Perceptions of French Society and Folklore in 19th Century French Novels

FAIN: FB-12654-75

Roy E. Sandstrom
University of Northern Iowa (Cedar Falls, IA 50614-0001)

This project will involve extensive reading in several 19th century French novels including Stendahl, Sue, Balzac, Flaubert, Hugo Maupassant, Daudet, Zola, and Guillaumin. There will be an extended discussion of the metaphors, symbols, and typologies developed in these works, singly, and collectively, as they reveal the literary intellectual's conception of elite and popular cultures. Study will concentrate on a search for those folk traditions, literary types, and anti-types employed by the authors as they were selected and interpreted over time by various writers. Focus would be on change and continuities in literary representations of French values, attitudes, and social relationships during the 19th century.