r68 French Studies

THE ROMANTIC ERA By L. H. GrNN, Lecturer in French in the University ofSheffield*

I. GENERAL Three theoretical discussions illustrated by valuable analyses of particular works: Chambers, Melancolie, on the interaction of litera• ture with its mid-century socio-political context (see GAUTIER, HUGO, NERVAL); Picard, Lecture, claims that literature gives a homeopathic dose of danger and otherness (see DUMAS, STENDHAL); Eigeldinger, Mythologie, lucidly and persuasively discusses literary techniques of quotation and allusion (see GAUTIER, MUSSET, VIGNY). Priscilla P. Clark, Literary France: the making ofa culture, Berkeley, California U .P., xvi + 273 pp., studies 'the bond between writer and country' exempli• fied by various Romantics (8I-94), most notably Hugo (I45-58). J. Fulcher, The Nation's Image: French Grand Opera as politics and politicized art, CUP, 280 pp., many Romantic Era figures have walking-on parts: Scribe, Fourier and Proudhon feature more prominently; E. Fischer, Ursprung und Wesen der Romantik aus dem Nachlass, Frankfurt, Sendler, I 986, 293 pp., pays substantial attention to Balzac, Chateaubriand, Hugo, Stendhal, who also appear in A. Rothe, Der literarische Titel: Funktionen, Formen, Geschichte, Frankfurt, Klostermann, 1986, viii+ 479 pp. Ursula Becker, *Geschichtsinteresse und historischer Diskurs, Stuttgart, Steiner, I986, 222 pp., concentrates on I9th-c. France; Ulf Heyden, *Zielgruppen des Romans: Analysen franzosischer Romanvorworte des 19. Jahrhunderts (Studia Romanica, 67), Heidelberg, Winter, 1986, 252 pp. *Men/Women of Letters, ed. C. A. Porter (YFS, 7I), 2I7pp., includes Chateaubriand, Hugo, Lamen• nais, Stendhal; G. Schluter, *Demokratische Literatur: Studien zur Geschichte des Begrif.fs von der Franzosischen Revolution his Tocqueville (BRA, 2 I), I986, xxii + 276 pp. S. Ginossar, Voyage litteraire en terre promise, Geneva, Slatkine, I986, 4I3 pp., includes (I6g-238) Roman• tics, particularly Chateaubriand (praised for style and innovative influence, tartly rebuked for defects) and Lamartine; Paulson, The Blind, has sections on early I9th-c. theatre (8o-87) and the literary tensions between romanticizing views of blindness associated with genius and more realistic portrayals, with examples from Chateau• briand, Ballache, Balzac (I2I-66) and notably Hugo (I67-98). K. Holz, "'Tout est dit": Der Literat im Konflikt', RZLG, r I :436-68, reviews writers' reactions to the notion of cliche; E. Griffin, FrF, I 2: I57-73, includes Comte and Saint-Simon in an ambitious study of

*Assistance from the Research Fund of Sheffield University in the preparation of this chapter is gratefully acknowledged. The Romantic Era 169

the search for alternatives to pre- 1 789 social divisions; S. Dunn, EsC, 27, no. 2:42-55, compares the reactions of Ballanche, Balzac, Chateaubriand, Hugo, and J. de Maistre to the execution of Louis XVI. RoQ, 34, no. 4, includes J.P. Houston (38g-g5) pointing out new perspectives for critical investigation; L. M. Porter, 'Writing Romantic epiphany: Atala, Seraphfta, Aurelia, Dieu' (435-42); A. B. Smith attempting to define Romanticjantasque (443-53), via Gautier, Hugo, Musset, Nerval, Sand. J. A. Ferguson, NCFS, I5: 394-406, studies images of Toussaint Louverture in Hugo, Lamartine, Quinet and others; E. Brody, RHLF, 87:23 I-40, presents I 2 unpubl. letters ofJulesJanin to]. W. Davison. M. Bood and S. Grand, L'Indomptable Louise Colet, Horay, I986, 237 pp., lively and clear, nicely illustrated.

2. CoNSULATE AND EMPIRE WRITERS Gallo-Germanica: Wechselwirkungen und Parallelen deutscher und fran;:;osi• scher Literatur (18.-20. jahrhundert), ed. E. Heftrich, J.-M. Valentin, Nancy U.P., I986, 322 pp.: E. Behler analyses the notion of infinite perfectibility (Constant, Stael) (I 2 I-50 );J. Murat, 'Das Novalis-Bild des franzosischen Romantik von Madame de Stael his Xavier Marmier' (I5I-65). G. Benrekassa, Romantisme, no.56:2I-27, con• siders autobiography in the fiction of Chateaubriand and Constant, who appear with Stendhal in M. Baude, 'Le moi au future: !'image de l'avenir dans l'autobiographie', ib., 29-36. BONALD. G. Gengembre, Europe, nos. 693-94:8g-10o, analyses B.'s reactions to Stael's Considerations sur la Revolutionfram;aise. CHATEAUBRIAND. H.-P. Lund, *Francis-Rene de Chateaubriand: 'Memoires d'outre-tombe', PUF, 320 pp.; Pfotenhauer, Anthropologie, pp. I93-200, sees Memoires d'outre-tombe as C.'s monumental mise en scene ofhimself.J.-C. Berchet, 'Le manuscrit autographe du livre I des Memoires de ma vie de C.', RHLF, 87:7I3-32;j.F. Hamilton, RoQ, 34: 4I5-24, studies Rene's 'existential anxiety'; I d., 'Ritual passage in C.'s Atala', NCFS, I5: 385-93; J. Cabanis, Pour Sainte-Beuve, Galli• mard, I88 pp., gives medical records of C. and his wife ( 105-37); M. Lehtonen, Neophilologica Fennica, 242-52, discusses psycho-stylistic devices which lure the reader to accept C.'s own viewpoint in Les Memoires d'outre-tombe. (See GENERAL: Ginossar, and STENDHAL: Berthier). CONSTANT. Benjamin Constant publiciste (IB25-30), ed. E. Harpaz, Slatkine, 2 I 7pp., gathers articles by C. representing salient points of his thought; the critical apparatus is rather slight. Two overlapping studies: Dennis Wood, Constant: 'Adolphe', CUP, 109 pp., charts biographical and literary background and salient points of character and style; Timothy Unwin, Constant: 'Adolphe' (CGFT, 58), 9I pp.,