French Studies

Also 1957 ed. in 2 vol.

Also 1968 ed. in 5 vol.
Also 1955 ed. in 4 vol.
Also 1952 in 4 vol.

"In this authoritative and accessible account of French literature, sixteen essays by leading specialists offer provocative insights into French literary culture, its genres, movements, themes, and historic turning points, including the cultural and linguistic challenges of today's multi-ethnic France. The French have, over the centuries, invented and reinvented writing, from the Arthurian romances of Chŕetien de Troyes to Montaigne's Essays, which gave the world a new literary form and a new standard for writing about personal thought and experience; from the highly polished tragedies of French classicism to the satirical novels of the Enlightenment; from Proust's explorations of social and sexual mores to the 'New Novel' of the late twentieth century; and from Baudelaire's urban poetry to today's poetic experiments with sound and typography. The broad scope of this Companion, which goes beyond individual authors or periods, enables a deeper appreciation for the distinctive literature of France"--
"Literature could be defined as the repertory of those texts that survive long after the moment of their composition. Of course, there are many other ways to say what literature is. Aristotle said that poetry is distinguished from history by its fictional quality, and on this view poetry is what tells of those things that could have happened rather than what actually did happen. Thus, even if history were written in verse, it would still not be poetic. The linguist Roman Jakobson, on the other hand, described the 'poetic function' by reference to the formal features of a text, independently of judgments about reality and fiction, and late twentieth century literary experimentation-including novels written for Twitter and texts that arbitrarily omit a certain letter of the alphabet-lends weight to this view. However, readers are probably not deeply concerned with such boundary disputes. And in the academic study of literature, particularly of French literature, fiction and non- fiction, prose and verse, manifestoes and slogans, aphorisms and editorials, pamphlets, emblem books, and treatises-all have found their place"--
Contents
Chronology; Introduction John D. Lyons;
1. Romance, roman, and novel Karen Sullivan;
2. Joan of Arc and the literary imagination Deborah McGrady;
3. Poetry and modernity Marc Bize;
4. The graphic imagination and the printed page Tom Conley;
5. Tragedy and fear John D. Lyons;
6. Galant culture Elizabeth C. Goldsmith;
7. Varieties of doubt in early modern writing Michael Moriarty;
8. Nature and enlightenment Caroline Warman;
9. Nostalgia and the creation of the past Rosemary Lloyd;
10. Exoticism and colonialism Jennifer Yee;
11. Poetic experimentation Carrie J. Noland;
12. The renewal of narrative in the wake of Proust Edward J. Hughes;
13. French literature as world literature Charles Forsdick;
14. Literature and sex Elisabeth Ladenson;
15. The literary-philosophical essay Ian James;
16. The novel in the new millennium Warren Motte; Guide to further reading.

"In this highly accessible introduction, Brian Nelson provides an overview of French literature - its themes and forms, traditions and transformations - from the Middle Ages to the present. Major writers, including francophone authors writing from areas other than France, are discussed chronologically in the context of their times, to provide a sense of the development of the French literary tradition and the strengths of the most influential writers within it. Nelson offers close readings of exemplary passages from key works, presented in the original French and with an English translation"--

[V. 1.] Moyen Âge et la Renaissance
[V. 2.] Âge classique et les Lumières / avec la collaboration de Kate Tunstall.
[V. 3.] De la révolution à la Belle Époque.

"Voici le livre qui manquait et que l'on attendait, celui qu'il fallait écrire parce qu'il n'existait pas : il retrace en un seul volume, et en un peu moins de 400 pages, toute l'histoire de la littérature française, depuis la Chanson de Roland jusqu'aux écrits de Sartre, de Malraux et du général de Gaulle. L'auteur nous offre le fruit de trente ans d'expérience dans l'enseignement de la littérature française. Son ouvrage prend la forme d'une narration argumentée et chronologique, organisée en trois grandes parties. Référence pour les étudiants en lettres, c'est aussi un livre passionnant et instructif à destination du grand public ; chaque lecteur pourra y suivre le chemin parcouru par la littérature française au cours des siècles. Est décrit dans cette Histoire tout ce qui fait la richesse et la particularité du patrimoine littéraire en français : les courants qui se sont développés en son sein, les évolutions qu'il a connues (tant pour la forme que pour le fond), les grands textes qui l'ont illustré, les apports de l'étranger qui l'ont influencé."--Page 4 de la couverture.

t. 1. Naissances, Renaissances, Moyen Âge-XVIe siècle / dirigé par Frank Lestringant, Michel Zink
t. 2. Classicismes, XVIIe-XVIIIe siècle / dirigé par Jean-Charles Darmon, Michel Delon
t. 3. Modernités, XIXe-XXe siècle / dirigé par Patrick Berthier, Michel Jarrety.

Also in 2 vol. Paris: Fayard, 1967 | Shannon PQ101 .G8 1967