RLFR 220
Le mal-du-siècle: Disenchantment and Determination in the French Novel (1801-1893) Spring 2013
Division I
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The nineteenth-century was a century of evolution, technological advances, and improvement in both working conditions and the quality of life. However, the century’s many revolutions and political crises, and the crushing defeat of the Franco-Prussian War (1870) contributed to a personal sense of failure and a national sense of disenchantment. French literature reflected a persistent state of melancholy and a strong feeling of social decline. Romantic, decadent, and naturalist movements responded to this national feeling of moral decay by producing texts that focused on pathology, perversion, and morbidity. In this seminar, we will read novels and stories by Constant, Chateaubriand, Balzac, Huysmans, Maupassant, Flaubert and Zola. We will discuss topics such as boredom, adultery, failed marriages, bachelorhood, family, and suicide. Conducted in French.
The Class: Format: seminar
Grading: yes pass/fail option, yes fifth course option
Requirements/Evaluation: active class participation, a mid-term paper, reaction papers, an oral presentation, and a final paper
Distributions: Division I

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