The French Renaissance
poet Louise Labé is one of the most striking and influential
women writers of early modern Europe. In her broad-ranging
volume of prose and poetic works (1555), Labé transforms
the position of woman in Renaissance discourse from an object
to a subject of erotic and artistic desire and privileges
the notion of desire itself as a central problem for literary
and psychic exploration.
Deborah Lesko Baker presents the dramatic creation and evolution
of female subjectivity in Labé as a passionate quest
for internal selfhood made possible both through authentic
self-study and self-expression and through authentic connection
and exchange with others in the real world. In so doing she
analyzes how the development of the female subject coincides
with an ongoing interrogation of the inherited models of the
Petrarchan lyric tradition.
"This first comprehensive study of Louise Labé's
Oeuvres since Karine Berriot's...more than ten years
ago will be welcomed both by French Renaissance specialists
and nonfrancophone readers of women writers of that period....
Baker's book is well-presented, easy to follow, clearly
organized, attractive by its topic, and keeps drawing the
reader's attention in by its minute, analytic qualities
balancing out some of the more general notions.... The text
is not overloaded with translations of long passages, clearly
referred to in the text and easy to locate in the appendix....
a useful index.... All in all, I agree with Francois Rigolot
that Baker demonstrates a thorough knowledge of Renaissance
criticsm and that her critical acumen is impressive. Though
the book addresses nonfrancophone readers, it also constitutes
an excellent point of reference and reflection for Labé
specialists as well as an effective teaching aid for professors
of courses on early modern French women writers." Brigitte
Roussel, Sixteenth-Century Journal
For the full review see Sixteenth-Century Journal 28.3 (1997):
997-99.
"...a unique and creative work, full of erudition, which
constitutes a very engaging and informative addition to Renaissance
scholarship." Anne-Marie Bourbon, Renaissance Quarterly
For the full review see Renaissance Quarterly 51.3 (Autumn 1998):
992-93.
"Not a book for the student coming to Labé for the first
time, this work provides excellent insight into the workings of the
mind of a Renaissance woman." C.E. Campbell, Choice
For the full review see Choice 34 (1997): 801.
"Baker gives a graceful and intriguing but hard analysis
of the superior value of Louise Labé's Oeuvres,
... This study is very important, because it opens in a
welcome, new way to modern readers --both expert and neophyte,
both women and men--the poet's cherished, centuries' old
poetic legacy; because it adds a sophisticated reading of
Labé's complete works; and, because it adds substantially
to the discussion of feminine subjectivity in psychological
and literary terms." Christine Clark-Evans, Comparative
Literature Studies
For the full review see Comparative Literature Studies 34.3
(1997): 282-84.
"Baker's study of Labé's work is invigorating and thoughful,
and amplifies one's enjoyment and understanding of her writing.... this
densely argued book is very rewarding." Liz Guild, French Studies
For the full review, see French Studies 52.1 (1998): 80-81.
"Her intelligent reading of the texts and her interpretation
of Labe's reworking of Petrarch are convincing and produce
a much more feminine picture of the poetess than in previous
portrayals.... a thought-provoking study (... there is a
useful bibliography and index) that will be read with interest
and profit by those who specialize in sixteenth-century
and in women's studies." Keith Cameron, Modern Language
Review
For the full review, see Modern Language Review
94.4 (1999): 1101.
"Labé's sense of self-worth is the underlying subject of
Deborah Lesko Baker's The Subject of Desire, which pits 'her
celebration of the full potential for selfhood in the individual woman'
against the perceived limitations of Petrarchism. An uncritical fan,
Lesko Baker portrays Labé as 'powerful,' 'vibrant,' 'bold,' 'sparkling'
and 'scintillating.'...She is right to emphasize Labé's 'sense
of passionate, achieved selfhood.'" Katy Emck, Times Literary
Supplement
For the complete article, see "Laura Answers Back," Times
Literary Supplement, 16 May 1997.
"Through a series of sophisticated readings of Labé's complete
works, Baker examines the strategies Labé uses to
reflect her various poses as a desiring female subject.
In addition to being a subtle reader of Labé's text,
Baker demonstrates a thorough knowledge of Renaissance criticism
as well as modern literary theory. Her genuine love for
Labé's poetry is moving, but her critical acumen
is equally impressive." François Rigolot, Princeton
University
"Cet assai a la triple intérêt de présenter
la totalité de l'œuvre de
Louise Labé en resituant chaque texte dans son contexe
littéraire avant d'en dégager les points forts
au travers d'analyse stylistiques précises et particulièrement
intéressantes." —Sabine Lardon, Studi
Francese
For the complete review, see Studi Francese 41.2
(May-Aug 1997): 367.
"… Baker apporte une précieuse contriution
à l'étude des femmes écrivains de la
Renaissance. … Nourrie d'une solide connaissance de
Pétrarque et de Maurice Scève (à qui
était consacré un précédént
Narcissus and the Lover), appuyée sur les
plus récents travaux critiques relatifs à
la Belle Cordière, cette étude met en lumière
la cohérence d'ensemble des Œuvres, dont les
quatre sections s'appellent l'une l'autre, pour unir la
polèmique à la poétique, la théorie
à la pratique le discours public à la parole
privée." —Denis Bjaîcours, Revue
d'Hitoire Littéraire de la France
For the complete text, see Revue d'Histoire Littéraire
de la Fance 98.6 (Nov. -Dec. 1998): 11
"The merit of Deborah Baker's monograph, however,
lies in its close, detailed and integrated reading of all
four texts comprising the 1555 Œuvres. [Her]
discernment of a textual 'journery' is engagingly convincing."
—Anne R. Larsen, Bibliothèque d'Humanisme
et Renaissance
For the complete texte, see Bibliothèque d'Humanisme
et Renaissance 60.1 (Feb. 1998): 189.
"This female poet-lover will replace such a fragmented
and anguished sensibility with the valorization of love's
union in the here and now. … No serious study of Labé's
writings can henceforth be undertaken without recognizing
these values [that Baker's rewriting of Labé's Sonnet
18 creates] and benefiting from them by reading Baker's
The Subject of Desire." —Jerry C. Nash,
Modern Philology
For the complete text, see Modern Philology 96.3
(Feb. 1999): 375- 77.
