{"title":"The Novel in a Corset: Maupassant, Monsters, and the Short Story","authors":"Sara Phenix","doi":"10.1353/ncf.2021.0038","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"Abstract:This study situates Maupassant's short story \"La Mère aux monstres\" in the context of nineteenth-century debates about teratology, fashion, and literary form. I trace the evolution of the corset's social meaning over the course of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries as it evolved from a protective (and even remedial) garment to one that came to be associated with female and fetal deformity. The eponymous character of Maupassant's tale exemplifies traits that nineteenth-century dress reformers associated with tight-lacing women: venality, deformity, and corrupt reproductivity. Maupassant's story thus reflects post-war cultural fears about dénatalité and degeneration. The corset also serves as a metaphor for Maupassant's artistic production as a short story writer. As the corset is the compressive creator of beauty and deformity in \"La Mère aux monstres,\" the formal strictures of the short story also create beauty and deformity—Maupassant's literary achievement and the monstrous characters in his story, respectively.","PeriodicalId":42524,"journal":{"name":"NINETEENTH-CENTURY FRENCH STUDIES","volume":"50 1","pages":"119 - 134"},"PeriodicalIF":0.1000,"publicationDate":"2021-10-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"3","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"NINETEENTH-CENTURY FRENCH STUDIES","FirstCategoryId":"1085","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1353/ncf.2021.0038","RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"0","JCRName":"LITERATURE, ROMANCE","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 3
Abstract
Abstract:This study situates Maupassant's short story "La Mère aux monstres" in the context of nineteenth-century debates about teratology, fashion, and literary form. I trace the evolution of the corset's social meaning over the course of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries as it evolved from a protective (and even remedial) garment to one that came to be associated with female and fetal deformity. The eponymous character of Maupassant's tale exemplifies traits that nineteenth-century dress reformers associated with tight-lacing women: venality, deformity, and corrupt reproductivity. Maupassant's story thus reflects post-war cultural fears about dénatalité and degeneration. The corset also serves as a metaphor for Maupassant's artistic production as a short story writer. As the corset is the compressive creator of beauty and deformity in "La Mère aux monstres," the formal strictures of the short story also create beauty and deformity—Maupassant's literary achievement and the monstrous characters in his story, respectively.
摘要:本研究将莫泊桑的短篇小说《La m re aux monstres》置于19世纪关于畸形学、时尚和文学形式的争论中。我追溯了束身衣在十八和十九世纪的社会意义演变，它从一种保护(甚至是补救)服装演变成一种与女性和胎儿畸形有关的服装。莫泊桑故事中的同名人物体现了19世纪服装改革家与紧身系带女性相关的特征:贪财、畸形和腐败的生殖能力。因此，莫泊桑的故事反映了战后文化对变性和堕落的恐惧。紧身胸衣也隐喻了莫泊桑作为短篇小说作家的艺术创作。正如在《怪物之躯》中，紧身胸衣是美和畸形的压缩创造者，短篇小说的形式限制也分别创造了美和畸形——莫泊桑的文学成就和他故事中的怪物人物。
期刊介绍：
Nineteenth-Century French Studies provides scholars and students with the opportunity to examine new trends, review promising research findings, and become better acquainted with professional developments in the field. Scholarly articles on all aspects of nineteenth-century French literature and criticism are invited. Published articles are peer reviewed to ensure scholarly integrity. This journal has an extensive book review section covering a variety of disciplines. Nineteenth-Century French Studies is published twice a year in two double issues, fall/winter and spring/summer.
京公网安备 11010802042870号
京ICP备2023020795号-1
分享
求助内容：
应助结果提醒方式：
扫码关注我们
