Pregnant fictions : childbirth and the fairy tale in early-modern France / Holly Tucker.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Tucker, Holly.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Fairy tales--France--History and criticism.

Fairy tales.

Pregnancy.

Folklore.

France.

Pregnancy--Folklore.

Childbirth--Folklore.

Childbirth.

Pregnancy in literature.

French literature--17th century--History and criticism.

French literature.

French literature--18th century--History and criticism.

Physical Description:

xv, 213 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm

Place of Publication:

Detroit : Wayne State University Press, [2003]

Summary:

How male medical authorities and female literary authors struggled to describe the inner workings of the unseen -- and competed to shape public understanding of it -- is the focus of this engaging work by Holly Tucker. In illuminating the gender politics underlying dramatic changes in reproductive theory and practice, Tucker shows just how tenuous the boundaries of scientific "fact" and marvelous fictions were in early modern France. On the literary front, Tucker argues, women used the fairy tale to rethink the biology of childbirth and the sociopolitical uses to which it had been put. She shows that in references to midwives, infertility, sex selection, and embryological theories, fairy-tale writers experimented with alternative ways of understanding pregnancy. In so doing they suggested new ways in which to envision women, knowledge, and power in both the public and the private spheres.

Contents:

Embarkment

Uterine legends

Fairy tales and the facts of life

Fairies and midwives

It's a girl!

Like mother, like daughter

The chicken and the egg

Mal de mère.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 185-199) and index.

ISBN:

0814330428

OCLC:

51223674