Tożsamość (także płciowa) kobiety w przestrzeni domu, w historii, kulturze i na drogach emancypacji odzwierciedla niejako jej walkę o wolność. W kontekście faktów kulturowych, obyczajowych i etycznych inspirowanych przez teorię gender niniejszy artykuł ma na celu refleksję nad kwestią obrazu kobiety transgresywnej w literaturze francuskiej XX w. Zagadnienie to rozpatrywane jest w odniesieniu do sfery jej życia osobistego oraz przyjmowanych przez nią określonych ról społecznych i publicznych, przy uwzględnieniu perspektywy historycznej i antropologicznej, związanej ze specyfiką oraz mentalnością Francji XX stulecia. Spod pióra Sidonie-Gabrielle Colette, Simone de Beauvoir, Françoise Sagan oraz Marguerite Duras wyłania się wizerunek kobiety nowoczesnej, wyzwolonej z ciasnego gorsetu konwenansów, świadomej swojej wartości, przekraczającej seksualne tabu, demaskującej utrwalone stereotypy społeczne i literackie.

Zastosowana strategia badawcza pozwoliła na zakreślenie w miarę szerokiego pola obserwacji, umożliwiającego przedstawienie problematyki w ujęciu komparatystycznym. Dzięki temu obraz kobiety kontestującej utrwalone wzorce posłusznej żony i matki jawi się wieloaspektowo, z różnych punktów widzenia, ukazując złożoność jej natury oraz całe bogactwo czynników warunkujących kobiece ja, które ewoluuje od niechęci w stosunku do mieszczańskiej moralności do buntu przejawiającego się poprzez nienormatywne czy wręcz skandalizujące zachowania.

From Rebellion to Liberation : The Image of an Ill-Mannered Woman in the Literary Works of Sidonie-Gabrielle Colette, Simone de Beauvoir, Françoise Sagan and Marguerite Duras

Abstract

A woman’s identity, including her sexuality, reflects, as it were, her struggle for freedom within the domestic sphere, throughout history and culture, and charts her route to emancipation . In the context of cultural, moral, and ethical facts inspired by the theory of gender, the aim of the paper is to set forth a reflection on the question of the figure of the transgressive woman in French literature of the 19^th and 20^th centuries. This issue is viewed in relation to the sphere of the author’s personal life, as well as taking into account the historical and anthropological perspective related to the specificity and mentality of 19^th and 20^th century France; in particular, the  social and public roles assumed by women yet imposed on them by society. Literary works by Sidonie-Gabrielle Colette, Simone de Beauvoir, Françoise Sagan, and Marguerite Duras depict the picture of the modern woman, freed from the tight corset of etiquette, aware of her self-esteem, transgressing sexual taboos, and debunking fixed social and literary stereotypes.

The research strategy adopted in this paper aims to utilize a considerably broad observational field, making it possible to present the above issues from a  comparative perspective. From such a perspective, the picture of a woman contesting the fixed standards of the obedient wife and mother appears as a multi-level issue showing the complexity of her nature and an abundance of factors conditioning the female ego, who ultimately evolves from an initial aversion to bourgeois morality to an outright revolt manifesting itself through non-standard or even scandalous behaviour.

A woman’s identity, including her sexuality, reflects, as it were, her struggle for freedom within the domestic sphere, throughout history and culture, and charts her route to emancipation . In the context of cultural, moral, and ethical facts inspired by the theory of gender, the aim of the paper is to set forth a reflection on the question of the figure of the transgressive woman in French literature of the 19^th and 20^th centuries. This issue is viewed in relation to the sphere of the author’s personal life, as well as taking into account the historical and anthropological perspective related to the specificity and mentality of 19^th and 20^th century France; in particular, the  social and public roles assumed by women yet imposed on them by society. Literary works by Sidonie-Gabrielle Colette, Simone de Beauvoir, Françoise Sagan, and Marguerite Duras depict the picture of the modern woman, freed from the tight corset of etiquette, aware of her self-esteem, transgressing sexual taboos, and debunking fixed social and literary stereotypes.

The research strategy adopted in this paper aims to utilize a considerably broad observational field, making it possible to present the above issues from a  comparative perspective. From such a perspective, the picture of a woman contesting the fixed standards of the obedient wife and mother appears as a multi-level issue showing the complexity of her nature and an abundance of factors conditioning the female ego, who ultimately evolves from an initial aversion to bourgeois morality to an outright revolt manifesting itself through non-standard or even scandalous behaviour.