The Changing Images of Simone de Beauvoir in Norway

Abstract

The ways in which the French author and philosopher Simone de Beauvoir (1908–1986) has been portrayed in Norwegian print media have undergone significant changes since she was first introduced to the Norwegian reading public in the 1940s. But how—and why—did her image evolve? This article explores the interplay between the words and phrases used to depict de Beauvoir in Norwegian print media and her seminal essay Le deuxième sexe (1949) and different translations in Norway. By analysing how de Beauvoir is depicted, I aim to produce a better understanding of her multiple and changing images in Norway, and to show how they may be related to the different translations of her best-known work and to her changing status. The transformation of de Beauvoir—from being considered outdated and dependent on Sartre during the 1940s and 1950s, to being highly valued and recognized as an author and memorialist, significant philosopher, and popular feminist icon at the turn of the millennium—is partly a result of the different translations of her major work. At the same time, it could be claimed that her changing image prepared the ground for the translations.     

The Sense of a Life: Re-assessing Simone de Beauvoir

Violently differing views on Simone de Beauvoir clash—how not? Our own obsessional reading of and about her is all the more enhanced by her look and manner(s) of dressing, and her affairs, but, above all, by her towering intelligence and pioneering spirit. This piece tries to deal with as many aspects of her being and seeming and appearance to others, as critics and as readers, as behoves such a vital spirit.     

In search of Simone de Beauvoir: A review essay

Toril Moi, Simone de Beauvoir. The Making of an Intellectual Woman. 324 pp. Oxford and Cambridge: Blackwell, 1994.

Margaret A. Simons, ed., Feminist Interpretations of Simone de Beauvoir. 324 pp. University Park, PA: Pennsylvania State University Press, 1995.

Eva Lundgren‐Gothlin, Sex and Existence. Simone de Beauvoir's “The Second Sex” (English text revised from Kön och Existens, 1991). 329 pp. London: Athlone, 1996.     

Omelettes and broken eggs: Politics in the fictional works of Simone de Beauvoir

Simone de Beauvoir's fictional works of the 1940s and 1950s reflect the author's personal struggle to weigh her lifelong commitment to her writing against her growing conviction about the need to participate in political action in order to bring about a socialist society free of class distinction and privelege. Her female protagonists mirror both her reluctance to devote the necessary hours to the meetings and committee assignments which are an integral part of the political process and her experience of the euphoria of group action during and immediately after World War II. In moving chronologically through Beauvoir's novels and play, the reader finds a progressive disillusionment with the effectiveness of political activism which in no way diminishes the author's expressed determination to opt for the U.S.S.R. over the U.S.A., for socialism over capitalism. Just as her autobiography devotes many pages to explanations of Jean-Paul Sartre's political activities and the rationale behind them, the women in her fiction generally relate to the political arena by listening and reacting to decisions made by men. Several of them, however, go beyond the role assigned to them by the male protagonists to achieve a political identity of their own.     

Women's power in heterosexual sex

The ‘male sexual drive’ discourse sees men as sexually insatiable and male sexuality as naturally an uncontrollable drive. Feminist analysis denies its ‘naturalness’ and its constitution as a ‘drive’, seeing it instead in terms of the power conferred on men in patriarchy. However, seeing the penis/male power as monolithic still ends up casting women as victims. Instead this paper looks at actual heterosexual relationships and examines ‘power’ as a more complex process of negotiation. Heterosexual women often fail to recognize that men need relationships; and that women have sources of power in relationships with them; and the paper argues that this occurs through gender-differentiated positions in discourses such as the ‘have/hold’ discourse as well as the ‘male sexual drive’ discourse.     

The teacher's tale: On teaching women's studies

The teaching of Women's Studies is beset with difficulties as much as rewards: in this brief article some reflections are offered on the experience of being a teacher on a Women's Studies course. It is suggested that teaching Women's Studies often differs from teaching more conventional disciplines, but that this offers a chance for academic innovation.     

The image of women's studies

We are three feminists, one Australian, one American and one English, who surveyed the image of Women's Studies in the sphere of Adult Education. This article gives the results of our survey; it illustrates both the problems and the potential of the image of Women's Studies in Adult Education in London—and by implication throughout the UK. Each of us is involved in teaching several Adult Education classes in a variety of subjects, not all of them within the sphere of Women's Studies. We polled our classes to assess their image of Women's Studies, finding it largely negative except in those classes specifically titled ‘Women's Studies’. More depressing, however, was our poll of administrators and staff in Adult Education and of non-feminist community groups of women, the ‘average’ women in the UK. Finally we query whether the problem is one of image or name or whether it is more deeply rooted in English misogyny, a heritage of patriarchy.     

Women's studies in the workers' educational association

The following is a brief account of the formation of a local Women's Studies Branch of the Workers' Educational Association in the South of England, including a discussion of the potential of the WEA for encouraging the growth of Women's Studies.     

Varieties of women's studies

The distinction between ‘autonomous’ Women's Studies programs and ‘integrationist’ projects as adumbrated by Bowles and Duelli Klein is a false one; in fact, this is all part of the same work. Several factors (funding sources, publicity, terminology, administrators' attitudes and the relationship of curriculum change programs to the disciplines) have made it seem as though these are different kinds of work. This paper argues that we should try to see our varied efforts as complementary and some of our differences as due to necessary strategic choices.     

The impact of the women's decade on women of Sri Lanka

The International Women's Year awakened many to the position of women in Sri Lanka. The mass media flooded with discussions on women's issues; meetings and seminars were held. Women's organisations gained new strength with the grants placed at their disposal by foreign voluntary organisations for development projects for women. Women's seminars and conferences abroad increased significantly and more Sri Lankan women attended them. However, this is only a beginning: Sri Lankan women's organisations are composed largely of middle-class women—feminist groups must strive to reach all women in Sri Lanka.     

The woman in the moon: Women's studies and the academy

This paper argues that Women's Studies has received a ‘bad feminist press’, and out of my experience as a ‘student’ on a part-time MA in Women's Studies at the University of Kent I want to encourage a more positive reappraisal of the relationship between feminism and the academy. It is therefore neither an apologia nor a eulogy; instead it seeks to show something of the complexity and tension involved in feminist intellectual work in an elitist environment; at the same time it is a firm statement of the value of being there, making the revolution, bringing the ‘woman in the moon’ down to earth as well as endorsing her visionary and inspiring example.     

Women who do and women who don't,join the women's movement

Twenty-four women from five countries were asked to discuss their attitudes towards the women's movement. Half of this group were feminists and half were antifeminists. They ranged in background over class, race, age and sexual preference, and their comments formed the body of the book Women Who Do and Women Who Don't, Join the Women's Movement. This paper begins by discussing the women's movement as a social movement, its origins and the major issues involved in its struggle. The antifeminist ‘backlash’ is then analysed and its platforms clarified. The contributors' comments are summarised, bringing the issues alive, creating a diverse patterns of women's interpretations of ‘being female’. The issues of contention such as men, motherhood and the family are discussed, and the bases of the differences between feminists and antifeminists are analysed. Surprisingly, similarities between the two groups also emerge, particularly in terms of their experience of ‘self’. I conclude the paper by discussing why these splits among women occur, why one woman becomes a feminist while another is an antifeminist, and what this means for the future of women and of feminism.     

Women's studies and men's careers: How the ‘social problem’ of women in education maintained the academic status of men in the 1970s

This paper investigates the changing status of research of women and education during the 1970s. All articles published in the American Educational Research Journal, the Journal of Educational Psychology, Child Development, Sociology of Education, and the Journal of Educational Measurement from 1973 through 1978 are included in this study. A total of 2239 research articles are identified and examined for article content and authorship. Of these articles, 13.5 per cent deal with women and education, 15.9 per cent are authored by women solely and 28.0 per cent are co-authored by women and men. There is a significant increase in the number of articles on women and education, and it appears that proportionately more of these articles are written by women; however, there is no proportional change in women's authorship of (1) total articles written by women, (2) articles on women and education, or (3) articles on topics other than women and education. It is concluded that women and education became a legitimate topic for scholarly inquiry during the 1970s, but that this increased legitimacy did not benefit women specifically.     

Uneasy freedom: Women's experiences of contraception

This article discusses the effect of available contraceptive methods upon women's lives. It quotes extensively from letters received from women who answered a press appeal for information. The main argument is that contraception is by no means the trouble free panacea it is often assumed to be. For many women, contraception can bring considerable mental and physical side- effects—pain, anxiety, discomfort. Women also have to deal with the patriarchal attitudes of the medical profession and—often unsympathetic—partners. The women's accounts show how experience of contraception can be a radicalising experience—feeding the beginnings of a feminist awareness.The article was written before the latest evidence of a connection between the pill and breast cancer was made known.     

The history of women in science: A women's studies course

Women have always done scientific work but have rarely received the recognition they deserved. As a result most of us learn, from elementary school on through university, that science is and always has been the province of men. Women are seldom mentioned in history of science courses and their contributions are often attributed to male scientists. This paper describes a lower division course in the history of women in science, offered jointly through the Women's Studies Program and the Biology Department at Portland State University. It includes a discussion of the topics and issues covered in the course and the types of questions raised about women scientists. Examples are given to illustrate historic trends and some of our experiences in the classroom are described. A representative bibliography provides an introduction to various aspects of the subject.     

Women's studies: Sinking and swimming in the mainstream

After the necessary background pages, this article becomes a series of warnings about integration efforts that replace rather then supplement Women's Studies.     

Gender and colonialism: Women's organisation under the Raj

The popular media have recently born witness to a renewed interest in India under British rule. This article examines the portrayal of Indian liberation struggles in two of the more serious expositions, The Jewel in the Crown and Gandhi, questioning the political implications of this portrayal. It shows that they both neglect the crucial role played by women in the maintenance and demise of the Raj. We argue that women's contribution was so significant that its omission constitutes a misrepresentation of history that can fairly be termed revisionist. We suggest that the reason for this process of mystification lies in the relevance of India's fight for national liberation and sexual equality in the early twentieth century, to present day struggles against imperialism and male domination, which are two of the most explosive issues affecting the modern Western world.     

Sell-out or challenge? The contradiction of a masters in women's studies

This is an account of planning a part-time Masters degree in Women's Studies at a British Polytechnic. We explain how we obtained approval from the necessary authorities for the course, and discuss the conflict between—on the one hand—the need to conform to these institutional procedures in order to get the course established, and—on the other hand—the desire to keep faith with the political origins of Women's Studies in the Women's Movement. We discuss a number of major issues which have confronted the members of the committee responsible for planning this course including the struggle to demonstrate within the college the academic legitimacy of WS; decisions about what kind of course to offer students—a multidisciplinary or interdisciplinary curriculum, with or without optional elements—and how to defend these proposals during the lengthy process of seeking formal approval; the institutional politics of launching the course; and anticipated problems associated with the eventual teaching of the course.     

A brief overview of the development of women's studies in the UK

This paper provides a brief overview of Women's Studies (WS) in the UK, drawing attention to its greatest expansion in adult education and, in general, non-degree granting areas of education. It further argues that this impressive diversity, at present, contributes to the invisibility of WS in the UK but that, potentially, the foundation of a National Women's Studies Association could make both the women who do WS, and WS itself, visible and powerful.