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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 very independent project
Interview with Hannah Knafo, spring 2006
Hannah Knafo is completing a senior thesis that integrates her interest in English literature and French under the mentorship of French professor Beth Gale and English professor James Elliott. In a recent conversation, summarized below, she discussed her work comparing novels by Colette and F. Scott Fitzgerald.
What drew you to double major in French and English?
I've always been interested in English and literature and they were my best subjects in high school. But while I thought I'd find something else to major in at Clark, I was drawn to English classes all the time. As to the French major, I was determined to really learn the language that I had already studied in high school. A lot of my dad's side of the family is from Morocco, so a lot of them speak French. That was part of my motivation for becoming more fluent. I spent a semester in France through Clark's program at the University of Bourgogne in Dijon. I didn't perfect my French but it got a lot better.
What prompted you to do a senior thesis?
I wanted to end my college experience with something really solid that would represent what I've learned. Originally I thought I would just do my thesis in English because I didn't see myself writing an entire thesis in French—or having the time, either. Then I met with Beth Gale, my French advisor. We discussed my project and she suggested some books based on what I'm interested in and what I've liked reading in the past. I just started reading and continuing to dialog with her, and the thesis materialized from there. We eventually worked out a scheme incorporating both French and English literature into my project.
What is the subject of your thesis?
The title is "Pre- and Post-World War I Conceptions of Modernity as Embodied by the 'New Woman' in Fitzgerald and Colette." In it I compare two novels, La Vagabonde by the French writer Colette, and The Beautiful and Damned by F. Scott Fitzgerald. La Vagabonde was written in 1910—pre WWI, and The Beautiful and Damned was written in 1922, after the war had ended. One writer is female and French, and the other is a male writer from the United States. So they're coming from very different places, and their texts are very different. Colette writes primarily autobiographically. Fitzgerald does to some extent, although it's more disguised in his work. He often plays the role of spectator. He watches people around him and writes what are almost satires about the society he observes. Through these texts I was able to look at the evolution of the New Woman from the very beginning of the 20th century, through the war, and into the post-war era, from the Gibson Girl of the late 19th century to the 1920s flapper.
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What have you found from comparing these two novels?
The authors were very torn and ambivalent in their opinions of the New Woman. And I was just as ambivalent as they were. Was the New Woman a real embodiment of modernity? Was she actually anti-feminist?
Colette located the New Woman within herself. She led a very scandalous life and she revealed it publicly through her novel La Vagabonde. Because Colette's fiction is mostly autobiographical, it is generally understood that her protagonists are each some kind of representation of the author herself. As author, Colette is able to control the presentation of herself in La Vagabonde through the character of Renée. A vagabond is a traveler and a nomad. In the story, narrator and "vagabond" Renée is a dancer and actress, as well as a very sexually liberated, modern woman.
At the same time, Colette didn't align herself with feminism in France. French feminists during her time were considered monstrous. They were manly women who were not well respected.
Fitzgerald was very critical of the New Woman, but also aligns himself with her. His attitudes are especially interesting in that his wife, Zelda, gained fame as the flapper personified. All the critiques I read about Fitzgerald say he was very ambivalent about the New Woman.
What is the subject of The Beautiful and Damned? How is the New Woman revealed in the novel?
The Beautiful and Damned is about a young couple living in the heart of the jazz age. Fitzgerald traces their romance as they engage in modern courting practices (more promiscuous behavior and less steady relationships) through their troubled years of marriage. He portrays the New Woman through the character of Gloria, who is unstable, superficial, aimless, and materialistic. He gets inside her head, and shows how troubled she is as a result of the modern age and the superficial concerns of the New Woman. He is not, however, all negative, often portraying the glamour and excitement associated with the New Woman (or the Flapper).
What did your background reading consist of?
I read a couple biographies of Colette. She lived a really interesting life and it really ties in with her writing. I also read critiques of her work, some in French and some in English. I read similar things about Fitzgerald: biographies, reviews and critiques of his novels, and how his work was perceived at the time. I met with Beth Gale several times and she recommended things to read. During the fall semester I spent most of my time in the library! Spring semester I was mostly writing and revising. I worked with Professor Gale a lot on that. I worked with Professor Elliot mainly during the fall semester.
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Did you discover anything in your research that particularly surprised you?
I had no idea who Colette was before I started, so I learned a lot about her. She's really a fascinating figure. While learning about Colette, I also learned about French society of her time. Seeing French society through the eyes of Colette made it much more real. It was really fun to not know anything at first, and then to gain all this material and knowledge.
Can you comment on the advantages and disadvantages of doing research?
I really enjoyed researching my thesis, and I really wasn't that stressed out doing it! I thought I'd be working up until the last minute and freaking out, but I had some really good support. And I was interested enough in my topic that I was able to take the initiative and discipline myself, particularly in the fall semester when I was doing the research. I was really surprised at how much I was in the library, because I don't really like the library that much!
I think that for certain people doing research would work really well, and for certain people it wouldn't. But for me it was really great to come up with my own topic and move it in the direction I wanted it to go. It was a very independent project. It feels like a great accomplishment to develop and complete something on your own. All the ideas and comparisons are unique to me and to my interests. That's really special and I'm really glad that I got to do it.
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