Wandering Women in French Film and Literature

How and when can a narrative agent or voice be considered unreliable? What happens when narrative authority fails and, just as importantly, why does it? As a means to answering these questions, Wandering Women in French Film and Literature examines the phenomenon of 'narrative drift' through in-depth analysis of twentieth-century novels and films.

“This book is of particular interest to French Studies scholars, especially those who work on feminist analyses of literature and film in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, or who study the particular novels or films she analyzes. … the book’s work on narrative and feminist analysis remains highly relevant and a necessary addition to existing scholarship in French studies.” (Melissa Bailar, Studies in Twentieth and Twenty-First Century Literature, newprairiepress.org, Vol. 41 (2), June, 2017)

"Wandering Women in French Film and Literature represents an intriguing exploration of a variety of approaches used to enable female drifters to escape the clutches of male narrative and unmask dubious 'absolute male narrative authority.' The discussion of fiction and film together, with a focus on female narratives and narratives of females, is a significant contribution to the field of twentieth-century literature and cinema studies." - Michael Gott, University of Cincinnati, USA

"The most complete study to date of the disruptive and transformative effects of the female wanderer, made all the more powerful by its attention to diverse and varied narrative forms, ranging from classical French literature to modern literary texts, and films both by men and by women. The inclusion of pioneering works by women further secures an important place for the book in narrative studies for its over-arching innovation of the critical approach and far-reaching applicability." - Ruth A. Hottell, Professor of French, The University of Toledo, USA

Mariah Devereux Herbeck is Associate Professor of French at Boise State University, USA.