C’est lundi au Vx-Co : Olympe de Gouges – Autour de la déclaration des droits de la femme et de la citoyenne

“Olympe came to writing via the theatre, and never quit after this point. She had a zest for it rather than predispositions, although she did not lack aptitude. She was easily inspired but had trouble when it came to expression. Her lack of training, which deprived her from wielding a refined writing style, was a burden for her. Most of the time, she said her thoughts out loud and her secretaries transposed them into writing, which was a common process. Such a process explains the fervour of her short (usually not over four-page-long) pieces. Those were replete with the oral, exclamative, eruptive, vibrant traces of her emotions, full of her own indignation. She used the “I”, took sides, acted it out. Her work thus carries an autobiographical dimension; it was produced day to day, without being organised, depending on the events during which she addressed audiences: short articles, columns, brochures, or posters hung up in the streets of Paris […].
Her name became known to Parisians who could read. “Gouges is at it again”, they smirked while making out the content of her big-character posters. “I have been relentlessly writing for five years, my useful projects and benevolent remarks are all over France, the country’s enemies cannot take any more of them.”

Michelle Perrot, Des femmes rebelles (Rebel Women)

ONLINE DEC 7 AT 8.30 P.M.