Colette with the others The preface as self-promotion

Of the few prefaces written by Colette, only five are dedicated to other women writers. Encouraging her friends to take up the pen, she offers in return an introductory text that portrays the friend or herself to the detriment of the content of the book, which is often neglected. The preface appears to be the discursive space where Colette invents a mise en scène of the professional writer through a dialogue with aesthetics in which she recognises her work.