Birthing Bodies in Early Modern France

This study investigates "...the birthing body--its currency, its power, its multiple meanings across genres and gender..." writes Read (French, Bates College). He provides an introduction and then presents six chapters that he wrote to stand individually. Their titles suggest their themes: Spying at the Lying-In," in which he discusses Les Coquets de l'accouchee; Staging the Competent Midwife (the royal birth stories of Francois Rabelais and Louis Boursier); Touching and Telling (gendered variations on a gynecological theme; Assimilation with a Vengeance (maternity without women in male French Renaissance lyric); Unstable Bodies (birthing monstrosities in early modern France); and Strange Fellows in Bed (exotic men's postpartum blues). Annotation c2011 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Kirk D. Read is an Associate Professor of French in the Department of Romance Languages and Literatures at Bates College, USA.