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Professor Beth Gale studies depictions of female adolescence in the French novel from the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Her research explores such topics as education, the body, family dynamics, friendship and sexuality from a sociohistorical perspective. |
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Meet the researchers:
A rich topic for exploration
Interview with Professor Beth Gale, spring 2006
In a recent conversation, summarized below, French professor Beth Gale describes how she became interested in the study of French language and literature, and her special interest in French fiction focusing on the experience of adolescence.
What drew you to the study of French language and literature?
I began to learn French in junior high school and continued through college. When I went to college I thought I would major in English, but I loved French so much that I eventually completed a double major. It was difficult to choose between French and English when I was ready for graduate school, because I loved both. Finally I decided that French was more compelling to me, and it became my focus in graduate school. I think the challenge of specializing in literature in a language that wasn't my native tongue was appealing to me. In addition I minored in philosophy and women's studies, both of which have repeatedly influenced my work at some point.
Did you study abroad?
Yes. As an undergraduate I studied for a semester at the University of Caen in Normandy. I also took a year after completing my B.A. to teach in France. I worked in a high school for the French government as a teaching assistant, helping the English teachers by holding conversation classes. Later, when I went abroad to work on my dissertation, I was hired by the University of Paris as a lecturer and I worked both with both the French and English departments. Through the latter I taught things like American history, scientific English, translation, and textual analysis in English.
Once in graduate school, I had to make a decision on a Ph.D. dissertation topic. I told my advisor I wanted to do something related to women. That's about as articulate as I was at that point! In the process of suggesting a few things, he mentioned 'coming of age' and I was immediately convinced that the subject was exactly suited to my interests. At the time my little sister was entering adolescence. I remember watching her, reflecting on my own adolescent experience and considering what a potent time that is in life, how many important questions are being posed and how we're forming ourselves as adults at that time. So I think it all coalesced when he said 'coming of age.'
Did you need to choose a time period of literature to focus on?
Yes. I knew I wanted to study 19th or 20th century French literature. I started to research the notion of adolescence, how it came into parlance in French, and what was happening in French society at the time. Combing through the Bibliothèque Nationale in Paris, I found some great material and things started to come together. From the beginning, my exploration of coming of age was a socio-historical project, not just a purely literary one. Some literary scholars attempt to study literature separated from its context and its author, but I always saw this project as one that needed to be steeped in historical moments of writing.
It became clear that at some point in the 19th century a social category of adolescence was being created. Before that time girls tended to go from the convent to the husband's house, or from dad's house to the husband's house. There was no in between period of freedom or exploration, or time to reflect on the self, things that today we associate with adolescence. An exploration of love or sexuality was impossible for teenage girls before the middle of the 19th century. I define adolescence as that period of time between childhood, when a girl was completely controlled by her parents, and marriage, where for the most part, a woman was still controlled or influenced by a husband. In the 19th century a period emerged when girls were a bit freer and at some point began to go to school. Participation in school changed things tremendously for them, because they had access to different kinds of spaces and new ideas.
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What was happening in French society at this time?
Politically there was a debate about whether to educate girls, and whether that would be dangerous or good for the future of France. Given my interest in women's studies, these kinds of questions interested me greatly.
There was also a medical debate going on about the ideal age for marriage. In the 18th and 19th century research was being carried out on the sex organs, what happens during puberty, and what age was considered acceptable for marriage and pregnancy.
I assume this research was conducted by men?
Absolutely! Of course. Doctors concluded that 20 might be a better age for girls to marry than the traditional 16 or 17. That recommendation created a period of four to five years when girls were sexually mature but were still considered too young to marry. That was the age span I was looking at.
Once you identified this historical period when the concept of adolescence was being developed, what did you do next?
I began to select novels, and from reviewing those it became clear to me that I wanted to focus on the period from about 1870-1930. I read whatever I could get my hands on. It was important to me not to read just female authors, but male authors as well, most of which was done at the Bibliothequè Nationale. I got to spend time in the library reading novels, some of which are very rare and not available outside the Bibliothèque Nationale. The novels of some of the women writers in particular did not have large circulations and were not really very well known. If you dig hard enough you'll find contemporary reviews of their work, and then they sort of disappear from view. It was only in the 1980s and 90s that they were resuscitated by feminist scholars.
Were any of these women authors popular in their own time?
Oh yes. Sidonie-Gabrielle Colette—usually just known as Colette—is an example of someone whose work was extremely popular. At the time it was assumed that she and her husband were collaborating. He actually signed his name to the series that made her—his—name. It wasn't until later that it became clear that she had done all the writing. She wrote novels about young girls coming of age and their sexual exploits in a semi-autobiographical fashion.
Some women authors of that period were participating in literary reviews and journalism, so they were connected to and, to some extent, respected in some circles. But in general they were not widely read and definitely not widely respected. There was the occasional male literary critic who would say something like 'these women writers are fantastic; these are the ones to keep an eye on.' Interestingly, many of the women writers wrote autobiographies and talked about adolescence as the time when their desire to write was born.
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How did you choose the authors to examine?
For my exploration of adolescence I tried to pick a mix of French authors—men and women, some superstars, others less known.
Were there differences between the way men and women wrote?
Yes, but it's hard to generalize, because for every male who wrote in a prurient or condescending way, there was a woman making extremely unflattering or critical comments about women. I had to make sure that I was giving everyone a fair shake, not misrepresenting or over generalizing.
Was there any part of your research that you found especially interesting?
One of my questions going into the project concerned the ways life can and does affect literature, and vice versa. Although that was not my primary focus, I think some of the most fascinating moments for me were the ones where I could see distinct echoes between life and literature.
For example, what were the politicians of the time thinking about the education of girls? Did these opinions—either pro or con—make their way into literature? In fact, they often did. Novels could be used to support one or the other side of the debate. A particularly scandalous novel might be used to show the dangerous things that would happen if young women were educated in a particular way.
One male writer named Marcel Prévost was particularly interested in writing about the role of young women in society. I believe that some of his writings can be read from a feminist perspective. He wrote in a preface to his 1904 novel Les Demi-vierges (The Half Virgins) that if society didn't find new and better ways to educate women properly, Christian marriage would die. The novel is about what he saw happening to society because women weren't well educated.
In her book L'Education Feministe des Filles (The Feminist Education of Girls), Madeleine Pelletier, a radical feminist medical doctor, argued for the identical education of girls and boys, even to the point of cutting their hair identically and dressing them the same. She felt this was the only way to achieve some sort of egalitarian relationship between the sexes. She actually used one of Prévost's novels to support her theory. That was an interesting moment where life and literature came together. There aren't too many of those. The best I can do is to consider the novels in context and see if there's any mirroring going on between a novel and social events.
With regard to sex, adult women seemed to want to maintain a conspiracy of silence. The woman who never learned anything about her body or sex from her mother would perpetuate that pattern by not sharing vital information with her own daughters. In one particular novel there's a passage in which the writer talks about young girls being brutalized on their wedding night—being victims—and how marriage is a legal trap. She protests the fact that mothers force their daughters to go through what they went through. Why can't they share some knowledge, she asks, in order to facilitate the transition for their daughters? Of course, that novel wasn't really successful from a popular standpoint…although it was for me.
So these are the kinds of things I've been working on. Coming of age is such a rich topic and my students obviously seem to love it as much as I do!
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Can you talk about your collaboration with screen studies professor Tim Shary, who specializes in images of adolescence in film?
With funding from Clark's Higgins School of Humanities, Tim Shary and I developed a course called Images of Youth in French and American Narratives, focusing on French novels and American film after 1950. We loved teaching it! For that course I had to venture into completely new territory. I think it was a very successful class. The students seemed to love it, and I thought team teaching was fantastic. Being able to play off another professor's knowledge and skill is invaluable for both students and faculty. Since then we've each taught a version of the course individually. My course focused on French novels and films. We're hoping to do another version of the original course soon.
What opportunities are there for undergraduate foreign language students to become involved in research?
A directed readings course is a great opportunity for students to study in depth a topic of special interest to them. They just have to approach a professor and choose an area that they're interested in. The department also offers a capstone course every year. When I teach that I allow the students to work on whatever they want, as long as it's somehow related to the theme of the course. I allow them to follow what compels them and I think that ultimately yields the best results. That way, students can feel empowered to do what they really love to do. Then there's the senior honors thesis that is an advanced, personal research project.
What study abroad program does Clark offer French majors?
Clark offers a program at the University of Bourgogne (Burgundy) in Dijon that seems to be very popular. Students can spend a year or a semester there. The students come back really thrilled. Every year, we also send one of our strongest graduating seniors to teach for a year at the University of Versailles outside Paris. It's a great immersion experience.
I tell my students to go abroad, that the experience will change their lives. I don't think it's too melodramatic to say it changed my life. Something about the contact with a different culture and language changes your perspective on your own country and culture, and on who you are and how you fit in the world. I can't say enough about the study abroad experience.
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Additional Resources
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 Changing your perspective by studying abroad: Quicktime
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