Fifty Shades of Colette

Title: “Fifty Shades of Colette” Proposed by Tama Engelking Cleveland State University Email: [email protected] PROPOSAL: In a recent google search for the sexiest books in French literature, Colette’s Chéri turned up on the top of the list with this description: “All 10 books on this list could be by Colette, the most sensual and evocative writer of all time, who lived like one of her sexy heroines, still dancing on tables at 65, and marrying her son-in-law. Every woman's fantasy, this tells the story of an ageing courtesan (49!) who remains irresistible to her much younger lover.” Besides getting the facts wrong, this description illustrates the problematic “shades of gray” that color Colette studies, namely the way she mixed elements of her real life with fiction, and how that conflation of the author with her characters served to promote her books and win her a top spot in the sexiest books category, but at what price? In keeping with the conference theme this study will consider how Colette has been represented in anthologies and histories of literature, promoted by her editors and portrayed in films such as “Becoming Colette” which focuses on her lesbian relationships. Which “racy” aspects of her writing are singled out for attention, and what does the vocabulary used tell us about the biases against women writers that Colette worked to combat during her long and prolific career, and the particular agendas of the various readers who choose to frame her work this way? In the era of best sellers such as “Fifty Shades of Gray,” I’ll consider whether the scandalous aspects of Colette’s writing have stood the test of time, and examine the place that her work holds in the erotic literature hall of fame.