Parisian Tableaux of the 19th Century and Beyond

Session Organizers: Victoria Pine and Sara Quiroz
Saint Louis University
darren-tori@att.net

Le Champ de Bataille: Battlefields and Sruggles in 19th-Century Paris

The primary challenge in post-Napoleonic France was the creation of a new society based upon the principles of the Enlightenment. Such an endeavor, however, was easier said than done. French novelists of the various literary movements described the effects of burgeoning capitalism and the concurrent industrial expansion upon the spirit of the nation, and their observations depicted a harsh reality that little resembled the dreams of the philosophes . In fact, 19th century French society more closely resembled a battlefield than the utopia envisioned prior to the Revolution. For this reason, I will endeavor to show how three of the great 19th century novelists, Honoré de Balzac, Gustave Flaubert and Victor Hugo, drew parallels between the theme of the battlefield and the struggles inherent in modern French society of their time. Through the analysis of passages from the novels La Fille aux Yeux D'or, Le Père Goriot, Madame Bovary, and Les Miserables, we will come to understand the combative nature of daily life in France in the 1800s.

Carmen Blaylock, Saint Louis Univ.

La Boue: The Image of Mud in 19th-Century French Novel and its Parallels in the 21st Century

I propose comparing 19th-century Paris as depicted by Balzac in Le Père Goriot with the world such as we find it in the 21st century. Balzac describes the world of Paris during his time as a “dirt pile” ("un bourbier”), showing how obsession with money and power can lead to a degenerate society. Balzac's description of Paris in the 19th century still resonates today in America and other Western countries. “The rich keep getting richer” and because of the materialistic excesses of the latter part of the 20th century which yielded such aberrations as the Enron scandal, we are witness to a “dirt pile” that continues to build.

My aim is to show the importance of Balzac's tableau in understanding our own century, to demonstrate how Balzac's Paris of 185 years ago has visible parallels in modern society.

Victoriai Pine, Saint Louis Univ.

The Unity of the Tableau

Through visual and textual images, I propose to examine a concept which often underlies the thinking and works of 19th-century France: the idea of the unity of composition. By comparing the Parisian tableaux as found in the literary work of Balzac with photographs dating from the early part of the century, I will focus on the importance of visual and textual imagery in the thought process and the writer's vision of this period in France.

Examples of photographic texts from more contemporary times will provide an opportunity to re-evaluate the notion of the “unity of composition” today.

Sara Quiroz, Saint Louis Univ.