I want to urge you to pay attention to gender constructions in _Le Ventre de l’Atlantique_.

*Analyze the depiction of the female narrator and the way her gender influences her approach to the following topics:

-her brother’s passion for soccer

-the idealization of France by her brother

-gender roles in Niodior

-African immigration in France

*On page 41 (French version) she says: “Je suis une féministe modérée. […] Je n’aime pas les sous-missions, je préfère les vraies missions. […] Alors, mes hormones de féminité, je les garde!” How is she a feminist? How does her decision of living in France (as a writer) defy the typical role of women of her community back in Niodior?

*How are women in that community idealized or romanticized by the narrator? What do you think about the dances they (including the narrator) perform? How does the way men treat them reproduce the treatment that French people give to Africans in general (as presented in the novel)?