[pt] O objeto desta dissertação é a escrita feminina, conceito que se aplica tanto a escritoras quanto a escritores. Demonstramos como as marcas desta escrita estão expressas na obra de Lygia Fagundes Telles e também em textos tanto de autoria feminina quanto masculina. O conceito escrita feminina engloba tanto a visão psicanalítica, no que se refere a experiências primordiais expressas no discurso literário, quanto a abordagem temática, que mostra como o olhar feminino difere do masculino no tratamento dado às personagens femininas, que tornam-se o foco da narrativa. Por outro lado, o pensamento pós-moderno ajuda a crítica feminista a fazer uma releitura das obras literárias. Nesse contexto, o feminino emerge como o lugar da diferença e a escrita feminina torna-se revolucionária enquanto potência discursiva, contrapondo-se à ordem vigente e possibilitando a emergência de uma voz até pouco tempo silenciada: a voz do universo feminino. Trata-se ainda de uma questão de linguagem, pois para falar sobre o novo é preciso uma nova linguagem. Por outro lado, a mudança no modo de pensar o feminino produziu, no mundo real, um padrão de comportamento libertário, que na década de 70 teve como símbolo a atriz Leila Diniz. / [en] The subject of this essay is feminine writing, a concept that can be applied to both female and male writers. We demonstrate how the characteristics of this writing are expressed in Lygia Fagundes Telles s work and also in other texts by female and male writers. The concept of feminine writing encompasses not only the psychoanalytic approach to the primordial experiences expressed in the literary discourse, but also the thematic perspective that shows how the female approach is different from the masculine in dealing with female characters, responsible for the point of view of the narrative. Also, postmodern thinking helps feminist criticism to reread literary works. In this context, the feminine emerges as the place of difference, and feminine writing becomes revolutionary as discursive potency, opposing the status quo and allowing the emergence of a voice that was previously silent: the voice of the feminine universe. This is also a question of language, because the new discourse demands a new language. Changes in ways of dealing the feminine have produced, in the real world, a pattern of libertarian behavior symbolized in the 1970s by the actress Leila Diniz.

Submitted by Geandra Rodrigues (geandrar@gmail.com) on 2018-04-02T19:11:07Z No. of bitstreams: 1 andrealuciadelimacabral.pdf: 1171605 bytes, checksum: e50145e1a9edf17e6516905116d73313 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Adriana Oliveira (adriana.oliveira@ufjf.edu.br) on 2018-04-02T20:03:55Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 andrealuciadelimacabral.pdf: 1171605 bytes, checksum: e50145e1a9edf17e6516905116d73313 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2018-04-02T20:03:55Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 andrealuciadelimacabral.pdf: 1171605 bytes, checksum: e50145e1a9edf17e6516905116d73313 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2015-11-23 / PROQUALI (UFJF) / Este estudo propõe uma análise da obra Giroflê, Giroflá da escritora mineira Cosette de Alencar, publicada no ano de 1971. Em um primeiro momento busca-se situar a posição ocupada pela escritora, enquanto mulher, na sociedade. Para tanto, apresenta-se alguns apontamentos sobre a crítica feminina a respeito da produção literária e, em seguida, um mapeamento da produção intelectual feminina das décadas de 1960 e 1970 na cidade de Juiz de Fora. Em um segundo momento busca-se apresentar uma estruturação da narrativa a partir de conceitos presentes em autores como Afrânio Coutinho (1976) e James Wood (2012), definindo os elementos: enredo, tempo, espaço e personagens presentes em Giroflê, Giroflá. Sustentaram este trabalho, dentre outros, teóricos como Virginia Woolf, Simone de Beauvoir, Elisabeth Badinter, Heloísa Buarque de Hollanda, Nelly Richards e Regina Dalcastagnè. A pesquisa foi alimentada com levantamentos bibliográficos partindo de artigos, livros, dissertações e teses relacionadas à escritora Cosette de Alencar e seu romance em análise, bem como consulta ao acervo da família Alencar, devidamente depositado no Museu de Arte Murilo Mendes - MAMM e às crônicas publicadas pela escritora no Diário Mercantil que estão sob a guarda do Arquivo Histórico de Juiz de Fora. Partindo da análise estrutural do romance, assim como do contexto de sua produção e do lugar de enunciação de Cosette de Alencar, pretende-se destacar a importância de sua produção para as literaturas mineira e brasileira, assim como propor vieses de análise de sua obra até então não contemplados. / This study proposes an analysis of Giroflê, Giroflá, work of the writer from Minas Gerais Cosette de Alencar, published in 1971. At first it seeks to situate the position occupied by the writer, as a woman in society. For this end, we present some notes on women's critical about the literary production and then a mapping of female intellectual production of the 1960s and 1970s in the city of Juiz de Fora. In a second step we seek to provide a narrative structure from concepts present in authors like Afrânio Coutinho (1976) and James Wood (2012), defining the elements: plot, time, place and characters present in Giroflê, Giroflá. Supported this work, among others, theorists like Virginia Woolf, Simone de Beauvoir, Elisabeth Badinter, Heloisa Buarque de Hollanda, Nelly Richards and Regina Dalcastagnè. The research was conducted with bibliographical search starting from articles, books, theses and dissertations related to the writer Cosette de Alencar and her novel in question, as well as consulting the Alencar family collection, duly deposited at the Art Museum Murilo Mendes - MAMM and the chronics of the writer published by Diário Mercantil that are in the custody of Juiz de Fora Historical Archives. Starting from the structural analysis of the romance as well as the context of its production and the place of enunciation filled by Cosette de Alencar, is intended to highlight the importance of her production to the literature from Minas Gerais and Brazil, as well as propose different views for analysis of her work not covered so far.

Diese Arbeit untersucht die Motive zur Konzeption fiktiver Frauenfiguren in deutschsprachiger, moderner Fanfiktion. Die Fragestellung wird aus Perspektive der Psychologie, Soziologie und der feministischen Literaturwissenschaften betrachtet. Insbesondere die Bewegung des feminine writing nach Cixous dient als Ausgangspunkt vorliegender Untersuchung. Eine textnahe Analyse deutschsprachiger Fanfiktion bestätigt befindliche Forschungsresultate der Psychologie, Sozialwissenschaften und écriture feminine zu Konzeption und Funktion von Frauenfiguren in der Fiktion. Demnach beschreibt die fiktive Figur ein harmonisierendes Bindeglied auf einer Metaebene zwischen fiktiver und realer Welt. Die fiktive Figur artikuliert das Bedürfnis nach Befreiung, der Schreibprozess dient dem Aspekt der Neudefinition und Selbstverwirklichung.

L’écriture des femmes a évolué d’une manière spectaculaire depuis le début du 20ème siècle. La création féminine a connu un essor remarquable. Ecrivaines occidentales et orientales, en position de défense ont pris une place prépondérante dans la littérature de leur temps. Leurs écrits ont tellement de points communs et si peu de divergences qu’il est possible d’en conclure qu’elles ont donné naissance à une expression littéraire nouvelle qui se distingue de l’écriture masculine. Le féminin émerge de la quête de soi et laisse apparaître des aspirations inédites. Les femmes s’expriment sous des formes créatrices et esthétiques spécifiques. Leur littérature révèle une omniprésence du corps et de la sexualité en lien étroit avec la société. Duras, Aleramo, Djebar et Mernissi, romancières brillantes ont reçu prix et honneurs venus du monde entier. Les critiques ont enfin remarqué leur talent d’auteure, poète, dramaturge alors que la société ne reconnaissait depuis longtemps que l’écriture masculine. L’écriture féminine ne cesse de gagner du terrain et s’impose désormais dans le milieu littéraire. Ces excellentes romancières se permettent d’aborder leur intimité et celle de leurs semblables. La plupart d’entre elles ont publié à l’âge de la maturité. Leurs biographies respectives montrent le lien qui les unit. Le sentiment d’injustice est le socle de leurs récits, injustice à l’égard du colonisé, à l égard de la femme dans le couple, et de la femme en général. Le fait féminin influence leur écriture qui exprime les malaises sociaux, l’isolement, la solitude, la violence et en imprègne le système scriptuel. L’étude de cette écriture est inséparable du contexte social et historique des textes, personnages et thèmes. Un rapprochement des œuvres de ces romancières est non seulement plausible mais indispensable pour comprendre l’essor de la littérature féminine. Au-delà de la langue, ces auteures, de pays, cultures et générations différents ont pris le chemin de l’écriture autobiographique, amorçant les traits distinctifs de l’écriture féminine. Elles ont en commun le choix essentiel de personnages féminins dont certains iront jusqu’au suicide pour échapper à l’aliénation. Il s’agit de mettre en exergue la quête identitaire des femmes dans une société donnée. Cette thèse centre son étude sur 4 romans : Una Donna, L’Amant de la Chine du Nord, Femmes d’Alger dans leur appartement, et Dreams of Trespass. L’être- femme est représenté dans un rapport à la violence masculine mais aussi à sa propre violence sur arrière-plan d’aliénation sociale et culturelle. / Women’s writing has developed in a spectacular way since the beginning of the 20th century. Feminine creation has known a remarkable growth .Western and eastern she-writers have then stood defensively and predominantly in the literature of their time. Their narrations have so many common points and so few divergences that it’s easy to conclude they’ve given birth to a new literary expression differing from men’s writing. The feminine aspect emerges from the self-quest and let original aspirations appear. Women express themselves under creative and specific aesthetic forms. Their literature reveals an omnipresence of the body and sexuality closely connected with society. Duras, Aleramo, Djebar and Mernissi, very gifted novelists have been granted awards and honours from the whole world. Critics have at last noticed their talent as authoress or poet in a society which had only recognized masculine writing for ages. Women’s writing is gaining more and more ground, imposing itself in the world of literature. These excellent novelists allow themselves to approach their intimacy as well as other women’s. Most of them have published at mature age. Their respective biographies do show the link connecting the one with the other. The feeling of injustice is the basis of their narrations, injustice towards the colonized, towards the woman in the couple, or women in general. The feminine fact influences their writing which expresses social uneasiness, isolation, solitude, violence thus soaking their scriptural system. Studying their writing goes necessarily with considering the social historic context of the characters, themes and texts. Connecting the four novelists’works is not only plausible but indispensable to understand the growth of feminine literature which is increasing and increasing. Beyond the language, these novelists of different countries, cultures and generations have taken the same road of autobiography, creating the distinctive features of feminine writing. They have in common the essential choice of female characters, some of whom will touch suicide to escape from alienation. It’s all about underlining women’s quest for identity. This thesis focuses its study on four novels: Una Donna, L’Amant de la Chine du Nord, Femmes d’Alger dans leur appartement, and Dreams of Trespass. The female-being is represented in her relation to male violence, but also to her own violence on a social and cultural background of alienation.

Trois traductions italiennes de La Princesse de Clèves réalisées en Italie au XXe siècle par des femmes ayant marqué, à des titres divers, la vie littéraire italienne de leur temps constituent le point de départ de notre analyse : en 1933 celle de Sibilla Aleramo, en 1988 celle de Renata Debenedetti et en 1999 celle de Rosetta Loy. L’évolution du contexte historique et socio-culturel ainsi que le statut différent de ces trois femmes permet d’étudier la variation des contraintes de production et des conditions de réception de ces traductions. Le choix de certains passages de l’ouvrage de Mme de Lafayette consent de mettre en relief les caractéristiques principales de ce texte et de comprendre les problèmes traductifs que cela pose. Ce premier roman moderne de la littérature européenne écrit par une femme et publié anonymement ne cesse en effet d’interroger et d’intriguer les femmes écrivains de nombreux siècles plus tard. Le rapport entre traduction et écriture féminine est alors interrogé. La relation entre les choix traductifs et leur personnalité d’écrivain et d’intellectuelle débouche sur l’étude de leurs ouvrages dont les caractéristiques stylistiques et thématiques récurrentes évoquent la notion de féminin dans l’écriture. / Three Italian translations of The Princess of Cleves, made in Italy in the twentieth century by women who marked in various ways the Italian literary life of their time, are the starting point of our analysis: Sibilla Aleramo’s in 1933, Renata Debenedetti’s in 1988 and then Rosetta Loy’s in 1999. The evolution of the historical and sociocultural context as well as the different status of these three women allow us to study the variation of production constraints and reception conditions of these translations. The choice of some extracts from Madame de Lafayette’s novel consents to highlight the main features of the text and understand the translation problems that this arises. This novel, the first in modern European literature written by a woman and published anonymously, continues to question and fascinate women writers many centuries later. The relationship between women's writing and translation is then questioned. Subsequently, the relationship between translation’s choices and their personality of writers and intellectuals leads to the study of their works whose recurring stylistic and thematic characteristics evoke the notion of “feminine writing”.

Angelina Muñiz-Huberman (1936) a développé pendant plus de quatre décennies au Mexique, son œuvre narrative, poétique et d’essai. Elle est l’introductrice du nouveau roman historique dans la littérature mexicaine, ses récits se caractérisent par l’exposition de la vraie nature humaine des personnages à travers l’introspection. Fille d’exilés républicains, son travail révèle un rapprochement avec ces événements, remportant leurs effets positifs. La recherche identitaire qui émerge depuis son enfance contrastée entre l’Espagne de ses parents et le Mexique du présent, est complétée par son exil juif du côté maternel. Par conséquent, l'exil se déroule sous toutes ses formes à travers des histoires quotidiennes, de personnages hors du commun et l'introduction du point de vue du narrateur. Le besoin d'expression expérimenté par l'auteur, appartenant à groupe des "Hispano-Mexicains", soulève un certain nombre de ruptures narratives et stylistiques au sein de son travail créatif. La réécriture de l’enfance à travers les pseudomémoires, l'utilisation innovante des signes typographiques, la reconstruction de l'histoire et une tendance marquée d'écriture féminine, font l'objet de cette étude. / Angelina Muñiz-Huberman (1936) has developed her narrative work, poetic and essayistic for over four decades in Mexico. Introducer of the new historical novel in Mexican literature, her narratives are characterized for exposing the true human nature of the characters through introspection. Daughter of Republican exiles, her work reveals reconciliation with this event, adjudging its positive effects. The search for identity that emerges from a childhood contrasted between the old Spain and Mexico's present completes with Jewish exile from the maternal family. Consequently, the exile unfolds in all its forms through everyday stories of unusual characters and the introduction of the narrator's point of view. The need for expression experienced by the writer, belonging to the "Spanish-Mexican" group, raises a number of narrative and stylistic ruptures within her creative work. The rewriting of the childhood through the seudomemorias, the innovative use of typographical signs, the reconstruction of history and a strong trend toward feminine writing, are the subject of this study.

La thèse porte sur les auteurs italiens qui, acteurs ou témoins de l’Histoire pendant la période 1936-1945, ont fait l’expérience de la différence vis-à-vis de la norme anthropologique imposée par le régime fasciste. Dans une première partie, nous précisons les enjeux historiques et interprétatifs du sujet, en examinant le contexte des années trente – à partir de romans de propagande pour la jeunesse – et les difficultés interprétatives possibles. La deuxième partie est consacrée aux écritures de la différence et aux figures de la marginalité. Le corpus met en lumière plusieurs problématiques : l’individu en inadéquation avec la norme des années trente, puis le tournant de l’année 1938 et l’irruption de la question raciale qui redéfinit le statut des Juifs dans la nation et, enfin, les années de la guerre et de la Résistance avec l’expression d’un antifascisme existentiel et l’expérience traumatique de la Shoah. Une troisième partie appréhende la mise en récit de la différence sous un angle diachronique : nous analysons les variations de la perception de la différence entre le temps de l’Histoire, celui de l’écriture et celui de la publication – réception des œuvres. Les textes témoignent en effet d’expériences mais aussi d’une évolution du regard sur cette expérience. Nous étudions ces changements de perception selon trois axes qui traversent la seconde moitié du XXe siècle : le témoignage de la Shoah, l’écriture féminine de la Résistance, et le récit des persécutions de l’homosexualité. / The thesis concerns Italian authors who, as actors or witnesses of History during the period 1936-1945, experienced difference in regard to the anthropological norms imposed by the fascist regime. In the first part, we specify the historical and interpretative stakes of the subject by examining the context of the thirties – through propaganda novels for the youth – and the possible difficulties of interpretation. The second part is dedicated to the writing of difference and to the figures of marginality. The corpus highlights several problems : the individual in inadequacy with the norms of the thirties, then the turning point of the year 1938 and the rapid emergence of the racial question which redefined the status of Jews in the nation and, finally, the war years and the Resistance with the expression of an existential anti-fascism and the traumatic experience of the Shoah. The third part apprehends the writing of the difference through a diachronic angle: we analyze the variations in the perception of difference between the taking place, the writing and the publication of the History or the reception of the works. Texts do indeed testify to experiences but also to the evolution in the perception of these experiences. We study these changes of perception according to three axes which traverse the second half of the XXth century: the testimony of Shoah, feminine writing of the Resistance, and narratives of the persecution of homosexuality.

[pt] Zélia Gattai foi uma mulher à frente do seu tempo. Escolheu com coragem enfrentar os lugares destinados às mulheres de sua época e percorreu o mundo. Subvertendo ideologias políticas e sociais conservadoras, a autora sempre esteve do lado pouco conhecido da história. Sua obra memorialista, que consiste em onze obras, relatam sua trajetória a partir de uma linguagem afetuosa, que abre vozes para pessoas que, com ela, palmilharam os lugares onde viveu, nesta tese, chamados de chãos. Chão, em Zélia Gattai, é um lugar não só de moradia, mas de deslocamento para relatar o mundo e de atravessamentos de pessoas, sejam elas conhecidas do grande público, por ela retratadas em suas intimidades, ou pessoas desconhecidas que, por Zélia, viram estrelas. Este trabalho propôs uma revisão literária na obra memorialista de Gattai com foco principal no que essa traz de político, histórico, cultural e afetivo, tendo como objetivo principal o de traçar o perfil intelectual da autora. / [en] Zélia Gattai was a woman ahead of her time. She courageously chose to face the places dedicated to women of her time and traveled the world. Subverting conservative political and social ideologies, the author has always been on the silenced side. Her memoirist work, which consists of eleven works, relates her trajectory using an affectionate language, which opens voices to people who, with her, walked the places where she lived, in this thesis, called floors. The floor, in Zélia Gattai, is a place not only for living, but for traveling to report on the world and for crossing paths with people, whether they are known to the general public, portrayed by her in their privacy, or unknown people who, for Zélia, become stars. This work proposed a literary review of Gattai s memoirist work with a main focus on its political, historical, cultural and emotional aspects, with the main object being outline the author s intellectual profile.

[pt] Esta tese analisa os entrecruzamentos gerados pelo campo expandido (Krauss, 1984) entre a Literatura e a História. Partindo de quatro romances contemporâneos – dois sul-africanos e dois brasileiros –, a pesquisa focaliza na (des)construção e (re)construção das temporalidades do presente em escritas imaginativas no eixo Sul-Sul do Atlântico. Nas obras Por cima do mar (2018), da artista plástica e escritora Deborah Dornellas, e Água de barrela (2018), da jornalista e escritora Eliana Alves Cruz, investigo a experiência do sistema escravista no Brasil Monárquico (1822-1889) e seus espectros no pós-abolição do Brasil República (1889-1959), ficcionadas sob a ótica do ser humano delimitado à condição de Outro. A transição política, o futuro presentificado do pós-apartheid e as sombras do antigo regime são temas aqui abordados por meio dos romances The House Gun (1998), da escritora e militante política Nadine Gordimer, e Spilt Milk (2010), da escritora e médica Kopano Matlwa. Nesses quatro romances, a rememoração (Nascimento, 2006) em um tempo espiralar (Martins, 2021) atravessa diferentes gerações. A fabulação é o lugar dos incômodos encontros entre os espectros do tempo presente-passado e das presenças do tempo futuro-presente. / [en] This thesis analyzes the intersections generated by the expanded field (Krauss, 1984) between Literature and History. Starting from four contemporary novels – two South African and two Brazilian –, the research examines the (de)construction and (re)construction of present temporalities in imaginative writings within the South-South axis of the Atlantic. In the works Por cima do mar (2018) by visual artist and writer Deborah Dornellas, and Água de barrela (2018) by journalist and writer Eliana Alves Cruz, I investigate the experience of the slave system in Monarchic Brazil (1822-1889) and its specters in the post-abolition period of Republican Brazil (1889-1959), fictionalized from the perspective of the human being confined to the condition of the Other. Political transition, the presentified future of post apartheid, and the shadows of the old regime are themes addressed here through the novels A House Gun (1998) by writer and political activist Nadine Gordimer, and Spilt Milk (2010) by writer and medical doctor Kopano Matlwa. In these four novels, remembrance in a spiral time (Martins, 2021) traverses different generations. Fabulation is the site of uncomfortable encounters between the specters of present-past time and the presences of futurepresent time.

L’étude des différentes représentations des femmes, qu’elles interviennent à un niveau social, corporel ou encore linguistique, amène, dans le contexte littéraire, à interroger le concept d’identité. Ce « mot-valise », au sens de Jean Petitot-Cocorda, appartient au patriarcat, ce qui signifie que la notion d’identité elle-même a été pensée, élaborée par les hommes pour les hommes, que le mot même d’’identité appartient à l’univers sémantique masculin. Lorsque nous cherchons à définir l’identité féminine, nous sommes pris au piège de la langue élaborée par le patriarcat, car la notion d’identité fonctionne pour le Masculin, et ne peut donc pas, dans une approche qui revendique l’autonomie, être signifiante pour les femmes puisqu’elle n’a pas été pensée pour elles. Il y a une forme d’impasse à rechercher une identité stable et universalisable des femmes. Le présent travail de thèse se propose d’explorer les différents prismes sous lesquels des auteures francophones mettent en tension le Féminin afin de repenser le concept même d’identité depuis les années 1950, i.e. après la publication du Deuxième sexe (1949) de Simone de Beauvoir, qui marque la genèse des études anti-essentialistes. Dans le panorama de la terminologie critique utilisée dans les études du genre, les Gender studies, c’est la Littérature de femmes qui nous intéresse : elle consiste en la revendication d’identités des femmes qui leur soit propre, selon une perspective féministe différentialiste. Les auteures relevant de cette catégorie tendent à analyser une transcription du Féminin dans le texte, à l’y incarner, par le biais d’une esthétique spécifique. Ainsi, l’identité féminine littéraire consiste en une polysémie, une pluralité, préparant une identité « ouverte », inscrite « activement » dans les textes par les auteures (les thématiques traitées, les structures narratives...). Elle s'y inscrit aussi « passivement », par exemple par l’usage féminin de la langue, la présence du corps de l'auteure dans le texte. Il s’agit de déplacer les perspectives féministes pour en arriver à une circonscription féminine plus globale dans laquelle texte et auteure seraient indissociables. Les auteures étudiées, Corinna S. Bille, Nina Bouraoui, Assia Djebar, Jacqueline Harpman, Anne Hébert, Alice Rivaz, Gabrielle Roy et Marguerite Yourcenar, tendent à développer une véritable esthétique littéraire qui se place en faux par rapport à la logique sociale totalisante. Dans cette perspective, les femmes ne sont pas ramenées, réduites, à leur essence, c’est-à-dire à leur sexe biologique. Le Féminin, tel que l’envisagent nos auteures, est le produit d’une réflexion, d’une exploration du Moi, qui va des problématiques sociétales traditionnelles, représentées sous l’angle des thématiques abordées, à l’investissement d’une langue d’expression innovante et dépassant les clivages classiques autour du binôme « Masculin / Féminin ».Il ne s’agit plus, pour lors, de s’approprier la « langue de l’autre », mais bien de trouver la sienne propre. Nous sommes loin de l’archétype patriarcal qui bâtit et préétablit à l’existence et à l’écriture, les identités figées et prescrites des femmes. Comme nous le verrons, ces identités ne s’inscrivent plus dans une invariance de l’objet « femmes », mais les fondent souverainement dans leurs œuvres et par leurs écritures. Elles participent ainsi activement à une nouvelle définition de leur genre. Le déficit identitaire se comble par le recours aux caractéristiques féminines (oralité, nature, sexualité, etc.) différentes pour accéder à un tout définitoire ; dans ce corpus, il ne s’agit plus d’écrire comme ou contre les hommes, mais de s’émanciper de la langue patriarcale en incorporant les éléments textuels et linguistiques qui participent à la construction d’identités féminines composites. / The study of different representations, whether at a social, body or linguistic level, leads us to question the very concept of identity in literature. That “portmanteau word” – “mot-valise” in the meaning set out by Jean Petitot-Cocorda – belongs to Patriarchy, which means that the notion of identity itself has been (culturally) constructed by men for men, and the very word identity belongs to the semantic and existentialist masculine world. When we try to define feminine/female identity, we are trapped by the language constructed by patriarchal culture: the notion of identity is relevant for the Masculine and cannot be autonomously applied to women, since it has not been thought out for them in the first place. Therefore we reach a deadlock, as it were, when seeking a fixed, universal identity of women. This thesis will explore the different prisms through which French-speaking female writers put women’s identities into words and set them into tension so as to rethink the very concept of identity. Such process started in the 1950s with the publication of Le Deuxième sexe (1949) by Simone de Beauvoir, which marked the beginning of anti-essentialist studies.In the panorama of the terminology used in Gender studies, our attention will focus on Women’s literature, which implies claiming the existence of specific women’s identities from a differentialist feminist viewpoint. Female writers belonging to that category tend to analyze how the Feminine is conveyed into words in the text, to embody it, through a peculiar aesthetic. Thus woman’s identity in literature is based on polysemy and plurality, leading to an “open” identity, inscribed “actively” in the text by women writers (themes, narrative structures, etc.) and “passively” (for example, through a feminine use of language, the presence of the female writer’s body in the text, etc.). We have to shift feminist perspectives in order to achieve a more comprehensive feminine definition, in which text and writer are indissociable.The female authors included in our corpus (Corinna S. Bille, Nina Bouraoui, Assia Djebar, Jacqueline Harpman, Anne Hébert, Alice Rivaz, Gabrielle Roy and Marguerite Yourcenar) strive to develop a real literary aesthetic which is at odds with a rule-complying social model. From that viewpoint, women are not reduced to their essence, that is to their biological sex. The Feminine, as it is considered by our authors, is the result of a process of reflection and self-exploration, involving traditional societal issues (as figured in the themes dealt with), as well as an innovative literary language, capable of going beyond the classical dichotomy between masculine and feminine.Therefore, the aim is no longer to take possession of the “language of the other”, but to find one’s own. Therefore, we are distant from the patriarchal archetype constructing, and pre-establishing, fixed identities for women’s existence and writing. As we will see, such identities are no longer inscribed in the tradition of the objects “women”: they try to forge a new object in their writing, and in so doing they end up redefining their genre. In order to make up for the lack of “identity landmarks”, they resort to specific feminine features (oral language, nature, sexuality, etc.) so as to reach a definition of a Whole. The aim is no longer to write like men or against men, but to write women out of the patriarchal language by introducing in their texts those feminine elements capable of building a multifaceted feminine identity.