Chantal Chawaf
Encyclopedia
Chantal Chawaf is a French writer.
She was born in Paris
, during the World War II
. During her childhood, she studied art at l'Ecole du Louvre
and literature. She travelled and lived for some years in Europe
, in the Middle East
and North America. In 1974, she started publishing at the Editions des Femmes, created in relation to the MLF (Mouvement de Liberation des Femmes) by the leading French feminist Antoinette Fouque
. Chawaf’s first text, Retable. la rêverie, started what critics called "Écriture féminine
". Books which also belong to this movement are; Cercoeur (1975) and Maternité (1979).
In her books, Chawaf explores the theme of a mother-daughter relationship and attempts to realize the potential of words to free the female unconscious, to de-intellectualize her body and give voice to an inner experience.
Chantal Chawaf work on birth and life giving leads in her last books to an ecocriticsm of the contemporary society.
She has travelled frequently in the United States where her work is translated and studied in universities.
She is the author of many novels, one play and two essays, and is editor at a French publisher.
She was born in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
, during the World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. During her childhood, she studied art at l'Ecole du Louvre
École du Louvre
The École du Louvre is an institution of higher education and French Grande École located in the Aile de Flore of the Musée du Louvre in Paris, France, and is dedicated to the study of archaeology, art history, anthropology and epigraphy....
and literature. She travelled and lived for some years in Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
, in the Middle East
Middle East
The Middle East is a region that encompasses Western Asia and Northern Africa. It is often used as a synonym for Near East, in opposition to Far East...
and North America. In 1974, she started publishing at the Editions des Femmes, created in relation to the MLF (Mouvement de Liberation des Femmes) by the leading French feminist Antoinette Fouque
Antoinette Fouque
Antoinette Fouque , is a psychoanalyst and one of the leading figures of the French women's liberation movement....
. Chawaf’s first text, Retable. la rêverie, started what critics called "Écriture féminine
Écriture féminine
Écriture féminine, literally "women's writing," more closely, the inscription of the female body and female difference in language and text, is a strain of feminist literary theory that originated in France in the early 1970s and included foundational theorists such as Hélène Cixous, Monique...
". Books which also belong to this movement are; Cercoeur (1975) and Maternité (1979).
In her books, Chawaf explores the theme of a mother-daughter relationship and attempts to realize the potential of words to free the female unconscious, to de-intellectualize her body and give voice to an inner experience.
Chantal Chawaf work on birth and life giving leads in her last books to an ecocriticsm of the contemporary society.
She has travelled frequently in the United States where her work is translated and studied in universities.
She is the author of many novels, one play and two essays, and is editor at a French publisher.
Non fictional writings
- Le corps et le verbe, la langue en sens inverse (essayEssayAn essay is a piece of writing which is often written from an author's personal point of view. Essays can consist of a number of elements, including: literary criticism, political manifestos, learned arguments, observations of daily life, recollections, and reflections of the author. The definition...
), 1992, Presses de la Renaissance
- L'Erotique des mots, with Régine DeforgesRégine DeforgesRégine Deforges is a French author, editor, director, and playwright.Born in Montmorillon, Vienne, she is sometimes called the "High Priestess of French erotic literature." Deforges was the first woman to own and operate a publishing house in France...
, 2004, Editions du Rocher
Translated books
- Redemption, translated by Monique F. Nagem, 1992, Dalkey Archive Press
- Mother Love, Mother Earth, translated by M. F. Nagem, 1993, Garland Publishing
- Warmth : a bloodsong in "Plays by French and Francophone Women" ; translated by par C.P. Makward et J.G. Miller, 1994, University of Michigan Press: 233-246
- Fées de Toujours, with Jinane Chawaf ; translated in Arabic by Samia Esber, 2000, Ministère de la Culture de Syrie, Damas
Further reading
- Marianne Bosshard, Chantal Chawaf (Rodopi, 1999)
- Rodgers, Catherine,Gender in Modern France: Society in Transition - edited by Malcolm Cook, Grace Davie (Routledge, 1999)
- Monique Saigal, Ecriture: Lien De Mere a Fille Chez Jeanne Hyvrard, Chantal Chawaf Et Annie Ernaux, (Rodopi, 2000)
- Robson, Kathryn,"The female vampire: Chantal Chawaf's melancholic Autofiction" in "Women's writing in contemporary France: New Writers, New Literatures in the 1990s", directed by Rye, Gill & Worton, Michael; (Manchester University Press, 2002)
- Coward, David, History of French Literature: From Chanson de Geste to Cinema;(Blackwell Publishing, 2003)
- Vicki Mistacco, Les Femmes et la tradition littéraire- 2eme partie , Yale University, 2006
- Frédérique Chevillot and Anna Norris, Des Femmes écrivent la guerre, Editions complicité, 2007
- Collectif, Génération MLF 1968-2008 , Ed. des Femmes- Antoinette Fouque, 2008