Les Mémoires des « Vendéennes » : un récit de guerre au féminin ?

Abstract

Starting from the observation that memoirs recounting the wars of Vendée were mainly written by women, the present article explores the reasons why women became the depositaries and preservers of the memory of this trauma; it also examines the representation of female identity and the roles played by women. Women created an original vision of those wars. As survivors and widows of the heroes, they became the keepers of the collective memory, but also wrote about a typically female experience of war: the epic is perceived through Andromache’s eyes. And yet, women also played new roles: this article also deals more specifically with the famous figure of the Vendean “amazon.”

Keywords

• memoirs
• La Rochejaquelein
• Sapinaud
• Bontemps
• amazons