Episode 23|2 : Men

Dévorer le tabou: la révolution à travers l’acte de manger – Les Bookworms

Dans cet épisode, nous discutons le livre de Lauren Malka – Mangeuses : Histoire de celle qui dévorent, savourent ou se privent a l’excès. Nous explorons les expériences universelles et personnelles lie à l’acte de manger, passant de la honte et de la culpabilité à la célébration et à la joie. Nous examinons les pressions politique et sociétales qui ont contrôle et critique le corps de femmes.  Et surtout, nous célébrons l’acte de rébellion de s’aimer tel que nous sommes et de savourer chaque bouchée de ce confit de canard !

1. Dévorer le tabou: la révolution à travers l’acte de manger 31:23
2. Searching for Justice: Proust and the Dreyfus Affair 40:50
3. Through the Pages of Time 55:01
4. In Search of Lost Podcasts: Les Bookworms Revival 28:08
5. 2 Down 5 to Go: Reflections on Volume II of Proust 30:07

Overview

In a way, this is a modern Hollywood love story that explores culture, identity, race, longing, and rejection. And yet, Darrieussecq weaves a complex story illustrating how the colonial imagination continues to shape conscious and unconscious thought. In an allegorical literary style, she plays with themes found in the Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad to construct a psychological discussion on race, ethnicity, national identity, social expectations, and intersectionality of today’s modern times. Using timely and accurate references, it becomes clear that societal norms have not fully changed and the reader, like the characters in the novel need to confront reality.

Country

France, USA, and Congo

Overarching Themes

1. Cultural Identity and Fluidity
2. Seeing color/race
3. “Le problème de l’Afrique”
4. Institutional and Systemic Racism

How does this book question the idea of the Francophonie? (Does it go against the grain? Does it stay stereotypical?) 

This book is a critique on French racism and the colonial imagination that still remains. By having a white female protagonist, the perceived “White” misconceptions are placed upon Solange. However, Solange doesn’t exactly fit this role as she herself is an outsider in America and she considers herself an outsider in France as her parents were from Senegal, but she grew up in the Basque region. Therefore, the book exemplifies the complexity of colonial imagination within the French identity and how it is very much present in French society today. So, I think it expands the Francophonie and pushes back on the normative Francophonie.