This book explores the representation of masculinity as a literary concept in Decadent literature to demonstrate how the movement both appropriated and subverted patriarchal assumptions surrounding reading and writing. The book opens up fresh ground for the appraisal and analysis of gender in French studies and beyond.
Mathew Rickard studied French and Spanish literature and culture at Queen's University Belfast, where he recently earned his PhD in French studies. He is currently maître de langue at the Université de Picardie Jules Verne's antenna campus in Beauvais, France. He has presented and published his work in English and French in the UK, Ireland, and mainland Europe. His broader research interests include book culture, intertextuality, transgression and gender studies, with a particular focus on masculinities and queer theory.