Paris, I love you / Paris, je t’aime: Literature, Culture and Society in la Belle Epoque

Catalog description

This course takes as its subject the Belle Époque, that period in the life of France’s pre-World War I Third Republic (1871-1914) associated with extraordinary artistic achievement, as well as the Second Empire (1851-1871) that preceded it. In this course, we will attempt to gain a deeper understanding of the literary works of this era by placing them in the context of the society within which they were produced, France’s Second Empire and Third Republic. Like the United States today, the Third Republic was a polity in which issues of the rights of minorities, freedom of expression, the place of religion in the public sphere, and the proper relationship between democracy and imperialism were subjects of constant debate. Furthermore, like the U.S. but unlike contemporary France, the Third Republic relied much more on the market and less on state subsidies to support artistic endeavors. Among other questions, we will examine to what extent the cultural flowering of this period occurred as a result of, or in spite of, this reliance on market forces. Near the end of the course we will take on the challenge of Proust’s Swann’s Way, which we will read together in its entirety. Prerequisite: None. Fulfillment: Humanities Major Other Introductory Courses (18-19 Survey Courses).