HIST 251 - Les Miserables:History and Literature in 19th Century France

Institution:

Trinity College

Subject:

Description:

Set in scenes ranging from the battlefields of Waterloo to the barricades of revolutions, the 19th-century French novel firmly situated itself in the history of the age. But how realistic are the descriptions presented in the great novels of events leading up to the century's political cataclysms This course will explore answers to this question (and the relationship between history and literature in general) by establishing the context within which the novels of Stendhal, Balzac, Hugo, Zola, and Proust were conceived. Attitudes towards women, religion, the poor, crime, ambition and politics, the Jewish minority, Paris life and the provinces will be analyzed to gain understanding of French culture during a period when rapid modernization appeared to threaten traditional norms. The course will end with a consideration of the current appeal of Les Miserables. Like the novel itself, the musical was greeted initially with disdain by critics but was an enormous popular success. What accounts for our interest in the French past 1.00 units, Lecture

Credits:

1.00

Credit Hours:

Prerequisites:

Corequisites:

Exclusions:

Level:

Instructional Type:

Lecture

Notes:

Additional Information:

Historical Version(s):

Institution Website:

www.Trincoll.edu

Phone Number:

(860) 297-2000

Regional Accreditation:

New England Association of Schools and Colleges

Calendar System:

Semester

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