Narrating (French) Masculinities: Building Male Identity in André Gide's The Immoralist

Abstract

This study examines the representation of masculinity in André Gide's The Immoralist, an early work by the author, in which he depicts his anti-hero's rediscovery and reinvention of himself after a prolonged illness. One aim of the paper is to frame the sociohistorical context in France, specifically those elements that concern gendered social identities, during the time the récit was written, around the turn of the last century. Gide's character, Michel, comes to define himself as a man by rejecting the imposition of hegemonic French masculinity. Gide illustrates the possibility of plural masculinities in his creation of an alternative masculine identity.