Imogen Long is Lecturer in French at the University of Hull, UK, and her research interests include the figure of the public intellectual in France and women's writing. She has previously published articles and chapters on Simone de Beauvoir, Danièle Sallenave and Françoise Parturier.

In this provocative book, Imogen Long rises to a number of challenges: she situates French post '68 women intellectual writers in the context of the traditionally male intellectual environment of the twentieth century; even more importantly, she foregrounds the divergences which inform their engagement with key issues and structures of French and Francophone society of the period. By adroitly exploiting the range of writing modes and vehicles employed, this volume demonstrates how a group of feisty women writers questioned not only French society's approach to women, but the very foundations of French society. This book makes a valuable contribution to a reassessment of post '68 French intellectuals. Maggie Allison, Division of Social Science and Criminal Justice, University of Bradford, UK.

• Acknowledgments Introduction 1. Women Intellectuals 2. In the Eye of the Storm: Women and Polemics in the Public Space 3. La mise en question du réel: Danièle Sallenave 4. À la recherche de soi-même: Gisèle Halimi  5. Dans la lignée de Beauvoir: Elisabeth Badinter Conclusion Bibliography Index