How "French Literature" Was Created: From Defeat to the Formation of National Literature

Looking back now, I feel I gave it a rather grandiose title. While the content matches the title, it is a compact book of about 250 pages, including notes.

The inspiration for writing this book came when a longtime editor suggested, "Why don't you try writing a book that discusses your relationship with French literature from a personal history perspective?" There are many memoirs in the world where scholars look back on their research careers, but I have little interest in that.

However, the editor's words got me thinking. How did the French literature I studied at university, and later taught to students as a teacher, actually come to be in its home country? In other words, when did literature written in French become "French literature"?

This is an issue related to the formation of national literature. Although there are slight differences depending on the country, it is generally accepted that national literature was established in Europe between the late 18th and late 19th centuries. The birth of the modern nation-state as a political entity lies in the background. In Japan, too, the concept of "National Literature" (Kokubungaku) was born during the Meiji period.

In contrast, this book distances itself from Benedict Anderson's theory of the nation-state and questions the formation of French literature from the perspectives of intellectual and cultural history. The broad flow of the argument is that Madame de Staël proposed national literature as an endeavor to express the spirit and customs of a nation in "Literature Considered in Its Relation to Social Institutions" (1800), followed by Ampère and Taillandier laying the foundations of literary history, and finally Lanson establishing "French Literary History" at the end of the 19th century.

In particular, the defeat suffered in the Franco-Prussian War of 1871 made the French people feel a strong need to reform the educational system. As part of this, it was considered important to have pupils and students study French literature to make them aware of their homeland's cultural achievements.

In particular, the defeat suffered in the Franco-Prussian War of 1871 made the French people feel a strong need to reform the educational system. As part of this, it was considered important to have pupils and students study French literature to make them aware of their homeland's cultural achievements.

How "French Literature" Was Created: From Defeat to the Formation of National Literature

Kosei Ogura

Hakusuisha

250 pages, 2,750 yen (tax included)