Sexual Commodification and Memory in “L’Éducation sentimentale”
Flaubert believed that a crisis of memory, which was particularly acute during the period of the Revolution of 1848, plagued his generation. The essay argues that, in the context of confronting what he refers to as the “idea of prostitution,” Flaubert chose sexual commodification as the privileged l...
সংরক্ষণ করুন:
| প্রকাশিত: | URI:https://journals.openedition.org/studifrancesi, |
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| প্রধান লেখক: | |
| বিন্যাস: | Article ou chapitre numérique |
| ভাষা: | Anglais |
| প্রকাশিত: |
Studi Francesi
2016
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| অনলাইন ব্যবহার করুন: | Accès Université d'Orléans et IFPM Accès Université d'Orléans et IFPM |
| সংক্ষিপ্ত: | Flaubert believed that a crisis of memory, which was particularly acute during the period of the Revolution of 1848, plagued his generation. The essay argues that, in the context of confronting what he refers to as the “idea of prostitution,” Flaubert chose sexual commodification as the privileged locus to portray that crisis of memory in L’éducation sentimentale. Such a strategy is notably discernable in a scene that is crucial for the treatment of gender in the novel. There Rosanette, one of the two main female characters, tells the story of how she was sold into prostitution by her family as a child. This narrative of a little girl’s image-driven experience amounts to a rare moment of self-reflexivity in the novel. In the process, it contests L’éducation sentimentale’s famous conclusion where the two main male characters, Frédéric and Deslauriers, reflect on their lives in general and on their dealings with prostitutes in particular. Rosanette’s memory scene offers us a unique female perspective on sexual commodification and serves as a remarkable example of counter-discourse in a novel that is otherwise dominated by male-gendered experiences of memory. |
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