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Corpus Intactum: La Subversion Corpotextuelle Féminine Des Constructions De Dualité Et D'Objectivité Du Discours Colonialiste Dans "Le Pied De Momie" Et "Le Roman De La Momie" De Théophile Gautier, Hannah R. Swan

Scripps Senior Theses

In “Corpus Intactum,” I explore the possibility for the subversion of dominant orientalist narratives in Théophile Gautier’s short story “Le Pied de momie” and his later novel, “Le Roman de la momie”. I propose that Gautier’s works demonstrate the beginnings of colonialist critique, but that his capacity for subversion is ultimately hampered by the constraints of popular orientalist discourse. I argue, nevertheless, that through a figurative conflation of the feminine mummified body with the text that at once writes her and exists within her own narrative, Gautier is able to subvert the systems of domination within orientalist academic discourse. The …