From Silence to the Silenced: The Animal Kingdom in the Work of Marguerite Yourcenar (1903-1987)

Abstract

This paper seeks to give an overview of an area largely neglected by critics of the fictional and nonfictional work of French Academician, Marguerite Yourcenar (1903-1987). Though her love of animals, her involvement with the environment and her outspoken stance on the maltreatment of non-human creatures - the massacre of seals, for example - are known, Yourcenar's 'take' on these matters is often considered as merely a quaint aberration. Her position on the animal kingdom can, however, be seen as central to her vision of the world and to an understanding of her work. Writings which will be considered in this paper include Marguerite Yourcenar's essays, articles and her anthology of sayings from around the world, her memoirs, and passages taken from two fictional works: 'Mémoires d'Hadrien' ('Memoirs of Hadrian'), first published in 1951 and 'L'Œuvre au Noir' ('The Abyss'), first published in the tumultuous year of 1968.