This course looks at the representation of Paris in French literature of the modern period. Readings have been chosen to introduce students to Paris ’s multiple and changing identities. Each week is devoted to a particular theme which will allow us to discuss different myths associated with Paris, with France and with the French. Beginning with Balzac’s powerful representation of the city as the locus of power, corruption and social inequality, we will trace key developments in the way the French have conceptualized their capital city. Focusing on literary sources, we will also in the course of the semester become familiar with some of the most important literary movements of the modern period: realism (Balzac), naturalism (Zola), surrealism (Breton). [Literature, Comp Lit, Urban Studies, History, French] 6.0 credits.

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COURSE MATERIALS

• Honoré de Balzac, Père Goriot
• Emile Zola, Thérèse Raquin
• André Breton, Nadja
• Course Reader ([CR] hereafter)

COURSE REQUIREMENTS

Attendance at lectures, section and site visits is mandatory. It is essential that students attend all classes and participate actively. One unexcused absence is tolerated, but additional ones will result in a lowered final grade.

Reading assignments are critical. Students are expected to read the material as it is assigned and come to class prepared.

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Grading

• Participation in class discussion and brief in-class assignments   15%
• One short paper (4-5 pages)  25 %
• Mid-term exam   25 %
• Term paper (8-10 pages)  35 %

COURSE SCHEDULE

Week 1. Sept. 12-16
Balzac’s Paris (I)

Introduction to the course. Presentation of Balzac

Reading:

• H. de Balzac, Père Goriot
• P. Connor, “Introduction” to Barnes and Noble edition of Père Goriot [CR]

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Week 2. Sept. 19-23
Balzac’s Paris (II)

• H. de Balzac, Père Goriot
• Richard D. Lehan, Ch. 4 & 5 in The City in Literature: an Intellectual and Cultural History, UC Press, 2002, pp. 51-82 [CR]
• David F. Bell, “Balzac and the Modern City : Mapping Paris in Old Goriot” in Approaches to Teaching Balzac’s Old Goriot, Modern Language Association of America, 2000, pp. 81-89 [CR]

Week 3. Sept. 26-30
The Inward Turn: Baudelaire’s Paris

• H. de Balzac, Père Goriot
• Charles Baudelaire, Selections from Paris Spleen, New Directions, 1970, pp. 1-37, 52-79, 91-108 [CR]

SHORT PAPER DUE

Week 4. Oct. 3-7
Paris, Capital of the Nineteenth Century

• C. Baudelaire, The Spleen of Paris (cont...) [CR]
• Charles Baudelaire, “The Swan” in The Flowers of Evil, University of Virginia Press, 1961, pp. 150-153 [CR]
• Walter Benjamin, “Paris, Capital of the Nineteenth Century” (1935 & 1939 Exposés) in The Arcades Project, Harvard University Press, 1999, pp. 3-26 [CR]

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Week 5. Oct. 10-14
Paris, Capital of Shopping

• C. Baudelaire, from The Painter of Modern Life in Baudelaire: Selected Writings on Art and Literature [CR]
• Walter Benjamin, “A: Arcades , Magasins de Nouveautés, Sales Clerks” in The Arcades Project, Harvard University Press, 1999, pp. 32-61 [CR]

Week 6. Oct. 17-21
The Parisian Soul according to Zola

• E. Zola, Thérèse Raquin
• W. J. Berg & L.K. Martin, “Toward Naturalism: Early Life, Work and Theories” in Emile Zola Revisited, University of Wisconsin , 1992, pp. xiii-xv, 1-13 [CR]

Week 7. Oct. 24-28
Paris enters the Twentieth-Century

• Guillaume Apollinaire, “Zone” in Alcools, Wesleyan University Press, 1995, pp. 2-11 [CR]

***MIDTERM***

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FALL BREAK

Week 8. Nov. 7-10
Surrealist Paris

• Breton, Nadja
• André Breton, “Manifesto of Surrealism” in André Breton: Selections, UC Press, 2003, pp. 143-167 [CR]

Week 9. Nov. 14-18
Americans (and Others) in Paris

Reading:

• Laurence Sterne, Selection from A Sentimental Journey Through France and Italy , Oxford University Press, 1984, pp. 56-63 [CR]
• George Orwell, Selections from “Down and Out in Paris and London ” in Orwell and the Dispossessed, Penguin Books, 1998, pp. 115-131, 221-225 [CR]
• Ernest Hemingway, Selection from A Moveable Feast, Vintage, 2000, pp. 35-91 [CR]
• Alice Kaplan, Selections from French Lessons. A Memoir, University of Chicago Press, 1994, pp. 83-94, 104-122, 125-141 [CR]

Week 10. Nov. 21-25
Paris and the Second World War (I)

• Marguerite Duras, “The War” in The War. A Memoir, New Press, 1986, pp. 3-68
• Henry Rousso, “The Broken Mirror (1971-1974)” in The Vichy Syndrome: History and Memory in France since 1944 , Harvard University Press, 1991, pp. 98-131 [CR]

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Week 11. Nov. 28-Dec. 2
Paris and the Second World War (II)

• M. Ophuls, The Sorrow and the Pity [film]
• A. Renais, Nuit et Brouillard [film]
• Henry Rousso, “Obsession (after 1974): Jewish Memory” in The Vichy Syndrome: History and Memory in France since 1944 , Harvard University Press, 1991, pp. 132-167 [CR]

Week 12. Dec. 5-9
Paris and Historical Memory

• Patrick Modiano, Dora Bruder, UC Press, 1999 [CR]

TERM PAPER DUE

Week 13. December 12-16
Final Exam

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