The art of feminizing literary history: Madeleine de Scudéry literary historian

Madeleine de Scudéry wrote two texts which, by their very nature, are the stuff of literary history: “Le Songe d’Hésiode” (Clélie, VIII, 1658) and a conversation on French poetry, “De la poésie française. . . ” (Conversations nouvelles sur divers sujets, 1684). However, these two texts, which a priori include men, clearly highlight the role of women, as authors but also as sources of inspiration for literary works and as their protectors and intended recipients. Between the lines of these texts is the desire to establish a “poetic genealogy”, a way of validating women’s literary legitimacy.