French Culture Ii

The emancipation of women in the 20th century was a pivotal event that revolutionized all societies, yet it is often overlooked how crucial feminisms remain in the fight for gender equality, the acquisition of fundamental freedoms, and the recognition of more open and fluid definitions of gender roles and identities. Starting from these three reading paradigms, the course will first retrace the history of feminism in France, from the postwar period to the contemporary era, with the aim of grasping the heterogeneity and complexity of its demands. In the second part, we will explore a corpus of texts (both essays and literary) that illustrate the plot and trajectory of the most recent protests, within the context of an unprecedented politicization of sexuality, intimacy, and subjectivity, in the ongoing dialogue between equality and freedom, reformism and utopia.