Le néofantastique féminin d’Anne Duguël
Women’s Neo-fantastic Writing of Anne Duguël

Author(s): Agnieszka Loska
Subject(s): Language and Literature Studies, Studies of Literature, French Literature, Theory of Literature
Published by: Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Śląskiego
Keywords: Anne Duguël; feminine neofantastic; Belgian fantastic; women’s studies
Summary/Abstract: The monograph Le néofantastique féminin d’Anne Duguël is an attempt to show the feminine aspect of the prose written by Anne Duguël (1945–2015), a representative of Belgian neo-fantastic literature. Chapter one provides theoretical reflections on fantastic literature and shows difficulties in defining this genre as well as in delineating its fixed boundaries. The reflections serve as a point of departure in the analysis of Anne Duguël’s innovative and original works, provided in further parts of the book. The chapter also presents Anne Duguël’s biography and writing in the context of the profiles of the 20th-century prominent French-speaking women writers practising this literary genre. Referring to the concept of écriture féminine, the last section of the chapter tries to answer the question whether Duguël’s oeuvre can be regarded as feminine and hence analysed accordingly. Chapter two is devoted to the protagonist of Duguël’s works of fantastic literature. The chapter thus provides the characteristics of the female figure and a comparison between her and the male protagonist of classic works of fantastic literature, as well as the narrative analysis which shows the relations between narration and the feminine themes in Duguël’s works. Moreover, the chapter depicts the influence of the reader’s gender in the reception of neo-fantastic works of the writer. Chapter three focuses on the fantastic phenomenon, which in Duguël’s works is closely connected with the female figure and her femininity. The research includes: space-time frame, fantastic objects, female anxiogenic figures, such as a ghost or a vampire, as well as the motif of metamorphosis. The chapter provides an outline on how Duguël enriches motifs derived from classic works of fantastic literature with a feminine element. The last part of the monograph emphasizes the characteristics pertinent to Anne Duguël’s works, and therefore inscribes them in the manner the writer modifies modern fantastic literature by introducing an entirely new, hitherto unknown category, which is women’s neo-fantastic writing. The addenda contain a chronological list of Duguël’s neo-fantastic works, as well as biographical notes of contemporary Belgian and French women writers who represent neo-fantastic literature.

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