French literature

French literature is, generally speaking, literature written in the French language, particularly by citizens of France; it may also refer to literature written by people living in France who speak other traditional non-French languages. For literature written in French by citizens of other nations, see Francophone literature.

French literature

The French language is a romance dialect derived from Vulgar Latin and heavily influenced principally by Celtic and Frankish. Beginning in the 11th century, literature written in medieval French was one of the oldest vernacular (non-Latin) literatures in western Europe and it became a key source of literary themes in the Middle Ages across the continent.

Related Topics:
French language - Romance dialect - Vulgar Latin - Celtic - Frankish - 11th century - Middle Ages

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Although the European prominence of French literature was eclipsed in part by vernacular literature in Italy in the 14th century, literature in France in the 16th century underwent a major creative evolution, and through the political and artistic programs of the Ancien Régime, French literature came to dominate European letters in the 17th century.

Related Topics:
14th century - 16th century - Ancien Régime - 17th century

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In the 18th century, French became the literary lingua franca and diplomatic language of western Europe (and, to a certain degree, in America), and French letters have had a profound impact on all European and American literary traditions while at the same time being heavily influenced by these other national traditions (for example: British and German Romanticism in the nineteenth century). French literary developments of the 19th and 20th centuries have had a particularly strong effect on modern world literature, including: symbolism, naturalism, the "roman-fleuves" of Balzac, Zola and Proust, surrealism, existentialism, and the "theater of the absurd".

Related Topics:
18th century - Lingua franca - 19th - 20th - Symbolism - Naturalism - Roman-fleuve - Surrealism - Existentialism - Theater of the absurd

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French imperialism and colonialism in the Americas, Africa and the far East have brought the French language to non-European cultures that are today using, transforming, and adding to the French literary experience.

Related Topics:
Imperialism - Colonialism

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Under the aristocratic ideals of the ancien régime (the "honnête homme"), the nationalist spirit of post-revolutionary France, and the mass educational ideals of the Third Republic and modern France, the French have come to have -- as a culture -- a profound attachment to their literary heritage. Today, French schooling emphasizes learning about novels, theater and poetry (often learnt by heart); the literary arts are heavily sponsored by the state; literary prizes are major news; the Académie française and the Institut de France are important linguistic and artistic institutions in France; French television features shows on writers and poets (the most watched show in French history was Apostrophes, a weekly talk show on literature and the arts)... In contrast to much of the American literary environment, literature is something which matters deeply to the people of France and which plays an important role in their own sense of identity.

Related Topics:
Académie française - Institut de France - Apostrophes

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