‘WOMEN GIFTING SCARVES IN HANNELORE CAYRE’S LA DARONNE AND COLETTE FELLOUS’S LE PETIT FOULARD DE MARGUERITE D’
This talk examines women’s scarf-gifting in literary texts, exploring how objects and gestures impact social structures and narrative forms. It analyses intertwined female subjectivities through exchange, examines gifts’ effect on literary voice, and investigates scarves’ semiotic significance. The presentation bridges interests in social values’ relationship to literature with material objects’ connection to storytelling, social ethics, and identity formation. Through this analysis, I demonstrate how material exchange reveals complex power dynamics and emotional connections between characters, illustrating productive intersections between analytical scholarship and creative approaches in illuminating textual structures and social phenomena.
Dr. Sura Qadiri is associate professor of French at St Catharine’s College, Cambridge. Her research examines contemporary French literature from France and North Africa, exploring relationships between novels and social values across these regions. A keen embroiderer and textile enthusiast, she also considers connections between objects, thinking, and making in her work.
