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In the last decade, representations of 'female rage' has taken over our social media, cinema, and literature. The fictional depiction of women's use of violence is not as radically new as it seems, as the 1887 French novel La Marquise de Sade, by Rachilde, reflects. This paper will compare it to a more recent text, Boy Parts (2020) by Eliza Clark, to uncover how our current literary production shares similar concerns with nineteenth-century society, particularly our ambivalent responses to violence enacted by women. Both authors portray sadistic female protagonists who take pleasure in dominating and torturing men in a society that dismisses the possibility of women acting violently and attempting to reverse gender power dynamics. However, both authors challenge any fictional idealisation of 'female rage' by showing how their protagonists act out because of their traumatic past and are ultimately unable to bring about systemic change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rachilde's novel Le grand saigneur (1922) stands out from her other works in the 1920s and 1930s for its provocative portrayal of the French war veteran as a sadist who inflicts violence on those who do not conform to the codes of militarized, hegemonic masculinity. This article argues that the novel reflects the post-war years as a violent era for women and non-conforming men, shaped by the hateful discourses that emerged during the First World War. Rachilde writes about psychological and physical threats to women and non-conforming masculinity by delving into the violent fantasies nurtured by a larger-than-life, though well-recognizable, supporter of hegemonic masculinity against them. Drawing on an eclectic mix of literary genres, Rachilde depicts a society in which the impunity of men protected by their wealth and military status and the guilt bestowed upon (sometimes internalized by) women trivialize diverse forms of gender violence. Le grand saigneur belongs to the few 'romans anti-sentimentaux' Rachilde wrote during the interwar period. It is also an arresting attempt to write about gender violence through multiple subjectivities in order to explore the gendered, cultural, traumatic, and socio-economic factors that enabled it at this troubled historical juncture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

During the first decade of her Mercure de France book review column, Rachilde evolved from an avant-garde provocatrice to an established literary figure. While denigrating bourgeois taste and traditional critical authority, Rachilde asserted the critic’s duty to champion literary underdogs and to defend readers from mediocre works. She used the ‘Romans’ column to assert an alternative vision of literary value and to re-position herself in the wake of Decadence and Symbolism.

A rebellious and transgressive novelist of the late nineteenth century, Rachilde often recalls in her writings, in the first or third person, significant events in her “formation”. This key word sums up both her education and her earliest family, emotional and imaginative experiences. These intimate elements have left deep traces in his novels. Indeed, the latter is based on a dynamic of appropriation and transformation of what the author experienced from childhood to adolescence, in particular her suffering and anger, but also learned, such as the potentialities of literary elaboration revealed to her by her favourite authors.

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L’article présente l’image de la crise telle qu’elle émane de Dans le puits, texte à valeur autobiographique écrit par Rachilde durant la Première Guerre mondiale. Le livre donne accès à la perception qu’a l’auteure de la guerre, de la peur et de l’impossibilité d’écrire de la fiction en ces temps de réalité traumatique. Rachilde, d’habitude écrivaine prolifique, qui a toujours écrit au moins une œuvre de fiction par an, se trouve réduite au silence, incapable d’exprimer la cruauté de la guerre. Dans le puits est sa seule publication un peu longue de cette époque, en même temps qu’une tentative de décrire les faits à travers sa subjectivité, afin de découvrir leur vraie signification.

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Gender-focused studies of nineteenth-century French literature and history in the last few decades have often relied on heteronormative and gender normative paradigms. Using Rachilde as an example, I demonstrate how trans studies can offer tools through which to recover the gender-creative past. These tools are meant to work in concert with feminist and queer theories, while centering gender in a broad sense by focusing on challenges to the gender binary, modes of gender expression, attention to the material body, and a felt sense of gender. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many have struggled to argued whether Rachilde reverses gender binaries or reinforces them by ensuring the continuation of active and passive partners within the narrative of Monsieur Vénus. However, both foundational and recent turns in queer theory regarding heterosexuality present gender non-conformity as a result of a fluidity of gender performance, rather than one based on an opposing binary. This article deals with Rachilde's ambiguous approach to gender, by focusing on different moulds of masculinity. I take a step back from critical approaches which necessarily read her oeuvre in the light of the gender binary, and 'requeer' her work by presenting the 'norm' of heterosexuality in a non-normative light. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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In 1886, Georges de Peyrebrune (1841–1917) published the novella Une décadente, a scarcely veiled depiction – and biting critique – of Rachilde (1860–1953) and her unconventional lifestyle. In her depiction of Hélione, a fictionalized version of Rachilde, she borrows from contemporary medical discourses on hysteria and suggests that her heroine's true fulfillment can only be realized through motherhood. Peyrebrune positions these male-authored discourses alongside a concurrent ridicule of Hélione's aspirations as a writer of decadent literature. However, in an unanticipated twist in the final pages, the discursive medical framework of her narrative collapses, exposing the precariousness of the literary and scientific constructions of hysteria and thus leading readers to rethink Peyrebrune's traditionalist views. In positioning these discourses within the larger aesthetic and ideological interrogations of the text, we may uncover Peyrebrune's own revision – albeit subtle at times – of a fictional model and the medical rhetoric that shapes it. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dans Les Hors Nature de Rachilde, la confrontation des deux nationalités qui signifient deux cultures, deux patries et deux caractères constitue l’axe central de ce roman, écrit au moment de la montée du nationalisme en France. Deux positions contraires sont décrites : la première relève du cosmopolitisme, dont la querelle se déroule en France précisément à cette époque, la deuxième se réclame d’une vision plus traditionnelle et historique. Rachilde, qui, à l’occasion des deux grandes guerres, manifestera bien ouvertement sa haine de l’ennemi, semble ici exprimer des opinions beaucoup plus modérées. Elle ne manque pas de le faire à sa manière, combinant aux réflexions idéologiques le désir d’originalité et de provocation.

In this article I analyze the relationships between space and the main characters in La Tour d’amour, by Rachilde. More specif-ically I focus on how space has already stunned one of the character’s speech and communicative abilities and it is now in the process of impairing speech in the other. By analyzing the novelist’s use of myths, refer-ences to the divinity and, especially, the many instances that offer evidence of wide-spread corruption in the characters’ lan-guage, I show how the lighthouse in which the characters dwell can be interpreted as a decadent Tower of Babel.

The objective of this study is to analyze the transition from one period of Rachilde's creation to another, which is represented by her novel Le Mordu (1889). While saying goodbye to a form of expression that seems obsolete, the novelist indicates directions to take. She also presents the dilemma of artistic compromise versus pure art. Thus the terms of revolution and evolution find their meaning: in relation to the intransigence of the artistic principles which, during the course of life, switch to morally dubious mercantilism. The meaning of these two terms is examined not only in the context of Rachilde's novel, but also in relation to her own choices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article analyses the notion of ‘impenetrability’ in works by Jules Barbey d’Aurevilly, Remy de Gourmont, and Rachilde, concentrating on their portrayal of ambiguous and incomprehensible demi-vierges. In Decadent literature, the desire for knowledge and the desire for sexual ‘possession’ are inextricably intertwined, and the Decadent ‘ideal’ of impenetrability is based on a paradoxical logic of aesthetic failure and sexual frustration. The figures of the virgin, the dandy, and the femme fatale constitute particularly productive sources of Decadent literary reflection, in which reformulations of earlier literary models are channelled into an aesthetic of hyperbole, parody, and meta-literary irony. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fil d’Ariane dans l’œuvre de l’écrivaine française Rachilde (1860-1953), l’amour y détient une place prépondérante. Dans la lignée de l’esprit décadent de son époque qui se réapproprie mythes et doctrines philosophiques anciennes et nouvelles, Rachilde insuffle à ses héroïnes et héros un amour plus idéel, un culte de la beauté/volupté, repoussant d’emblée tout amour à fonction procréatrice « de basse-cour ou d’étable » et, ipso facto, l’institution du mariage au profit d’un célibat assumé fortement hors nature. Cet "amour monstre" aux propos et comportements subversifs contrecarre vivement les visées sociales et forme une sorte de programme préconisé en réponse à la médiocrité de la société et à son carcan. Avec cette vision pour le moins utopique, rares sont les romans de Rachilde qui arrivent à mettre les paroles en actes, puisque la nature humaine, faite de pulsions et d’élans, et/ou la pression sociale finissent par avoir raison de ce type d’amour hautement théorique et abstrait. Un peu à la façon naturaliste, le corps finit toujours par trahir/salir les bonnes intentions d’un esprit pur à la recherche d’un idéal amoureux. C’est pourquoi bon nombre d’entre eux tourneront leur affection monstrueuse vers le matérialisme, un culte de l’objet, tout aussi décadent. Cet article se propose donc d’explorer cet amour platonicien réinventé sous les traits de la décadence dans la prose rachildienne.

En el presente artículo, estudiaremos la relación transtextual existente entre Le Château des deux amants (1923), novela de la escritora francesa Rachilde (1860- 1953), y la leyenda des deux amants. Rachilde, que muy a menudo recurre a la reescritura como método de (re)producción literaria, lleva a cabo en dicha novela un proceso de inversión, pues transforma la leyenda inicial en una anti-leyenda.

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In the discussions on the future of the novel at the end of the nineteenth century, the question of the adventure novel begins to emerge, notably thanks to Marcel Schwob and Camille Mauclair. It culminates with the study of Jacques Rivière, to which can be added the texts of Jacques Copeau and Albert Thibaudet. Rachilde, as critic of the Mercure de France, is not indifferent to this problem and formulates opinions which show the evolution of her aesthetic ideas towards the adventure novel. It seems interesting to compare these opinions with her novelistic practice which, precisely at this time, marks a significant turning point. The novels she published between 1904 and 1912: Le Dessous, Le Meneur de louves, Son Printemps, clearly differ from her previous works and confirm her interest in the new formula. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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This article examines distressing images of dead infants in several novels by Rachilde (Marguerite Eymery Vallette, 1860–1953), principallyLa Princesse des ténèbresof 1896 in order to emphasize the failure of walls to prevent seepage. Examples range from domestic walls that leach arsenic to uterine walls that slough blood. These fictional images of decomposition suggest a parallel porosity in the generic walls that separate fiction and biography, leading to speculation as to whether any of these fictional representations have grounding in autobiographical experience. The article also presents new biographical information about Rachilde's relationship with Louis-Pilate de Brinn’Gaubast and Léo d’Orfer (Marius Pouget) to fill certain silences (and Silences) in Rachilde's work. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Rachilde, prolífica escritora francesa que desarrolló su carrera literaria durante las últimas décadas del siglo XIX y la primera mitad del siglo XX, publica en 1905 Le Meneur de louves. Catalogada por la crítica como novela histórica, el argumen- to que compone dicha novela es una reescritura de Histoire ecclésiastique des Francs de Grégoire de Tours, concretamente del libro IX al XX del Tomo II. La reescritura es una técnica muy recurrente en la escritora decadente, y en dicha novela, resulta un tanto peculiar debido a la constante presencia del hipotexto en el hipertexto. A pesar de guardar cierta fidelidad a la versión original, Rachilde adapta el argumento siguiendo los patrones de la Decadencia de final de siglo.

Un personnage fort intéressant fait son entrée sur la scène du roman (mais aussi de la société) à la fin du dix-neuvième siècle : le célibataire, qui devient peu à peu le héros de prédilection de la littérature fantastique. Écrivant et publiant à cette époque où la misogynie est à son paroxysme, l’écrivaine française Rachilde (1860-1953) semble de prime abord ne pas échapper à cette tendance : son œuvre, comme la littérature décadente, verse dans l’insolite, le morbide, la folie, la névrose, la perversion ; la femme y est considérée comme l’Autre, l’ennemie de l’homme entraînant le mal et la destruction. D’ailleurs, on y retrouve fréquemment ce personnage à la Dorian Gray ou à la Des Esseintes, notamment dans Le Mordu (1889), Les Hors Nature (1897), Refaire l’Amour (1927). Plus encore, et c’est peut-être là la plus grande originalité de Rachilde, une autre figure, plus marginale et peu répandue, émerge au sein de sa fiction ; le célibataire dandy et dilettante – si cher aux décadents – est, chez elle, femme. Également misanthrope désabusée – et peut-être même davantage puisqu’elle est consciente de son « pouvoir » et de ses possibilités d’action dans le monde dans lequel elle vit –, la femme célibataire chez Rachilde devient une force sur-naturelle et inquiétante, dont l’esprit, le corps et les traits en sont les signes prophétiques. Cet article portera sur l’étude de deux de ses romans L’Animale (1893) et La Jongleuse (1900) et s’intéressera tout particulièrement à leurs héroïnes respectives, Laure et Éliante, qui constituent deux profils, deux prototypes, du personnage de la femme célibataire rachildienne.

Marguerite Eymery-Vallette (1860-1953) – plus connue sous son pseudonyme d’homme de lettres Rachilde et davantage encore pour la controverse qu’elle a créée avec la parution de sa troisième œuvre, Monsieur Vénus, roman matérialiste (1884) – a énormément publié tout au long de sa carrière littéraire (on dénombre plus d’une soixantaine d’œuvres : romans, nouvelles, contes, pièces de théâtre, etc.). Écrivant à une époque dite décadente, Rachilde y brille par ses œuvres subversives, abordant entre autres les pratiques sexuelles dépravées (sadomasochisme, nécrophilie, zoophilie, etc.), mais surtout le crime (qu’il soit question de meurtre, de viol, de suicide, etc.). Ainsi, son personnage de prédilection est le marginal, le criminel dénué de morale. Cet article portera donc sur la façon dont le crime (et donc le criminel) chez Rachilde verse dans le fantastique, plus spécifiquement dans un fantastique du monstrueux moral que je définirai dans un premier temps. Le roman de Rachilde, Le Grand Saigneur (1922), servira ensuite d’exemple significatif de ce monstrueux moral, notamment par l’étude du personnage éponyme de l’œuvre, soit le marquis Yves de Pontcroix, qui incarne ce criminel arborant les traces tant morales (tempérament sauvage et étrange) que physiques (force hors du commun, pâleur de la peau, etc.) de sa monstruosité. C’est donc dire que face au(x) crime(x) (ou au criminel) le fantastique semble s’imposer de lui-même en guise d’explication : le genre humain ne peut vraisemblablement avoir quelque chose en commun avec cette monstruosité (ou ce monstre moral, pour reprendre les mots de Michel Foucault dans Les Anormaux). En somme, cet article se penchera sur la spécificité de l’écriture rachildienne, qui, dans le cas du roman Le Grand Saigneur, attribue une dimension fantastique au personnage criminel, renforçant d’autant plus la preuve de sa difformité (monstruosité) et de sa culpabilité.

This article considers the theme of prostitution in the decadent writings of the fin-de-siecle French author, Rachilde. It proposes that an analysis of this critically-neglected trope of her work reveals new connections between the erotics and aesthetics of her fiction. As a vector for considering tensions between fantasy and truth, and illusion and reality, prostitution, in Rachilde's texts, invites us to reflect on two of the most common cultural manifestations of decadence: sexual non-conformism and the cult of artifice. The article focuses in particular on the (male) prostitute-body of Monsieur Venus, arguing that, in its transcendence of nature, reality and utilitarian purpose, it is elevated to the status of art in Rachilde's fictional world.

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Copyright of Estudios Románicos is the property of Servicio de Publicaciones de la Universidad de Murcia and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

RESUMEN El objetivo de este artículo es, en primer término, mostrar el uso político y subversivo el tema de la artificialidad femenina en Monsieur Vénus, de Rachilde y Dulce Dueño, de Emilia Pardo Bazán. Si bien sus protagonistas se han juzgado como mujeres fatales, mi propuesta es que ambas son personajes que utilizan los discursos sobre la artificialidad para explorar las posibilidades y los límites de la creación de una identidad femenina propia. En segundo término, quisiera poner esa lectura al servicio de una reflexión sobre la pervivencia y naturalización de ciertos modelos interpretativos, en este caso -la mujer fatal- cuya aplicación como cliché no sólo empobrece la interpretación de determinados textos sino que oculta la fisura que esos textos plantean respecto a ese modelo. ABSTRACT The objective of this paper is, in firts term, to show the political and subversive use of the topic of female artificiality in Rachilde’s Monsieur Vénus, Rachilde and Emilia Pardo Bazán’s Dulce sueño. Although the protagonists of the novels have been considered as femme fatales, I propose that they are characters who use the discourses about artificiality to explore the possibilities and limits of the creation of their own feminine identity. In second term, I would like to reflect on the permanence and naturalization of certain models of interpretation -in this case, the femme fatale- whose application as a cliché not only impoverishes the reading of these novels but hides the split that those texts raise with respect to that model.