1. Objectifs

Intentions :
«This chapter studies one of the first autobiographical expressions of the lack of desire for children. [T]he focus of this essay, brings attention to the consequences of voluntary childlessness in professional and nonprofessional contexts and looks set to spur broader discussion of this topic.» (p. 95)

2. Méthode

Échantillon/Matériau :
The author analyzes the «Lucie Joubert’s landmark work L’envers du landau: Regard extérieur sur la maternité et ses débordements (2010) […].» (p. 95)

Type de traitement des données :
Analyse littéraire

3. Résumé

Overall, «Joubert’s text constitutes a highly crafted critique of pronatalist discourse in Québec that is nonconformist in both its style and its content. […] She shows that it is still deemed inappropriate to discuss such unimportant things as motherhood or personal matters in academic discourse, yet her text underscores the need for such discussion both by mothers and by nonmothers. The way in which she specifically targets the negative stereotypes to which the voluntarily childless are subjected is a careful rebuttal to pronatalist discourse both in Québec and beyond. She testifies to a commitment to the collective throughout the text through her reflections on her interactions with female students and on her concern over the damaging consequences of pronatalist messages for Québécois society. This passionate call for action is penned by an individual on behalf of a collective, therefore, and is anything but selfish. Joubert’s courageous text alters the lens in which nonmothering can be interpreted and changes the place of voluntary childlessness in literature: from fiction to autobiography, from sensation to critique, and from deviant to normal. Joubert’s impassioned critique highlights that nonmothers are not necessarily horrible, that women who have been forced to be mothers can become horrible, and that women may decide perfectly reasonably not to become a mother because they suspect that they would be a horrible one.» (p. 103-104)