Modern Languages and Literatures, Department of
Department of Modern Languages and Literatures: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research
First Advisor
Jordan Stump
Committee Members
Nora M. Peterson, Erica Schauer
Date of this Version
7-2024
Document Type
Thesis
Citation
A thesis presented to the faculty of the Graduate College at the University of Nebraska in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts
Major: Modern Languages and Literatures
Under the supervision of Professor Jordan Stump
Lincoln, Nebraska, July 2024
Abstract
Against a background of political turmoil, economic crises, and cultural upsets from both within and abroad, France between the two World Wars was home to a flourishing romance novel industry. At first glance lighthearted love stories seem simple and frivolous in comparison to the canonical writings of the time, such as those of Simone de Beauvoir and Jean-Paul Sartre. However, this literature was far from art for art’s sake. The romance novels of interwar France, written half a century before the scholarship of romance fiction would truly begin, have yet to receive the attention they deserve. During the interwar period, women and their romantic relationships with men carried an intensely moral signification. French citizens of the interwar period earnestly believed in the possible collapse of their civilization, and women were both the scapegoat of and the solution to the supposed demise of their nation. The ensuing cultural discourse used idealized and vilified images of women to argue for the roles real women should or should not play in society. The romance novel was a uniquely powerful medium of discourse in the modern-woman debate. Essential to the interwar popular romance novel was the foregrounding of femininity, morality, and romantic love between men and women, themes that were equally essential to discussing the role of women in society. At a time when the image of the woman was so saturated with social signification, a literature written largely by and for women could not be devoid of ideology.
Advisor: Jordan Stump
Included in
French and Francophone Literature Commons, History of Gender Commons, Women's History Commons, Women's Studies Commons
Comments
Copyright © 2024, Kelly Kamrath. Used by permission