Therese-Adèle Husson

Therese-Adele Husson's "Reflections: The Life and Writings of a Young Blind Woman in Post-Revolutionary France," is difficult to categorize, but I'll call it nonfiction and leave it at that. Basically, it is a brief treatise on blindness, written by a young, blind French woman about 200 years ago -- perhaps the earliest such piece of writing we have. One might think that the things she has to say about blind people and their social status, rules for marriage, prospects for romance, and appropriate pedagogical approaches would be strongly determined by her time and place, and in part one would be right. However, an amazing amount of what she has to say strikes resonant chords in today's blind world, and even when her observations are out-dated, the things she has to say bring up deep questions as to why her experience was what it was, and why ours is what it is (or isn't).

The style is 100% over-the-top, unedited nineteenth century, translated French hyperbole, with all of the linguistic curlicues and serifs you could possibly hope for. Blind women are referred to as “female companions of misfortune,” and chapters have titles like “On the Inflection of a Sweet Voice on the Heart and Senses of a Blind Person.”

"Reflections," was translated by Zina Waygand and Holman Society member Catherine J. Kudlick, Ph.D., -- a history professor at the University of California at Davis -- and it includes a great deal of additional discussion regarding Husson’s life and cultural context. The introduction and closing reflections tend toward the academic, and may not be to everyone's taste, but it is easy to skip through these sections and get straight to the young French meat of the matter. After you've read what Adele has to say, you'll probably have so many questions that you'll then read the intellectual stuff with great interest. I did!… (plus d'informations)