Camille Leclère-Gregory

Camille Leclère-Gregory’s work centers on theater as a representation of society, particularly the portrayal of non-conforming characters. Using feminist, queer, and gender-based theories, she has studied the fragility of gendered power and pre-established gender roles – both within major works from the seventeenth century and in Early Modern French society at large. Her scholarship aims to emphasize the relevance of theatrical texts in understanding the mechanisms under which past and present society in the French and Francophone world operates, and how it was shaped. Her current book project expands on the dichotomy in the perception of female and non-conforming characters by establishing parallels with major social phenomena (witch hunts, social revolts) to explore the intrinsic link between literature, society, and power structures. She is also interested in audience perception, gender-bending, and the subversion of norms beyond the Early Modern period both on and off the stage. Through her scholarship and teaching, her goal is to shed a new light on the portrayal of rebellious/subversive figures and to amplify alternative voices to the male-dominated literary canon.

Select publications:

“Le Mythe comme palimpseste: Phèdre selon Wajdi Mouawad et Jean Racine.” L’Esprit Créateur (forthcoming).

“Médée: From Motherhood to Womanhood.” Papers on French Seventeenth Century Literature, vol. XLVIII, no. 94, July 2021, pp. 85–99.

Review of L'aventure racinienne: un parcours franco-américain, by Ronald W. Tobin. The French Review, vol. 94, no. 4, 2021, pp. 289-290.

Review of In the Wake of Medea. Neoclassical Theater and the Arts of Destruction, by Juliette Cherbuliez. Symposium: A Quarterly Journal in Modern Literatures, vol.75, no.4, pp. 262-264.