LESBIANS AND THE FRENCH NOVEL 1796-1996

The modem lesbian enters the French novel with the publication of Dide rot's La Religieuse (1796) and until 1926 the character is created and recreated almost exclusively by male authors drawing on the prototype s established in Balzac's The Girl with the Golden Eyes and Gander's M ademoiselle de Maupin. During this period the lesbian is cast as an in creasing threat to male virility. After 1930 women writers take over a nd begin to chart the secrets, miseries and oppressions of lesbianism. Monique Wittig and Jocelyne Francois mark the transition to more posi tive perspectives and the establishment of a normal lesbian presence i n daily life. This article is a report on a research project which is in progress. It is to my knowledge the first examination of the topic in the history of the French novel.