman de fantasy qui vous a proposé un autre modèle que celui du patriarchat capitaliste ?
.
.
Livre reçu en service de presse.
July 29, 2023
Fantasy & féminismes est un recueil passionnant et foisonnant qui explore les œuvres de fantasy qui se réapproprient ou changent un peu les codes pour un imaginaire plus inclusif et plus féministe. Regroupant des articles très intéressants, bien que parfois un peu ardus ou trop centrés sur l’analyse d’une seule œuvre, et des nouvelles de fiction inédites qui viennent appuyer les propos, c’est un ouvrage riche et réussi.
Critique complète sur yuyine.be!
Critique complète sur yuyine.be!
September 17, 2023
'Fantasy et Féminismes' is the n-th anthology combining science and fiction, though in the context of fantasy, and published by Éditions ActuSF. It follows previous works like 'Nos Futurs' (my review), 'Nos Futurs Solidaires' (my review), 'Fantasy et Médias', 'Fantasy et Histoire(s)', 'Travailler encore ?' (my review), and more. However, it is also based on the same-titled symposium held in May 2021, of which various debates/round tables were recorded: see here.
The book starts with a presentation of its composers, followed by a little lexicon of feminist and queer terms that were used throughout the book (yes, there's more than LGBTQ+), and an introduction about inclusive fantasy, telling of how fantasy over the years has also become the territory for queer and alike characters and authors. Of course, there's also a short overview of what this anthology contains, divided into three parts.
Each text, except the few short stories, contains footnotes and a list of related/consulted works/sources (fiction and non-fiction), should you wish to explore the respective subjects and themes a little deeper yourself.
Unfortunately, I haven't read any of the dissected works, which made it a bit difficult to properly appreciate the various analyses in an equal way. Of course, it's always easier to understand such an analysis if one has read this or that respective book. Regardless, the discussed works serve as examples to the chosen themes, which are the focal point here.
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01) Reprise et déplacement du canon: Représentations et arcs narratifs (roughly translated: Taking over and Shifting the Canon: Representations and Story Arcs)
* "So did I become dragon-mad": Pouvoir émancipateur du cycle et de la quête draconique dans 'A Memoir by Lady Trent' (2013-2017, Marie Brennan) - Pascale Laplante-Dubé:
Pascale Laplante-Dubé is a PhD student at Université de Québec in Montréal, Canada, and at Université d'Artois, France. She also teaches. For this anthology, she dissected, also in the context of her studies, Marie Brennan's well-known series 'The Memoirs of Lady Trent', also by basing her analysis on various other works, non-fiction and studies. The starting point is the "tension between reworking/renewing the genre's stereotypes and moving away from them." with the main question being: "Through which mechanisms can fantasy be a source of transformation of normalised genre stories, but also of fictional identities and normative feminine narrative trajectories, so often reproduced they seem fixed?"
I haven't read Marie Brennan's books, but it was interesting to see how an academic interprets such a story, whereas readers like you and I won't automatically approach a text like that, rather just read it for (mainly) entertainment purposes. Academic interpretations are never simple, yet this text does help to spark one's interest in giving these books a try or read similar works in a different way.
* Les Guardiennes - Geneviève Blouin:
The first short-story of the few integrated in this anthology. We follow a handful of women who show that they play crucial roles in life (especially in the household). Four boys went out hunting, though without weapons or food. One mother is worried, wants to go, though not alone, and find them, before harm befalls them. However, someone then needs to keep an eye on her children, and so help is sought in the village. Still, there's also the cattle to keep an eye on. But things work out alright... and it's the search party that eventually comes home with food. Female power! A very good story!
* "Something yet unnamed", ou si le lesbianisme m'était conté: la puissance narrative d'une Cendrillon sortie du bal de l'hétérosexualité (with a focus on works by Emma Donoghue, Malinda Lo, Kaylin Bayron) - Manon Berthier:
Cinderella, a classic tale that's been rewritten and reworked countless times. Here we have an analysis where women take the lead, where lesbian relationships are created, but foremost where the patriarchal society and structure of the story is torn down, criticised. And when you come to think of it, it holds true: such stories were often about the heroic role of the prince, with the princess or female protagonist finding happiness either in death (after having fought for her life/ideals) or when married to a wealthy prince (or similar person of high rank). Not always easy to follow, I found, especially when other sources were referenced.
* 'Circé' de Madeline Miller: 'Balance tes porcs' ou 'Mémoirs d'une héroine rangée'? - Cyrille Ballaguy and Élise Wolf Ballaguy:
Interesting to see how, in this dissection of 'Circe', Homer (known from such works as 'The Iliad' and 'The Odyssey') and his contemporaries wrote their stories with a "male gaze", whereas Miller (and her contemporaries) tried to approach these myths/stories with a "female gaze", with Circe exerting her power (yet succumbing to the male rules afterwards). Showing how feminism has made progress, yet is still trapped in the male canvas/frame and it not going to be over for several generations to come. Such a psychological overhaul takes time, much time.
* De nouveaux archétypes pour de nouveaux récits - Claire Duvivier:
A short contribution by Claire Duvivier (author and co-owner of Asphalte éditions), who used the 'Cycle de la Tour de Garde' as an example here, consisting of two trilogies: 'Capitale du Sud' (by Guillaume Chamanadjian) and her own 'Capitale du Nord'. Mrs Duvivier also explained how she (!) sees her characters, wants to portray them (with some psychology, not always the classic fantasy standards, even if those standards/building blocks allow for readers to rapidly feel at home, see who's who, what to expect, etc.). One counter-example would be her (excellent, in my opinion) Un long voyage.
* Héroïnes antiques et émancipation féminine dans la peinture victorienne: les origines d'un archétype de la fantasy - Yannick Le Pape:
Going back to the Victorian era, with a.o. the Pre-Raphaelites, as they based their works on Classicism, and how contemporary/modern artists base their art on that of the Pre-Raphaelites. This contribution contains a long list of books and the added pictures are unfortunately in black and white, which doesn't allow the art to come out properly, as they are too dark. However, about those books, one is 'Panorama illustré de la fantasy & du merveilleux', which has been on my TBR-pile for quite a while. It's a coffee table book, too thick to read it like a novel. It was reissued a few years ago in smaller paperback and should be reissued once more later this year, if I saw that correctly. However, I'm not familiar with many of the mentioned painters and paintings in the essay here. Still, it should be noted that women too, including sisters of painters, were painters. Something that is often forgotten, I find. We never learnt about them in school. All in all, this is an interesting text, but if you're not familiar with the theme or painters, it might be a bit boring.
02) Diversité interprétative et réappropriations par les fans (roughly translated: Interpretive diversity et reappropriation by the fans)
* Féministe ou sexiste? La diversité interprétative et la pensée sémiotique de J. R. R. Tolkien, by Laura Iseut Lafrance St-Martin:
No, I haven't read 'The Lord of the Rings' yet. I know, guilty as charged, even though the book (omnibus) has been on my TBR-pile for more than 10 years. I did see the three films, though. Tolkien and feminin/sexist interpretations? Reading this essay does indeed open one's eyes, if you look at how female characters (at least in the films) are portrayed, the roles they were given. The heroes are all male, but some female characters do shine through and try to stand their ground, despite a patriarchal society. For the comparison between semiology and semiotics, at least two authors were of importance: Ferdinand de Saussure (whose 'Cours de linguistique générale' is on my TBR-pile) and Charles Sanders Peirce. Of course, other books by other authors were also used to dissect Tolkien's magnus opus in terms of characters, patriarchy, and so on. It is said that Mr Tolkien didn't want to impose his personal view, rather let each reader interpret the story him/herself, based on their proper upbringing, beliefs, social norms, etc. Which of course means all sides of the spectrum can interpret the story differently, which in turn leads to struggles, diversion, even between like-minded people. An interesting document, to say the least.
* Le Langage des Fées - Élisabeth Vonarburg
Élisabeth Vonarburg is a grand name in the world of Francophone fantasy, has written quite a few novels and short stories, but also translated Anglophone works. Her contribution here is a nicely written short text about faeries and how important they are to mankind. For more stories or elaboration, I would like to refer to a.o. Fées et Automates - Anthologie des Imaginales 2016, Le Guide des fées : Regards sur la femme (by Virginie Barsagol and Audrey Cansot), and Sara Doke's Techno Faerie.
* Les pratiques créatives ont-elles le pouvoir de déconstruire les normes de genre? Le cas de fanfictions de Harry Potter - Coralie Lebœuf
Who doesn't know Harry Potter, either the books or the films or both? Or even the video games? I know of them, have neither read nor seen nor played any of the aforementioned products. So this analysis was another one where I had some trouble grasping the links with the characters, the books, etc. Though I do appreciate the work that went into dissecting fan fiction in general (as many books and book series have encouraged readers to write their own, related stories) and in particular those revolving around Harry Potter. The view on these fan fictions involves of course those where female characters take the lead (especially in romantic contexts), not Harry Potter, but there's also light shed on the role of the female characters in the books/films. A recommended read for HP-fans, indeed.
03) Reprise et déplacement des tropes: Matriarcat, maternité et magie (roughly translated: Taking over and shifting the tropes: Matriarchy, maternity and magic)
* Minuit à la tour du dragon - Alex Evans
Alex Evans has a few novels and more than a handful of short stories up her sleeve. This story is not bad in itself, I like the idea - how classic it may be -, just not so much the style. It involves royalty or definitely nobility. A young noble girl return from being lost, though her return is to occur in secret, hence her applying as a kitchen aid... at her aunt's... where the child's mother runs the kitchen.
* La réprésentation d'une supériorité indéniable chez les Adem, société matriarcale - André-Philippe Lapointe
In this contribution, mainly Patrick Rothfuss's books were used as basis, next to other works for obvious reasons, to discuss Adem (click for more info), a matriarchal society. Unfortunately, the explanation went a bit over my head, as many references just are unknown to me. Again, I respect and find it interesting to see how fantasy stories and texts are analysed and not considered mere entertainment, contrary to what the mainstream might think. However, one should be in the know to fully or better appreciate such essays.
* Azr'Khila - Charlotte Bousquet
Charlotte Bousquet, a prolific author, has set most of her stories (novels, short stories) in an African-inspired world. So too this story, though I do not know if there's a link with her other stories and books. I have to admit that Bousquet's stories are not really my cup of tea. While the story tells of women reclaiming their power, also due to divine intervention (from a goddess, of course), and fits the theme of this anthology, I had the impression it was incomplete, lacking context, as not everything is explained. Which leads me to think that there might indeed be a link with her previous works.
* Évolution de la représentation de la sexualité féminine dans les séries de fantasy pour adolescent.e.s: l'exemple des 'Nouvelles Aventures de Sabrina' - Charlotte Duranton
Charlotte Duranton is a doctor in ethology, holds a blog (Moments Animaux) and is currently at work at Université d'Artas, France, under the guidance of Anne Besson, professor and specialised in fantasy literature.
The thesis here is in a way a trip down memory lane with 'Sabrina, the teenage witch', a series of which I had seen some episodes back in the 1990s. There seems to have been a remake later, which I've never watched, and that's the focus of the dissection here, about sexuality issues and how women play a leading role in this series.
* Pour Juliette - Héloïse Côté
Next to writing, Héloïse Côté is a researcher who teaches at Université Laval in Québec, Canada. The last short story of the pack. If I understood well, it's about a single mother who's to protect her daughter, Juliette, from an invasion of zombie-like creatures (rôdeurs). And as living conditions are harsh (e.g. no electricity), the mother puts a lot of effort in holding off the zombies to protect her daughter. A good story, all in all, that shows that women are also heroes.
* Le surnaturel au féminin: pouvoir, magie et maternité - Cassandra Simon
Cassandra Simon is a student at the university of Ottawa, Canada, and her contribution is inline with her studies Lettres françaises with specialisation in Études féministes. She took books from two contemporary French authors, Manon Fargetton and Christelle Dabos, both of whom are very popular with today's youth. Respective books in question: 'Les Illusions de Sav-Loar' (2016) - takes place in the same universe as 'L'Héritage des Rois-Passeurs' (2015) - and 'La Passe-Miroir' (2013-2019). Like with the other fantasy novels analysed for the various essays, I haven't ready any of the aforementioned books.
Cassandra Simon set herself the task to examine the subversive and feminist potential of magic in contemporary French fantasy literature. After an overview of magic's relationship with nature and the feminine, Mrs Simon then looks at the issues involved in its insertion into imaginary societies, where it is sometimes associated with dominant power, sometimes with subaltern revolts. The objective is to understand the extent to which the new possibilities offered by the supernatural to fiction can shake, or even overturn, traditional social patterns, particularly with regards to the female body and the control of its reproductive faculties.
She divided her text into four parts:
* Magie féminine: entre nature et surnature
About the division between masculin and feminin magic, generally speaking, each with their own fields of operation and characteristics. Nature is key in Fargetton's book, where magic keeps the world afloat in Dabos's books, with a scientific touch.
* Pouvoir magique dans les sociétés imaginaires
How magic can construct imaginary societies/worlds, called "idéomondes" (transl.: Ideoworlds), taken from Idéopédia. However, such societies are quite limited and a second world, as the "first" world is the real society the author lives in/experiences. The two, real world and ideoworld, are in a sens connected. Magic exists in the second world and is mostly linked to power: social, economical, political or even as a supernatural talent. Magic can help one get far, but can also be abused.
* Changer le monde: le potentiel subversif de la magie
How is magic used? What impact does it have on the character's life, abilities, faculties, view of society? Especially when the characters of both works don't want to continue the tradition of having children and so on.
* Le corps féminin et l'idéomonde de fantasy: une transaction magique
How does the use of magic affect the characters' bodies and the world they live in, they want to transform? And does it affect (if so, how?) one's view of the real world('s traditions)?
In short, a very interesting examination of Fargetton's and Dabos's works, which do help spark one's interest to check those books out, or like before, read similar works with (re)new(ed) insight.
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'Fantasy & Féminismes aux interesections du/des genre(s)' is the (currently, June 2023) last essayistic anthology of Éditions ActuSF. It follows several other interesting ones who were published the past few years. In the world of Francophone SFFF, ActuSF have stuck to their vision and editorial line to stand out and offer reading material on contemporary themes for years to come. While academic texts aren't always as accessible as fiction stories, such contributions help to broaden one's vision and learn about themes one might never have sought to learn about by oneself. The added short stories help make the reading a bit lighter, provide a lighter approach to the themes. This anthology is, all in all, quite interesting and recommended to anyone interested in the tackled themes, whether you have read (or are familiar with) the discussed works (books, TV-series) or not. In addition, it's packed with notes and references (bibliographic lists) to other works, fiction or non-fiction, for the reader to explore.
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I was sent this book by Éditions ActuSF for review. Many thanks to them for the trust.
The book starts with a presentation of its composers, followed by a little lexicon of feminist and queer terms that were used throughout the book (yes, there's more than LGBTQ+), and an introduction about inclusive fantasy, telling of how fantasy over the years has also become the territory for queer and alike characters and authors. Of course, there's also a short overview of what this anthology contains, divided into three parts.
Each text, except the few short stories, contains footnotes and a list of related/consulted works/sources (fiction and non-fiction), should you wish to explore the respective subjects and themes a little deeper yourself.
Unfortunately, I haven't read any of the dissected works, which made it a bit difficult to properly appreciate the various analyses in an equal way. Of course, it's always easier to understand such an analysis if one has read this or that respective book. Regardless, the discussed works serve as examples to the chosen themes, which are the focal point here.
----------
01) Reprise et déplacement du canon: Représentations et arcs narratifs (roughly translated: Taking over and Shifting the Canon: Representations and Story Arcs)
* "So did I become dragon-mad": Pouvoir émancipateur du cycle et de la quête draconique dans 'A Memoir by Lady Trent' (2013-2017, Marie Brennan) - Pascale Laplante-Dubé:
Pascale Laplante-Dubé is a PhD student at Université de Québec in Montréal, Canada, and at Université d'Artois, France. She also teaches. For this anthology, she dissected, also in the context of her studies, Marie Brennan's well-known series 'The Memoirs of Lady Trent', also by basing her analysis on various other works, non-fiction and studies. The starting point is the "tension between reworking/renewing the genre's stereotypes and moving away from them." with the main question being: "Through which mechanisms can fantasy be a source of transformation of normalised genre stories, but also of fictional identities and normative feminine narrative trajectories, so often reproduced they seem fixed?"
I haven't read Marie Brennan's books, but it was interesting to see how an academic interprets such a story, whereas readers like you and I won't automatically approach a text like that, rather just read it for (mainly) entertainment purposes. Academic interpretations are never simple, yet this text does help to spark one's interest in giving these books a try or read similar works in a different way.
* Les Guardiennes - Geneviève Blouin:
The first short-story of the few integrated in this anthology. We follow a handful of women who show that they play crucial roles in life (especially in the household). Four boys went out hunting, though without weapons or food. One mother is worried, wants to go, though not alone, and find them, before harm befalls them. However, someone then needs to keep an eye on her children, and so help is sought in the village. Still, there's also the cattle to keep an eye on. But things work out alright... and it's the search party that eventually comes home with food. Female power! A very good story!
* "Something yet unnamed", ou si le lesbianisme m'était conté: la puissance narrative d'une Cendrillon sortie du bal de l'hétérosexualité (with a focus on works by Emma Donoghue, Malinda Lo, Kaylin Bayron) - Manon Berthier:
Cinderella, a classic tale that's been rewritten and reworked countless times. Here we have an analysis where women take the lead, where lesbian relationships are created, but foremost where the patriarchal society and structure of the story is torn down, criticised. And when you come to think of it, it holds true: such stories were often about the heroic role of the prince, with the princess or female protagonist finding happiness either in death (after having fought for her life/ideals) or when married to a wealthy prince (or similar person of high rank). Not always easy to follow, I found, especially when other sources were referenced.
* 'Circé' de Madeline Miller: 'Balance tes porcs' ou 'Mémoirs d'une héroine rangée'? - Cyrille Ballaguy and Élise Wolf Ballaguy:
Interesting to see how, in this dissection of 'Circe', Homer (known from such works as 'The Iliad' and 'The Odyssey') and his contemporaries wrote their stories with a "male gaze", whereas Miller (and her contemporaries) tried to approach these myths/stories with a "female gaze", with Circe exerting her power (yet succumbing to the male rules afterwards). Showing how feminism has made progress, yet is still trapped in the male canvas/frame and it not going to be over for several generations to come. Such a psychological overhaul takes time, much time.
* De nouveaux archétypes pour de nouveaux récits - Claire Duvivier:
A short contribution by Claire Duvivier (author and co-owner of Asphalte éditions), who used the 'Cycle de la Tour de Garde' as an example here, consisting of two trilogies: 'Capitale du Sud' (by Guillaume Chamanadjian) and her own 'Capitale du Nord'. Mrs Duvivier also explained how she (!) sees her characters, wants to portray them (with some psychology, not always the classic fantasy standards, even if those standards/building blocks allow for readers to rapidly feel at home, see who's who, what to expect, etc.). One counter-example would be her (excellent, in my opinion) Un long voyage.
* Héroïnes antiques et émancipation féminine dans la peinture victorienne: les origines d'un archétype de la fantasy - Yannick Le Pape:
Going back to the Victorian era, with a.o. the Pre-Raphaelites, as they based their works on Classicism, and how contemporary/modern artists base their art on that of the Pre-Raphaelites. This contribution contains a long list of books and the added pictures are unfortunately in black and white, which doesn't allow the art to come out properly, as they are too dark. However, about those books, one is 'Panorama illustré de la fantasy & du merveilleux', which has been on my TBR-pile for quite a while. It's a coffee table book, too thick to read it like a novel. It was reissued a few years ago in smaller paperback and should be reissued once more later this year, if I saw that correctly. However, I'm not familiar with many of the mentioned painters and paintings in the essay here. Still, it should be noted that women too, including sisters of painters, were painters. Something that is often forgotten, I find. We never learnt about them in school. All in all, this is an interesting text, but if you're not familiar with the theme or painters, it might be a bit boring.
02) Diversité interprétative et réappropriations par les fans (roughly translated: Interpretive diversity et reappropriation by the fans)
* Féministe ou sexiste? La diversité interprétative et la pensée sémiotique de J. R. R. Tolkien, by Laura Iseut Lafrance St-Martin:
No, I haven't read 'The Lord of the Rings' yet. I know, guilty as charged, even though the book (omnibus) has been on my TBR-pile for more than 10 years. I did see the three films, though. Tolkien and feminin/sexist interpretations? Reading this essay does indeed open one's eyes, if you look at how female characters (at least in the films) are portrayed, the roles they were given. The heroes are all male, but some female characters do shine through and try to stand their ground, despite a patriarchal society. For the comparison between semiology and semiotics, at least two authors were of importance: Ferdinand de Saussure (whose 'Cours de linguistique générale' is on my TBR-pile) and Charles Sanders Peirce. Of course, other books by other authors were also used to dissect Tolkien's magnus opus in terms of characters, patriarchy, and so on. It is said that Mr Tolkien didn't want to impose his personal view, rather let each reader interpret the story him/herself, based on their proper upbringing, beliefs, social norms, etc. Which of course means all sides of the spectrum can interpret the story differently, which in turn leads to struggles, diversion, even between like-minded people. An interesting document, to say the least.
* Le Langage des Fées - Élisabeth Vonarburg
Élisabeth Vonarburg is a grand name in the world of Francophone fantasy, has written quite a few novels and short stories, but also translated Anglophone works. Her contribution here is a nicely written short text about faeries and how important they are to mankind. For more stories or elaboration, I would like to refer to a.o. Fées et Automates - Anthologie des Imaginales 2016, Le Guide des fées : Regards sur la femme (by Virginie Barsagol and Audrey Cansot), and Sara Doke's Techno Faerie.
* Les pratiques créatives ont-elles le pouvoir de déconstruire les normes de genre? Le cas de fanfictions de Harry Potter - Coralie Lebœuf
Who doesn't know Harry Potter, either the books or the films or both? Or even the video games? I know of them, have neither read nor seen nor played any of the aforementioned products. So this analysis was another one where I had some trouble grasping the links with the characters, the books, etc. Though I do appreciate the work that went into dissecting fan fiction in general (as many books and book series have encouraged readers to write their own, related stories) and in particular those revolving around Harry Potter. The view on these fan fictions involves of course those where female characters take the lead (especially in romantic contexts), not Harry Potter, but there's also light shed on the role of the female characters in the books/films. A recommended read for HP-fans, indeed.
03) Reprise et déplacement des tropes: Matriarcat, maternité et magie (roughly translated: Taking over and shifting the tropes: Matriarchy, maternity and magic)
* Minuit à la tour du dragon - Alex Evans
Alex Evans has a few novels and more than a handful of short stories up her sleeve. This story is not bad in itself, I like the idea - how classic it may be -, just not so much the style. It involves royalty or definitely nobility. A young noble girl return from being lost, though her return is to occur in secret, hence her applying as a kitchen aid... at her aunt's... where the child's mother runs the kitchen.
* La réprésentation d'une supériorité indéniable chez les Adem, société matriarcale - André-Philippe Lapointe
In this contribution, mainly Patrick Rothfuss's books were used as basis, next to other works for obvious reasons, to discuss Adem (click for more info), a matriarchal society. Unfortunately, the explanation went a bit over my head, as many references just are unknown to me. Again, I respect and find it interesting to see how fantasy stories and texts are analysed and not considered mere entertainment, contrary to what the mainstream might think. However, one should be in the know to fully or better appreciate such essays.
* Azr'Khila - Charlotte Bousquet
Charlotte Bousquet, a prolific author, has set most of her stories (novels, short stories) in an African-inspired world. So too this story, though I do not know if there's a link with her other stories and books. I have to admit that Bousquet's stories are not really my cup of tea. While the story tells of women reclaiming their power, also due to divine intervention (from a goddess, of course), and fits the theme of this anthology, I had the impression it was incomplete, lacking context, as not everything is explained. Which leads me to think that there might indeed be a link with her previous works.
* Évolution de la représentation de la sexualité féminine dans les séries de fantasy pour adolescent.e.s: l'exemple des 'Nouvelles Aventures de Sabrina' - Charlotte Duranton
Charlotte Duranton is a doctor in ethology, holds a blog (Moments Animaux) and is currently at work at Université d'Artas, France, under the guidance of Anne Besson, professor and specialised in fantasy literature.
The thesis here is in a way a trip down memory lane with 'Sabrina, the teenage witch', a series of which I had seen some episodes back in the 1990s. There seems to have been a remake later, which I've never watched, and that's the focus of the dissection here, about sexuality issues and how women play a leading role in this series.
* Pour Juliette - Héloïse Côté
Next to writing, Héloïse Côté is a researcher who teaches at Université Laval in Québec, Canada. The last short story of the pack. If I understood well, it's about a single mother who's to protect her daughter, Juliette, from an invasion of zombie-like creatures (rôdeurs). And as living conditions are harsh (e.g. no electricity), the mother puts a lot of effort in holding off the zombies to protect her daughter. A good story, all in all, that shows that women are also heroes.
* Le surnaturel au féminin: pouvoir, magie et maternité - Cassandra Simon
Cassandra Simon is a student at the university of Ottawa, Canada, and her contribution is inline with her studies Lettres françaises with specialisation in Études féministes. She took books from two contemporary French authors, Manon Fargetton and Christelle Dabos, both of whom are very popular with today's youth. Respective books in question: 'Les Illusions de Sav-Loar' (2016) - takes place in the same universe as 'L'Héritage des Rois-Passeurs' (2015) - and 'La Passe-Miroir' (2013-2019). Like with the other fantasy novels analysed for the various essays, I haven't ready any of the aforementioned books.
Cassandra Simon set herself the task to examine the subversive and feminist potential of magic in contemporary French fantasy literature. After an overview of magic's relationship with nature and the feminine, Mrs Simon then looks at the issues involved in its insertion into imaginary societies, where it is sometimes associated with dominant power, sometimes with subaltern revolts. The objective is to understand the extent to which the new possibilities offered by the supernatural to fiction can shake, or even overturn, traditional social patterns, particularly with regards to the female body and the control of its reproductive faculties.
She divided her text into four parts:
* Magie féminine: entre nature et surnature
About the division between masculin and feminin magic, generally speaking, each with their own fields of operation and characteristics. Nature is key in Fargetton's book, where magic keeps the world afloat in Dabos's books, with a scientific touch.
* Pouvoir magique dans les sociétés imaginaires
How magic can construct imaginary societies/worlds, called "idéomondes" (transl.: Ideoworlds), taken from Idéopédia. However, such societies are quite limited and a second world, as the "first" world is the real society the author lives in/experiences. The two, real world and ideoworld, are in a sens connected. Magic exists in the second world and is mostly linked to power: social, economical, political or even as a supernatural talent. Magic can help one get far, but can also be abused.
* Changer le monde: le potentiel subversif de la magie
How is magic used? What impact does it have on the character's life, abilities, faculties, view of society? Especially when the characters of both works don't want to continue the tradition of having children and so on.
* Le corps féminin et l'idéomonde de fantasy: une transaction magique
How does the use of magic affect the characters' bodies and the world they live in, they want to transform? And does it affect (if so, how?) one's view of the real world('s traditions)?
In short, a very interesting examination of Fargetton's and Dabos's works, which do help spark one's interest to check those books out, or like before, read similar works with (re)new(ed) insight.
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'Fantasy & Féminismes aux interesections du/des genre(s)' is the (currently, June 2023) last essayistic anthology of Éditions ActuSF. It follows several other interesting ones who were published the past few years. In the world of Francophone SFFF, ActuSF have stuck to their vision and editorial line to stand out and offer reading material on contemporary themes for years to come. While academic texts aren't always as accessible as fiction stories, such contributions help to broaden one's vision and learn about themes one might never have sought to learn about by oneself. The added short stories help make the reading a bit lighter, provide a lighter approach to the themes. This anthology is, all in all, quite interesting and recommended to anyone interested in the tackled themes, whether you have read (or are familiar with) the discussed works (books, TV-series) or not. In addition, it's packed with notes and references (bibliographic lists) to other works, fiction or non-fiction, for the reader to explore.
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I was sent this book by Éditions ActuSF for review. Many thanks to them for the trust.
June 14, 2024
Soyons honnêtes : cette couverture est absolument canonnissime ! Promis, ce qui se trouve à l'intérieur est tout aussi canon. C'est parti pour la chronique de Fantasy & Féminisme, un livre qui reprend des essais et des nouvelles féministes !
Je ne me plonge que rarement dans ce type de lecture, je dois l'avouer, et j'ai d'ailleurs commencé l'année passée pour travailler sur mon TFE (beurk, beurk, beurk). Mais ici, on est clairement sur deux sujets que me parlent à fond donc j'ai laissé une chance à cet ouvrage et je ne le regrette absolument pas !
J'ai apprécié les sujets abordés et le fait que cette lecture m'ait poussée à la réflexion. le féminisme est un thème très large, on ne peut bien sûr pas tout couvrir, mais couplé à celui de la fantasy où « tout est possible », on obtient un cocktail exaltant ! Qui dit lutte féministe dit aussi lutte queer/LGBT+, il est important de le noter.
Autre élément qui fait, à mes yeux, l'intérêt de ce livre, c'est la diversité des oeuvres analysées. Anciens ou récents, classiques ou nouveautés, il y en a pour tous les gouts, mais aussi pour tous les supports : livres, séries TV mais aussi… la peinture (le préraphaélisme, ma nouvelle passion).
Petit exemple de réflexion que j'ai fort appréciées :
- Pourquoi le Seigneur des anneaux et le Hobbit sont vus comme modernes/féministes par les uns, et réactionnaires/patriarcaux par d'autres ?
- Pour rendre un personnage féminin plus « fort », peut-on simplement lui attribuer des caractéristique habituellement réservées aux hommes ?
- Une société matriarcale est-elle simplement l'inverse d'une société patriarcale ? le masculin devient-il le s*xe faible ?
- Quid de la grossesse ?
Enfin, plusieurs nouvelles féministes égaient la lecture, de quoi faire des petites pauses entre les discours académiques parfois relativement complexes.
Bisous sur vos fesses,
Votre humble et dévouée petite souris.
Je ne me plonge que rarement dans ce type de lecture, je dois l'avouer, et j'ai d'ailleurs commencé l'année passée pour travailler sur mon TFE (beurk, beurk, beurk). Mais ici, on est clairement sur deux sujets que me parlent à fond donc j'ai laissé une chance à cet ouvrage et je ne le regrette absolument pas !
J'ai apprécié les sujets abordés et le fait que cette lecture m'ait poussée à la réflexion. le féminisme est un thème très large, on ne peut bien sûr pas tout couvrir, mais couplé à celui de la fantasy où « tout est possible », on obtient un cocktail exaltant ! Qui dit lutte féministe dit aussi lutte queer/LGBT+, il est important de le noter.
Autre élément qui fait, à mes yeux, l'intérêt de ce livre, c'est la diversité des oeuvres analysées. Anciens ou récents, classiques ou nouveautés, il y en a pour tous les gouts, mais aussi pour tous les supports : livres, séries TV mais aussi… la peinture (le préraphaélisme, ma nouvelle passion).
Petit exemple de réflexion que j'ai fort appréciées :
- Pourquoi le Seigneur des anneaux et le Hobbit sont vus comme modernes/féministes par les uns, et réactionnaires/patriarcaux par d'autres ?
- Pour rendre un personnage féminin plus « fort », peut-on simplement lui attribuer des caractéristique habituellement réservées aux hommes ?
- Une société matriarcale est-elle simplement l'inverse d'une société patriarcale ? le masculin devient-il le s*xe faible ?
- Quid de la grossesse ?
Enfin, plusieurs nouvelles féministes égaient la lecture, de quoi faire des petites pauses entre les discours académiques parfois relativement complexes.
Bisous sur vos fesses,
Votre humble et dévouée petite souris.
June 20, 2024
I did find some interesting ideas but not really what I was looking for. However, if you're into queer literature and queer studies, that book's brilliant and you should definitely read it.
November 16, 2023
Un recueil d'essais qui abordent des thématiques très differentes au sein de la fantasy. Certains essais étaient très interessants et pertinents, je pense à celui sur Tolkien, la série Sabrina, ou le dernier sur deux exemples de fantasy francophone.
Le style d'écriture peut parfois être très académique
Les nouvelles parsement l'ouvrage ne m'ont pas captivé mais l'idée de leur présence est interessante.
Par contre. L'essai sur Harry Potter me semble tellement hors sujet. D'abord car pourquoi mettre en avant une oeuvre écrite par une TERF revendiquée ? De plus l'autrice de l'essai n'en parle a aucun moment, c'est une note de bas de page par les directrice de l'ouvrage qui le mentionne. Ensuite parler de fanfiction pourquoi pas, mais dire que la fanfiction est inspirée du shojo manga??? Où sont les sources??? Ce n'est pas parce qu'il y a des tropes en commun que la fanfiction est forcément inspirée du shojo. De plus je n'ai pas compris le choix de la selection des fanfictions, en plus d'être un panel très reduit, pourquoi inclure une fanfic smut harry x snape x lucius, et ce sans jamais relever l'aspect abusif de cet incipit.
Un essai sur le fake feminism/white feminism dans harry potter aurait pu etre plus à propos même si je prefererais ne jamais plus rien lire en lien avec cette sage.
Cet essai fait baisser drastiquement la qualité de cet ouvrage
Le style d'écriture peut parfois être très académique
Les nouvelles parsement l'ouvrage ne m'ont pas captivé mais l'idée de leur présence est interessante.
Par contre. L'essai sur Harry Potter me semble tellement hors sujet. D'abord car pourquoi mettre en avant une oeuvre écrite par une TERF revendiquée ? De plus l'autrice de l'essai n'en parle a aucun moment, c'est une note de bas de page par les directrice de l'ouvrage qui le mentionne. Ensuite parler de fanfiction pourquoi pas, mais dire que la fanfiction est inspirée du shojo manga??? Où sont les sources??? Ce n'est pas parce qu'il y a des tropes en commun que la fanfiction est forcément inspirée du shojo. De plus je n'ai pas compris le choix de la selection des fanfictions, en plus d'être un panel très reduit, pourquoi inclure une fanfic smut harry x snape x lucius, et ce sans jamais relever l'aspect abusif de cet incipit.
Un essai sur le fake feminism/white feminism dans harry potter aurait pu etre plus à propos même si je prefererais ne jamais plus rien lire en lien avec cette sage.
Cet essai fait baisser drastiquement la qualité de cet ouvrage
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