A History of French Literature: From Chanson de Geste to Cinema

David Coward

Ardent Media, Jun 9, 2008 - Literary Criticism - 636 pages

This magnificent volume provides a complete history of the literature of France from its origins to the present day, taking us beyond traditional definitions of 'literature' into the world of the best-seller and, beyond words, to graphic fiction and cinema.

• Presents a definitive history of the literature of France from its origins to the present day.
• Incorporates coverage of Francophone writing in Europe, Canada, the West Indies and North and Sub-Saharan Africa.
• Links the development of literature to the mentalities and social conditions which produced it.
• Takes us beyond "literature" to study graphic fiction, cinema and the bestseller.
• Maps the rise of the Intellectual, and in so doing charts a progression from literary doctrine to critical theory.

About the author

David Coward is Research Professor in French at the University of Leeds. He has written widely on the literature and culture of France since 1700 and has translated tales by Sade and Maupassant, plays by Molière and novels by Diderot and Dumas fils. His English version of Albert Cohen's Belle du Seigneur was awarded the Scott-Moncrieff Prize for Translation in 1996. He writes regularly for the Times Literary Supplement and is a contributor to the literary pages of magazines and newspapers in the UK and US.

Bibliographic information

• Title: A History of French Literature: From Chanson de Geste to Cinema
• Editor: David Coward
• Publisher: Ardent Media, 2008
• Length: 636 pages
• Subjects: Literary Criticism / European / French; Literary Criticism / General