From the Old Continent to the New World: Lesbian Poetic Gender in Modern French and Francophone Literature

My dissertation examines the poetry of Renée Vivien (1877–1909), exploring how she reclaims classical motifs and reimagines language to craft a distinctly lesbian literary voice. With the support of this grant, I will expand my research to trace a broader lineage of lesbian poetic expression in modern French and Francophone literature. I will analyze works by writers such as Violette Leduc, Monique Wittig, Souad Labbize, Nina Bouraoui, and Fatima Daas, whose texts engage similar themes of gender, sexuality, and poetic form. Archival research in France will illuminate their contributions to queer literary history and transnational feminist discourse.