Académie Française Lecture

Ghislaine Antoine, also known as Squirelito, leads this conference on the Académie Française at the Marguerite Audoux Museum. Drawing on the publication of her novel Un papillon sur la coupole, she examines the institution’s history, its organisation and the spaces in which its work takes place. A visual tour of the premises gives concrete form to customs that can otherwise seem remote or ceremonial. The position of women within the Académie provides a critical thread, connecting institutional history with questions of access and recognition. The session belongs to the Sur les pas de George Sand programme, making that discussion especially resonant beside Sand’s independence and literary authority. A signing extends the encounter from lecture to conversation, linking Antoine’s own book with the institution and debates she has chosen to investigate.