Fictions of Pleasure: The Putain Memoirs of Prerevolutionary France

During the libertine literary tradition of eighteenth-century France, a dozen memoir novels emerged that featured female libertines who embraced sex work as a means of escaping patriarchal control and pursuing pleasure, wealth, and personal independence. The heroines in these novels proudly declared themselves prostitutes or putains and used their desire, skills, and network of female friends to exploit, humiliate, and financially ruin wealthy and powerful men. They challenged contemporary notions of womanhood and exposed the injustices of ancien-régime France.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 226 pages
Publication date: 08 January 2024
Publisher: University of Delaware Press

The libertine literary tradition of eighteenth-century France gave rise to a remarkable collection of memoir novels, featuring a dozen courageous female libertines who embraced sex work as a means of escaping the patriarchal control of fathers and husbands. These anonymous publications showcased the heroines proudly declaring themselves as prostitutes, or putains, and utilizing their desire, professional skills, and network of female friends to exploit, humiliate, and financially ruin wealthy and powerful men. Through their pursuit of desires, these putains challenged prevailing notions of womanhood and exposed the injustices of ancien-régime France. These novels not only offered an appealing libertine utopia, where libertine women could enjoy the same benefits as their male counterparts, but also introduced entirely new perspectives on systems of power, gender, and sexuality. The genre flourished until the French Revolution brought an end to it.

Weight: 322g
Dimension: 228 x 153 x 14 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781644533239