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Reviews tagging 'Racism'
The Woman of the Wolf and Other Stories by Karla Jay, Renée Vivien, Yvonne M. Klein
2 reviews
morebedsidebooks's review against another edition
2.5
Curious English speakers can access in translation several editions of the work of Renée Vivien a British-American writer, birth name Pauline Mary Tarn, who loved Paris and chose French to express herself at the beginning of the 20th century. Most recently the prose collection Woman of the Wolf, originally published in 1904 and first translated to English back in 1983, offers fabled short works in a new 2020 edition by indie UK publisher Editions Gallic as part of a ‘Revolutionary Women’ series.
I prefer Renée Vivien’s contributions as a poetess much more than her other examples of writing, however related each form may be.
I prefer Renée Vivien’s contributions as a poetess much more than her other examples of writing, however related each form may be.
See my blog for an in-depth review.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Misogyny
Moderate: Death, Racism, Rape, Antisemitism, and Murder
Minor: Pedophilia, Slavery, Animal death, Alcohol, and Confinement
actualspinster's review
2.5
this was an interesting collection but i didnt really ~like it.... but as a sapphic paris enthusiast i did enjoy learning more about [and finally being able to read] renée vivien. i did think karla jay's intro to the collection was pretty trite especially in its attempts to mold viven into a feminist icon... like she's cool and all bc she's gay but like she's a complicated an sometimes gross figure & i dont want to look up to her, i dont need to look up to her to find her work + life interesting. and jay also calls the racism of vivien within these stories [reader, there is lots of racism (especially anti-native racism i would say?)!!!] "unwitting/unconcious" which is like laughable at best lol. i mean im pretty sure there is a lot of work around the connection between the way that those who identified w 'inversion'/sexological discourses of the time around queerness and deep anti-blackness & racism in how they even conceptualise & represent dissident sexuality.... and i think you can absolutely find the beginnings of that in vivien's work too..
most of the stories are rly short which is good or bad depending on the story! i think my faves were the friendship of women (<-- made me cry bc of naomi + ruth), prince charming & the sisters of silence (<-- silent queer nuns :))))
most of the stories are rly short which is good or bad depending on the story! i think my faves were the friendship of women (<-- made me cry bc of naomi + ruth), prince charming & the sisters of silence (<-- silent queer nuns :))))
Content Warnings
Graphic: Rape
Moderate: Racial slurs and Racism
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