Description
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 Chretien 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.
A fresh and comprehensive account of the literature of France, from medieval romances to twenty-first-century experimental poetry and novels.
About the Author
John D. Lyons is Commonwealth Professor of French at the University of Virginia, and Chevalier in the French Legion of Honor. He is the author of eight books on French literature, including French Literature: A Very Short Introduction (2010) and The Phantom of Chance: From Fortune to Randomness in Seventeenth-Century French Literature (2011).
Reviews
'The strength of this book lies not simply in the excellence of the individual essays but also in its kaleidoscopic nature. By focusing on a particular topic or genre in a particular period, but suggesting links to other periods and other topics, these essays combine to form a thoroughly convivial Companion.' Brian Nelson, French Studies
'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
Book Information
ISBN 9781107665224
Author John D. Lyons
Format Paperback
Page Count 299
Imprint Cambridge University Press
Publisher Cambridge University Press
Weight(grams) 480g
Dimensions(mm) 227mm * 152mm * 14mm
A fresh and comprehensive account of the literature of France, from medieval romances to twenty-first-century experimental poetry and novels.
About the Author
John D. Lyons is Commonwealth Professor of French at the University of Virginia, and Chevalier in the French Legion of Honor. He is the author of eight books on French literature, including French Literature: A Very Short Introduction (2010) and The Phantom of Chance: From Fortune to Randomness in Seventeenth-Century French Literature (2011).
Reviews
'The strength of this book lies not simply in the excellence of the individual essays but also in its kaleidoscopic nature. By focusing on a particular topic or genre in a particular period, but suggesting links to other periods and other topics, these essays combine to form a thoroughly convivial Companion.' Brian Nelson, French Studies
'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
Book Information
ISBN 9781107665224
Author John D. Lyons
Format Paperback
Page Count 299
Imprint Cambridge University Press
Publisher Cambridge University Press
Weight(grams) 480g
Dimensions(mm) 227mm * 152mm * 14mm
