Est-ce que je vis encore? Two 18th Century Women & the Powers of Literature

This talk considers the powers of literature to accord or not accord an afterlife, and at what price. It focuses on two women: one, whose (alleged) last words were “Est-ce que je vis encore?” namely Julie de Lespinasse (1732-1776), known today as a salonnière and the author of a series of tragic love-letters; the other, Charlotte Bourette, formerly Curé (1714-1784), a café owner and prolific poet who remains completely unknown today. The talk juxtaposes the two women with the aim of bringing into clear focus what literature does, and what can be done with it.

Kate E. Tunstall is Professor of French at the University of Oxford, Tutorial Fellow of Worcester College, and Chevalière dans l'Ordre des Palmes Académiques. Her publications include, as author, Blindness and Enlightenment (2011), as co-translator, Diderot's Le neveu de Rameau (2014), and as co-editor, History and the Literary: A Method of Interdisciplinary Enquiry (2025).

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