The Cambridge Companion to French Literature

A fresh and comprehensive account of the literature of France, from medieval romances to twenty-first-century experimental poetry and novels.

John D. Lyons (Edited by)

9781107665224, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 26 November 2015

299 pages, 5 b/w illus.
22.7 x 15.2 x 1.4 cm, 0.48 kg

'This is a model of what a volume of collected essays can be: from start to finish, the quality of the work and the level of writing are excellent.' John T. Booker, French Review

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 Chrétien 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.

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 Bizer
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.

Subject Areas: Literary studies: general [DSB], Literary theory [DSA], Literature: history & criticism [DS]