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Introduction
“FrenchFeminism”“preventsFrenchfeministsfromreferringtothemselves
asFrenchfeminists”andoffersthem“animagethatisprofoundlyirritating”
(DELPHY16).Delphy,amaterialistfeministherself,complainsthattheso-called
FrenchFeminismdoesnotexistoutsideofthedebatetakingplaceintheUSA,
whosesoleaimistocritiqueitsownessentialistprinciples(thatmasculinity
andfemininityareuniversalqualitiesandexistindependentlyofcultures;that
onecandifferentiatebetweenfeminineandmasculinefeaturesofcharacter;that
psycheprecedescultureandthusisindependentofsociety;andthatsexualdif-
ferenceistheonlysignificantdifferenceamongpeoplebecauseitdetermines
anyphysicalorpsychologicaldifferences).
Allinall,“FrenchFeminism”seemstobeahighlyambivalenttermwhich
originatesincommentariesonFrenchornon-Frenchauthors(Freud,Lacan,
Derrida)writtenwithinAnglo-Americanuniversities.Ambivalentornot,how-
ever,“FrenchFeminism”broughtseriouschangestoAnglo-Americanacademia:
throughtherejectionofitspremises,genderstudiestheoristswereabletore-
readFrenchtheoryandestablishtheirowntheoreticalprinciples.
Forthisreason,speakingofgenderintheFrenchcontextleadstoconfusion,
aswellasafeelingofslightembarrassment.Whywouldanyonediscussgender
now,whenithasalreadylostitssubversivepower?Doingétudesdegenrenow
mayactuallyseemlikeastepbackwards,whoseaimcanonlybetore-vision
Frenchfeministtextsthatinspiredthedevelopmentofthefield.Yet,whenone
bearsinmindthatthesetextshaveoftenbeenneglectedbytheFrenchacademia
1withitshumanitiesdepartmentsfocusingmostlyonthehistoryofliterature
1étudesdegenrecanalsobeperceivedasachance:theyallowforabetterun-
derstandingoftheiroriginwhichis,toquoteDerrida,alwaysalreadydifferent.
WhileconceivingtheoriginalcallforpapersforthepresentissueofRomani-
caSilesiana,ourmaingoalhadbeentoputaspecialstressontheintellectual
phenomenondescribedbyEdwardSAIDas“travellingtheories”(226).Infact,as
theeditorsoriginatingfromtwodifferentintellectualbackgroundsandcurrently
workinginthesameDepartmentofCanadianStudiesandLiteraryTranslation,
wehavealwaysbeenstruckbytheeffectsofthecirculationoftextsandideas
betweenFranceandtheUSA,whichclearlyshowsthatspeakingoftextsbythe
sameauthorisnotnecessarilyspeakingofthesametexts.Atthesametime,we
werewonderingwhethertherenewalofgenderstudiesinFrancewenthandin
handwithasimilarphenomenoninotherRomancecountries,thatisItalyand
Spain.Judginguponagreatnumberofsubmissionstothe8thissueofRomanica
Silesiana,wearecertainlycontentedthatgenderstudiesoutofEnglish-speaking
academeshavebecomeasubjectofaheateddiscussion.Forthefirsttimein
history,infact,thearticleswillbepublishedintwovolumes.Thepresent,first
volumeofGenderedConstructionscomprisestextsinEnglishandFrenchand
isdividedintosixchapters,whereasthesecondvolume(tobepublishedshortly)
consistsofessaysinSpanishandItalian.
