ABSTRACT
Both Guilleragues and Diderot asserted that their books were the work of actual nuns, and both assertions were believed to a greater or lesser degree and length of time. In the case of Les Lettres portugaises, the hypothesis of a Portuguese nun who wrote her own letters has even been resurrected recently.2 Why are such claims accepted? One reason may be that the narratives evoke largely traditional images of female subjectivity; another is simply that the public wants to believe in their reality. If it is titillating to enter into a fictional convent cell, it is even more exciting to penetrate a real one. And as we will see, this titillation can affect the writer as well as-if not more than-the reader. In addition to the fun of successfully carrying off a literary prank, the authors’ motives mirror those of the reader’s: the excitement of invading a female setting and persona is heightened by a total identification with that persona as a quasi-real woman. This chapter will analyze the play of desire and fantasy within the conventual and narrative structures the writers have created. It will also explore the meshing of erotic and ideological issues surrounding the convent.
