The magic operates as soon as he was born, on January 28, 1873, in Saint-Sauveur-en-Puisaye. Colette, this “jewel-all-gold” as her mother Sido calls her, radiates. The spells of this solar child who has become one of the greatest writers of the XXe century, the first woman to be entitled to a state funeral, are still acting. By the grace of his voluptuous writing, with sentences all in tendrils and volutes transforming the flesh of the world into sensual enchantment. By his freedom too.
Colette lived more than a century ahead of her time. A pioneer of autofiction, she was also a mime, a dancer, caused a scandal on stage alongside her lover Missy, launched her own brand of cosmetics and played reporters. Divorced, bisexual, late mother, in love with her son-in-law thirty years her junior, she promised the suffragettes “the whip and the harem”.
However, she inspired Simone de Beauvoir, who considered her “the only great female writer”. She was emancipation in action, in her life and in her work, think of the “Pure and the Impure” with her avant-garde reflections on gender. Revolutionary, the writer was also revolutionary in her relationship with animals, antispeciesist before her time. “There is only one beast”, she said. And there is only one Colette.
“His cheerfulness of desires”
Chantal Thomas, writer
“I discovered Colette at 15, the age of emotions as violent as they are inexplicable. “Claudine at school”, her insolence, her cheerfulness of desires, her free femininity
This article is for subscribers only. Take advantage of our special offers without obligation.
WHERE
Google Exclusive: 6.99€/month
By choosing this promotional subscription path, you accept the deposit of an analysis cookie by Google.
