This volume explores contemporary French womens writing through the prism of one of the defining moments of modern feminism: the writings of the 1970s that came to be known as «French feminism». With their exhilarating renewal of the rules of fiction, and a sophisticated theoretical approach to gender, representation and textuality, Hélène Cixous and others became internationally recognised for their work, at a time when the womens movement was also a driving force for social change. Taking its cue from Les Femmes sentêtent, a multi-authored analysis of the situation of women and a celebration of womens creativity, this collection offers new readings of Monique Wittig, Emma Santos and Hélène Cixous, followed by essays on Nina Bouraoui, Michèle Perrein and Ying Chen, Marguerite Duras and Mireille Best, and Valentine Goby. A contextualising introduction establishes the theoretical and cultural framework of the volume with a critical re-evaluation of this key moment in the history of feminist thought and womens writing, pursuing its various legacies and examining the ways theoretical and empirical developments in queer studies, postcolonial studies and postmodernist philosophies have extended, inflected and challenged feminist work.

Margaret Atack is Professor of French at the University of Leeds. Alison Fell is Professor of French Cultural History at the University of Leeds Diana Holmes is Professor of French at the University of Leeds Imogen Long is Lecturer in French at the University of Hull.