Louise Labe 2005

Modern Language Review, The, April, 2007 by Gabriella Scarlatta Eschrich

Louise Labe 2005. Ed. by BEATRICE ALONSO and ELIANE VIENNOT. (L'Ecole du genre, 1) Saint-Etienne: Universite de Saint-Etienne. 2004. 271 pp. 918. ISBN 978-2-86272-348-8.

Louise Labe 2005 is a collection of nineteen essays dedicated to the author of the 1555 (Euvres. The volume is divided into three parts: 'Generalites', 'Louise Labe Lyrique', and 'Autour d'un Debat'. Its contributors are from different backgrounds and different continents, ranging from well-known specialists of gender studies to scholars of French sixteenth-century poetry. The editors position Labe as one of the main feminist humanists of all time, and offer a study that addresses questions of literary production vs. social governing forces, mainly assessing the importance of Labe's contribution to the French literary canon. Moreover, the articles collected in this volume represent an important critical tool as well as a diverse and comprehensive analysis of Labe's work.

The main goal of the book is to offer a general investigation of Labe's work and a detailed analysis of some of her texts. The three distinct sections of the volume are dedicated to the following issues: feminism; Labe's lyricism and her own reflections on writing; and finally, the captatio, an analysis of introductory texts which contributed to the legendary persona of Louise Labe. At the end of the volume, the reader can also find a comprehensive 'Bibliographie d'agregation'.

The majority of the articles have been published before in other journals, such as, for example, Francois Rigolot's 'Louise Labe et les "Dames Lionnoises"',Gisele Mathieu-Castellani's 'Les marques du feminin dans la parole amoureuse de Louise Labe', and both of Paolo Baudini's articles. The very first piece, 'La diffusion du feminisme au temps de Louise de Labe', on the other hand, is written by Viennot in order to fit the precise purpose of the volume. She sets out to describe the cultural, ideological, and political contexts of Labe's life and work, and thoroughly enlightens the reader on the origins and background of French early-modern women's writings, from the Salic Law to the influence of the court, to Neoplatonism and Petrarchism.

As Alonso and Viennot promised, this volume is a well-organized and comprehensive collection of articles meant to help students and their instructors prepare for the agregation, but it is also a useful tool designed for readers of French literature to access easily and appreciate the significant scholarly work dedicated to Louise Labe, a key figure and a very important writer of the French Renaissance.

GABRIELLA SCARLATTA ESCHRICH

UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN-DEARBORN