Who Cares?

Caring in Literature: the Ambivalence of Caregivers in the French Novel between 1870 and 1945

Abstract

 

Who takes care of whom? And who assumes caregiving responsibilities or medical care under what (work) conditions for children, the sick, and old, dependent individuals – i.e., for those groups identified as particularly vulnerable in care ethics? The research project, ironically titled À votre service (At Your Service or Always at Your Service), funded by the Canadian CRSH/SSHRC, is based, among other things, on these care-related questions. As specified in the project's subtitle, its aim is to illuminate various aspects of caring for others/for oneself (self-care) from a historical perspective, using examples of fictional characters from French literature.