French provincial life as portrayed by the chief French novelists of the nineteenth century.

The portrayal of provincial life by French writers has suffered by the fact French literature is essentially urban. Unfortunately, the majority of Frenchmen who have written of life in the field and villages of their native land have done so from Parisian Boulevards and with an unsympathetic pen. In France, Paris is the center of literary life as well as the political, social and other activities. The great majority of provincial born writers is soon attracted to the literary brillance of the capital, and in forsaking the soil loses sympathy with it. Beginning to write and think from the viewpoint of Parisians, the writers help to give their literature a metropolitan aspect. In all lands there exists a feud between the practical bourgeois and the more spiritual and bohemian man of letters, but in France this dislike is more pronounced than elsewhere, With this dislike combined with a disparaging attitude toward life outside of Paris, the French writer has dealt very unmercifully with the middle class provincials. The peasants have fared better, but the majority of authors who have portrayed them, have either written with a lack of understanding or an indifference to their problems, or have placed under emphasis on their faults. There is a group of writers which display an intense provincialism, but the field is dominated by the group in the majority. Indeed, the casual reader is apt to come to the conclusion that life in provincial France is a mean, dull and sordid thing. This impression is not a fair one. It is true that the life in the provinces has been at a low social and intellectual level, but the traveler who has taken the time and trouble to study the great mass of French people will testify that he has found gaiety, intelligence and goodwill which French literature as a whole does not reflect.

Name thesis:degree_name

M.A.

Level thesis:degree_level

Masters

Grantor

Baylor University.

Year dc:date.issued

1932

Author dc:creator

• Price, Byrd Leigh, 1904-

• French fiction -- 18th century.
• France -- Social life and customs -- 18th century.

Statement dc:rights

• Baylor University works are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. Contact libraryquestions@baylor.edu for inquiries about permission.

Language dc:language.iso

en

Handle dc:identifier.uri

https://hdl.handle.net/2104/13883

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:baylor-ir.tdl.org:2104/13883