Fashioning Masculinity: National Identity and Language in the Eighteenth Century
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The fashioning of English gentlemen in the eighteenth century was modelled on French practices of sociability and conversation. Michele Cohen shows how at the same time, the English constructed their cultural relations with the French as relations of seduction and desire. She argues that this produced anxiety on the part of the English over the effect of French practices on English masculinity and the virtue of English women.
By the end of the century, representing the French as an effeminate other was integral to the forging of English, masculine national identity. Michele Cohen examines the derogation of women and the French which accompanied the emergent 'masculine' English identity. While taciturnity became emblematic of the English gentleman's depth of mind and masculinity, sprightly conversation was seen as representing the shallow and inferior intellect of English women and the French of both sexes.
Michele Cohen also demonstrates how visible evidence of girls' verbal and language learning skills served only to construe the female mind as inferior. She argues that this perception still has currency today.
By the end of the century, representing the French as an effeminate other was integral to the forging of English, masculine national identity. Michele Cohen examines the derogation of women and the French which accompanied the emergent 'masculine' English identity. While taciturnity became emblematic of the English gentleman's depth of mind and masculinity, sprightly conversation was seen as representing the shallow and inferior intellect of English women and the French of both sexes.
Michele Cohen also demonstrates how visible evidence of girls' verbal and language learning skills served only to construe the female mind as inferior. She argues that this perception still has currency today.
Format:Hardcover
Language:English
ISBN:0415107369
ISBN13:9780415107365
Release Date:October 1996
Publisher:Routledge
Length:192 Pages
Weight:0.87 lbs.
Dimensions:0.7" x 5.7" x 8.8"
Related Subjects
Criticism & Theory England English Literature Europe European France Gay & Lesbian Gender Studies History History & Criticism Humanities Ireland Literary Criticism Literary Criticism & Collections Literature Literature & Fiction Modern (16th-21st Centuries) Politics & Social Sciences Scotland Social Science Social Sciences Wales Women in History World LiteratureCustomer Reviews
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