ABSTRACT
The written documents that record the lives of women in eighteenth-century France provide the materials for a new consideration of the literary genre of forensic storytelling. The metamorphosis of literary tradition from historical testimony to fictitious storytelling owes much to oral tradition but also to the many briefs and legal documents dictated to scribes and lawyers and “authored” by those whose fates were decided by judges and other authorities. Marie-Madeleine Bonafon demonstrated literary mastery in her well-aimed strike against the king as well as in her strategic letters sent from confinement. Geneviève Gravelle’s writing reflects the reality of her mistreatment and her consequent unraveling and feelings of helplessness. We see through the chaos of her vast volume of letters that her true recourse was her capacity to move readers emotionally. By refusing arranged marriage and converting to Catholicism, Glucka-Angélique Schwab resisted the patriarchal, rabbinical authority of her community. These stories signal the importance of authentic, material objects in reconstructing stories from the past, as they provide greater context and significance. By continuously redefining literary studies and especially by considering the actual product and/or object in its material context, we gain greater insight into women’s lived experience and the first waves of feminist thought.
