Historical Dictionary of French Literature

(Hardback, Second Edition)

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Description

With the possible exception of Great Britain, France can justifiably lay claim to possess the richest literary history of any country in Western Europe. This book covers the authors and their works, literary movements, and philosophical and social developments that have had a direct impact on style or content, and major historical events such as the two world wars, the Franco-Prussian War, the Algerian War, or the events of May 1968 that are directly reflected in a substantial body of imaginative writing.
Historical Dictionary of French Literature, Second Edition contains a chronology, an introduction, and an extensive bibliography. The dictionary section has more than 500 cross-referenced entries on individual writers and key texts, significant movements, groups, associations, and periodicals, and on the literary reactions to major national and international events such as revolutions and wars. This book is an excellent resource for students, researchers, and anyone wanting to know more about French literature.

Reviews

Flower adds many revisions and 30 new entries to this second edition of Historical Dictionary of French Literature (first edition, CH, Jul'13, 50-5918) and updates the chronology, introduction, and extensive bibliography. The second edition provides an overview of French authors, works, and literary movements from the Middle Ages through the 21st century and places everything in sociohistorical and political context. The 500-plus alphabetically arranged, cross-referenced entries are geared toward students and supply valuable information about individual authors, works, and events not provided by any other recent publication; specific movements and periods are treated in longer entries. A particular strength of the volume is the inclusion of entries on 20th- and 21st-century literature, which students may not find in other English-language scholarly reference works focusing on France. This book is recommended for lower-division undergraduates through faculty; general readers. * Choice Reviews *

Author Bio

John Flower is professor emeritus of the University of Kent. He has taught in both English and French universities and was nominated Officier des Palmes acadmiques by the French government in recognition of his work.