<I>Gender</I>, <I>genre</I> et <I>Geschlecht</I> dans le roman libertin. Critique littéraire et traditions épistémologiques féministes

Abstract

How did « feminist » or « gender studies » emerge and consolidate in France and Germany? What precise role did North American concepts, such as the sex/gender split, play? In what ways do translations and divergent epistemological traditions continue to profoundly influence feminist and/or gender approaches to the French Enlightenment Novel? We first explore this matter by investigating the etymological origins of gender/genre/Geschlecht and interrogating whether these terms are in fact interchangeable and thereby translatable. We then go on to retrace the evolution of these terms within the American, French and German feminist traditions and analyze how the distinction between sex and gender was received by German und French literary scholars. In conclusion, we consider feminist and gender approaches applied by French and German speaking scholars to French eighteenth century literature – and especially to studies of the libertine novel.