In this thesis I explore the experiences of a group of Australian women who became first-time mothers between 1950 and 1965. I interviewed twenty-four mothers, half of whom were selected as practising Roman Catholics. The other half was AnglicanfProtestant by co-incidence rather than selection. The data in this research have been collected via in-depth, unstructured interviews with the participants. The interviews were taped and transcribed verbatim, before the data were analysed. I present a grounded theory of transformative power in motherwork that has emerged from the analysis of interviews. The mothers talked about what they did in their active mothering years. I argue that despite being constrained by the gender bias in the patriarchal context, these mothers were agents who developed skills that enabled them to resist or creatively deal with the constraints they faced. Their emphasis was on their agency and the power to nurture their children into responsible adults. Their awareness of the importance of their motherwork acted as a motivator in this development. My thesis is that the relationship between each mother and each of her children is a transformative power relationship in which both mother and child are transformedthe child into an independent adult and the mother into a skilled self-motivated agent through her mothenvork. Any threat to this process resulted in the mother doing all she could to resist or counteract the constraintls she was encountering. Transformative power expressed in motherwork can be recognised analytically by several characteristics. It empowers both parties in the motherlchild duality. Complexity, diversity, fluidity, and responsiveness to the physical, intellectual, and emotional aspects of the relationship are all evident in transformative power relationships. Through their own transformation, the mothers saw the falsity of the master narratives of motherhood, prevalent in society in the 1950s and 1960s, which they had believed as inexperienced girls. From their stories about motherwork, I reveal a counter narrative that was portrayed not only in their telling of their stories: but in their discursivelreflexive practices as mothers.

In this thesis I explore the experiences of a group of Australian women who became first-time mothers between 1950 and 1965. I interviewed twenty-four mothers, half of whom were selected as practising Roman Catholics. The other half was AnglicanfProtestant by co-incidence rather than selection. The data in this research have been collected via in-depth, unstructured interviews with the participants. The interviews were taped and transcribed verbatim, before the data were analysed. I present a grounded theory of transformative power in motherwork that has emerged from the analysis of interviews. The mothers talked about what they did in their active mothering years. I argue that despite being constrained by the gender bias in the patriarchal context, these mothers were agents who developed skills that enabled them to resist or creatively deal with the constraints they faced. Their emphasis was on their agency and the power to nurture their children into responsible adults. Their awareness of the importance of their motherwork acted as a motivator in this development. My thesis is that the relationship between each mother and each of her children is a transformative power relationship in which both mother and child are transformedthe child into an independent adult and the mother into a skilled self-motivated agent through her mothenvork. Any threat to this process resulted in the mother doing all she could to resist or counteract the constraintls she was encountering. Transformative power expressed in motherwork can be recognised analytically by several characteristics. It empowers both parties in the motherlchild duality. Complexity, diversity, fluidity, and responsiveness to the physical, intellectual, and emotional aspects of the relationship are all evident in transformative power relationships. Through their own transformation, the mothers saw the falsity of the master narratives of motherhood, prevalent in society in the 1950s and 1960s, which they had believed as inexperienced girls. From their stories about motherwork, I reveal a counter narrative that was portrayed not only in their telling of their stories: but in their discursivelreflexive practices as mothers.

In this thesis I explore the experiences of a group of Australian women who became first-time mothers between 1950 and 1965. I interviewed twenty-four mothers, half of whom were selected as practising Roman Catholics. The other half was AnglicanfProtestant by co-incidence rather than selection. The data in this research have been collected via in-depth, unstructured interviews with the participants. The interviews were taped and transcribed verbatim, before the data were analysed. I present a grounded theory of transformative power in motherwork that has emerged from the analysis of interviews. The mothers talked about what they did in their active mothering years. I argue that despite being constrained by the gender bias in the patriarchal context, these mothers were agents who developed skills that enabled them to resist or creatively deal with the constraints they faced. Their emphasis was on their agency and the power to nurture their children into responsible adults. Their awareness of the importance of their motherwork acted as a motivator in this development. My thesis is that the relationship between each mother and each of her children is a transformative power relationship in which both mother and child are transformedthe child into an independent adult and the mother into a skilled self-motivated agent through her mothenvork. Any threat to this process resulted in the mother doing all she could to resist or counteract the constraintls she was encountering. Transformative power expressed in motherwork can be recognised analytically by several characteristics. It empowers both parties in the motherlchild duality. Complexity, diversity, fluidity, and responsiveness to the physical, intellectual, and emotional aspects of the relationship are all evident in transformative power relationships. Through their own transformation, the mothers saw the falsity of the master narratives of motherhood, prevalent in society in the 1950s and 1960s, which they had believed as inexperienced girls. From their stories about motherwork, I reveal a counter narrative that was portrayed not only in their telling of their stories: but in their discursivelreflexive practices as mothers.

In this thesis I explore the experiences of a group of Australian women who became first-time mothers between 1950 and 1965. I interviewed twenty-four mothers, half of whom were selected as practising Roman Catholics. The other half was AnglicanfProtestant by co-incidence rather than selection. The data in this research have been collected via in-depth, unstructured interviews with the participants. The interviews were taped and transcribed verbatim, before the data were analysed. I present a grounded theory of transformative power in motherwork that has emerged from the analysis of interviews. The mothers talked about what they did in their active mothering years. I argue that despite being constrained by the gender bias in the patriarchal context, these mothers were agents who developed skills that enabled them to resist or creatively deal with the constraints they faced. Their emphasis was on their agency and the power to nurture their children into responsible adults. Their awareness of the importance of their motherwork acted as a motivator in this development. My thesis is that the relationship between each mother and each of her children is a transformative power relationship in which both mother and child are transformedthe child into an independent adult and the mother into a skilled self-motivated agent through her mothenvork. Any threat to this process resulted in the mother doing all she could to resist or counteract the constraintls she was encountering. Transformative power expressed in motherwork can be recognised analytically by several characteristics. It empowers both parties in the motherlchild duality. Complexity, diversity, fluidity, and responsiveness to the physical, intellectual, and emotional aspects of the relationship are all evident in transformative power relationships. Through their own transformation, the mothers saw the falsity of the master narratives of motherhood, prevalent in society in the 1950s and 1960s, which they had believed as inexperienced girls. From their stories about motherwork, I reveal a counter narrative that was portrayed not only in their telling of their stories: but in their discursivelreflexive practices as mothers.

In this thesis I explore the experiences of a group of Australian women who became first-time mothers between 1950 and 1965. I interviewed twenty-four mothers, half of whom were selected as practising Roman Catholics. The other half was AnglicanfProtestant by co-incidence rather than selection. The data in this research have been collected via in-depth, unstructured interviews with the participants. The interviews were taped and transcribed verbatim, before the data were analysed. I present a grounded theory of transformative power in motherwork that has emerged from the analysis of interviews. The mothers talked about what they did in their active mothering years. I argue that despite being constrained by the gender bias in the patriarchal context, these mothers were agents who developed skills that enabled them to resist or creatively deal with the constraints they faced. Their emphasis was on their agency and the power to nurture their children into responsible adults. Their awareness of the importance of their motherwork acted as a motivator in this development. My thesis is that the relationship between each mother and each of her children is a transformative power relationship in which both mother and child are transformedthe child into an independent adult and the mother into a skilled self-motivated agent through her mothenvork. Any threat to this process resulted in the mother doing all she could to resist or counteract the constraintls she was encountering. Transformative power expressed in motherwork can be recognised analytically by several characteristics. It empowers both parties in the motherlchild duality. Complexity, diversity, fluidity, and responsiveness to the physical, intellectual, and emotional aspects of the relationship are all evident in transformative power relationships. Through their own transformation, the mothers saw the falsity of the master narratives of motherhood, prevalent in society in the 1950s and 1960s, which they had believed as inexperienced girls. From their stories about motherwork, I reveal a counter narrative that was portrayed not only in their telling of their stories: but in their discursivelreflexive practices as mothers.

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Intrigued by a striking resemblance between certain behaviour, characteristics and preoccupations in characters from French literary texts, on the one hand, and in modern-day anorexics on the other, we have undertaken a study of representations of abnegation. In reading female ascetic piety, particularly in an extreme and sterile form known as “scrupulosity,” as it is seen in Madame Gervaisais, by the Goncourt Brothers, and in the representation of adolescence in L’Histoire de ma vie, by George Sand, I aim to explore similarities and differences between these two “conditions.” Next, certain texts by Zola, Vincent van Gogh and Simone de Beauvoir allow me to study a wide range of responses to the same questions as those which motivate anorexia nervosa and scrupulosity: questions of balance between the spiritual and the material, of perfectionism, of excessive obedience, of refusal of pleasure, and of a capacity for self-destruction. Paradoxically, all the “characters” studied here (including those “characters” created by means of autobiography or letter writing) are represented as possessing tendencies which define these two “conditions,” tendencies which are capable of leading either to extraordinary fulfilment, an unheard of creativity, or to self-destruction motivated by a desire for perfect virtue. Reading these texts in the light of anorexia nervosa allows new insights into them, in turn offering a new perspective on anorexia nervosa, suggesting its long involvement in the cultural history of Europe. / RESUME S'anéantir ou s'épanouir : avatars d'ascétisme anorexique dans la littérature française du XIXe au XXIe siècle Intriguée par une ressemblance frappante entre quantité de comportements, caractéristiques et préoccupations chez, d'une part, des personnages des textes littéraires français du XIXe siècle, et d'autre part chez les anorexiques modernes, nous avons entrepris d'examiner des représentations de l'abnégation. En lisant la piété féminine ascétique, surtout dans une forme stérile et extrême nommée « scrupule », telle qu'elle est montrée dans Madame Gervaisais, des frères Goncourt, et dans la représentation de l'adolescence dans L'Histoire de ma vie, de George Sand, je me donne pour but l'exploration des similarités et différences entre ces deux « conditions ». Ensuite, certains textes de Zola, de Vincent van Gogh, et de Simone de Beauvoir me permettent de scruter une variété de réponses aux mêmes questions qui motivent l'anorexie mentale et le scrupule : questions d'équilibre entre le spirituel et le matériel, de perfectionnisme, d'obéissance excessive, de refus du plaisir, et de capacité à s'anéantir. Paradoxalement, tous les « personnages » étudiés ici (y compris les « personnages » créés à travers l'autobiographie ou l'art épistolaire) sont représentés comme possédant des tendances qui définissent ces deux « conditions », tendances qui peuvent mener soit à un épanouissement extraordinaire, une créativité inouïe, soit à l’anéantissement de soi motivé par un désir de vertu parfaite. Lire ces textes en rapport avec l'anorexie mentale, c'est les considérer sous un jour nouveau, ce qui offre à son tour une nouvelle optique sur l'anorexie mentale, suggérant son imbrication de longue date dans l'histoire culturelle de l'Europe.

Intrigued by a striking resemblance between certain behaviour, characteristics and preoccupations in characters from French literary texts, on the one hand, and in modern-day anorexics on the other, we have undertaken a study of representations of abnegation. In reading female ascetic piety, particularly in an extreme and sterile form known as “scrupulosity,” as it is seen in Madame Gervaisais, by the Goncourt Brothers, and in the representation of adolescence in L’Histoire de ma vie, by George Sand, I aim to explore similarities and differences between these two “conditions.” Next, certain texts by Zola, Vincent van Gogh and Simone de Beauvoir allow me to study a wide range of responses to the same questions as those which motivate anorexia nervosa and scrupulosity: questions of balance between the spiritual and the material, of perfectionism, of excessive obedience, of refusal of pleasure, and of a capacity for self-destruction. Paradoxically, all the “characters” studied here (including those “characters” created by means of autobiography or letter writing) are represented as possessing tendencies which define these two “conditions,” tendencies which are capable of leading either to extraordinary fulfilment, an unheard of creativity, or to self-destruction motivated by a desire for perfect virtue. Reading these texts in the light of anorexia nervosa allows new insights into them, in turn offering a new perspective on anorexia nervosa, suggesting its long involvement in the cultural history of Europe. / RESUME S'anéantir ou s'épanouir : avatars d'ascétisme anorexique dans la littérature française du XIXe au XXIe siècle Intriguée par une ressemblance frappante entre quantité de comportements, caractéristiques et préoccupations chez, d'une part, des personnages des textes littéraires français du XIXe siècle, et d'autre part chez les anorexiques modernes, nous avons entrepris d'examiner des représentations de l'abnégation. En lisant la piété féminine ascétique, surtout dans une forme stérile et extrême nommée « scrupule », telle qu'elle est montrée dans Madame Gervaisais, des frères Goncourt, et dans la représentation de l'adolescence dans L'Histoire de ma vie, de George Sand, je me donne pour but l'exploration des similarités et différences entre ces deux « conditions ». Ensuite, certains textes de Zola, de Vincent van Gogh, et de Simone de Beauvoir me permettent de scruter une variété de réponses aux mêmes questions qui motivent l'anorexie mentale et le scrupule : questions d'équilibre entre le spirituel et le matériel, de perfectionnisme, d'obéissance excessive, de refus du plaisir, et de capacité à s'anéantir. Paradoxalement, tous les « personnages » étudiés ici (y compris les « personnages » créés à travers l'autobiographie ou l'art épistolaire) sont représentés comme possédant des tendances qui définissent ces deux « conditions », tendances qui peuvent mener soit à un épanouissement extraordinaire, une créativité inouïe, soit à l’anéantissement de soi motivé par un désir de vertu parfaite. Lire ces textes en rapport avec l'anorexie mentale, c'est les considérer sous un jour nouveau, ce qui offre à son tour une nouvelle optique sur l'anorexie mentale, suggérant son imbrication de longue date dans l'histoire culturelle de l'Europe.