Description
Book SynopsisThe city of Paris experienced rapid transformation in the middle of the nineteenth century: the population grew, industry and commerce increased, and barriers between social classes diminished. Innovations in printing and distribution gave rise to new mass-market genres: literary guidebooks known as
tableaux de Paris and illustrated
physiologies examined urban social types and fashions for a broad audience of Parisians hungry to explore and understand their changing society. The works in this volume offer a lively, humorous tour of the manners and characters of the
flâneur (a leisurely wanderer), the
grisette (a young working-class woman), the
gamin (a street urchin), and more. While the names of authors such as Paul de Kock are no longer familiar, their works still open a window onto a vivid time and place.
Trade Review"Popular Literature from Nineteenth-Century France will quickly become a reference for instructors and researchers across disciplinary lines." - Andrea Goulet, University of Pennsylvania
"Popular Literature from Nineteenth-Century France is extremely compelling and pedagogically exciting." - Alexandra Wettlaufer, University of Texas, Austin
