French Novel in 18th and 19th Century

Analysing works of some of the major writers of the French Enlightenment (Voltaire, Diderot, Marivaux, Laclos), novelists of the pre-romantic and romantic era (Rousseau, Chateaubirand, Constant, Balzac, Hugo, Stendhal) and the main novelists of the second half of the 19th century (Flaubert, Zola), the course follows the evolution of the French novel in the periods indicated; the historical review is concluded with the work of Marcel Proust. The literary historical perspective is combined with an overview of the critical reception and various attempts to define the novel as a genre (Sade, Diderot, Mme de Stael, Sainte-Beuve and others) as well as some of the most important 20th century theoretical approaches (Booth, Genette, Todorov).