Ancients, Moderns, Gender: Marie-Jeanne L’Héritier’s ‘Le Parnasse reconnoissant, ou, Le triomphe de Madame Des-Houlières’

Abstract

This article examines the relationship between the Querelle des anciens et des modernes and the Querelle des femmes as it was articulated in ‘Le Parnasse reconnoissant, ou, Le triomphe de Madame Des-Houlières’ by Marie-Jeanne L’Héritier. Published in 1694 as a riposte to Boileau’s misogynist Satire x , the text contributes to the tradition of defences of women. However, L’Héritier deliberately inserts her rejoinder into the Querelle des anciens et des modernes ; in so doing, she responds to another work by Boileau, the Dialogue des héros de roman . After establishing how different quarrels and concerns combine in Boileau’s two texts, this article argues that L’Héritier consciously exploited the platform of ‘Ancients and Moderns’ to discuss women’s cultural practice. While this confirms the critical view that the two quarrels were interlinked, it also reveals a hierarchy of quarrels in which the Querelle des anciens et des modernes had greater capital; as such it proved useful for a woman entering the literary field. L’Héritier’s strategies demonstrate the complexities of being a Modern woman writer, despite the typical alignment of these identities, and invite us to examine how this contemporary hierarchization of quarrels has shaped their recent reception.

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