Approaches to Teaching Hugo’s Les Misérables
- Editors: Michal P. Ginsburg, Bradley Stephens
- Pages: 236
- Published: 2018
- ISBN: 9781603293365 (Paperback)
- ISBN: 9781603293358 (Hardcover)
“This collection constitutes a rich educational tool for instructors of French who want to teach and study this great novel.”
—Jacques Neefs, Johns Hopkins University
The greatest work of one of France’s greatest writers, Victor Hugo’s Les Misérables has captivated readers for a century and a half with its memorable characters, its indictment of injustice, its concern for those suffering in misery, and its unapologetic embrace of revolutionary ideals. The novel’s length, multiple narratives, and encyclopedic digressiveness make it a pleasure to read but a challenge to teach, and this volume is designed to address the needs of instructors in a variety of courses that include the novel in excerpts or as a whole.
Part 1 of the volume, “Materials,” provides guidance on editions in French and in English translation, biographies, criticism, and maps. Part 2, “Approaches,” contains essays that discuss the novel’s conceptions of misère, sexuality, and the politics of the time and that demonstrate techniques for teaching context including the book’s literary market, its adaptations, its place in popular culture, and its relation to other novels of its time.
Rachel G. Fuchs
Andrea Goulet
Kathryn M. Grossman
Cary Hollinshead-Strick
André Ilíev
Dorothy Kelly
Bettina R. Lerner
Joseph Mai
Brian Martin
Philippe Moisan
Dean de la Motte
Mary Anne O’Neil
Anne O’Neil-Henry
William Paulson
Anne-Marie Picard
Laurence M. Porter
Timothy Raser
Isabel K. Roche
Daniel Sipe
Pauline de Tholozany
Julia Douthwaite Viglione
Introduction (vii)
PART ONE: MATERIALS
Editions, Abridgments, and Translations (3)
Visual, Audiovisual, and Digital Materials (4)
Biographies and Reception (5)
Criticism (7)
Background Materials (8)
Characters and Character Networks in Les Misérables (10)
The Paris of Les Misérables: Maps and Commentary (11)
PART TWO: APPROACHES
Contexts
The Reception of Les Misérables in the Context of a New Aesthetic (21)
Best-Selling Hugo: Les Misérables and the Nineteenth-Century Literary Market (29)
Hugo’s Waterloo: History, Politics, Commemoration (37)
Beyond Fiction: Misère in Historical Context (45)
Teaching Social Class and the Dynamics of History in Hugo’s Les Misérables (54)
Les Misérables in /as American Pop Culture (64)
Specific Courses
Les Misérables and the Nineteenth-Century French Novel (72)
Teaching an Undergraduate Course on Les Misérables: Ways of Doing It (80)
Les Misérables and Childhood in Nineteenth-Century France (87)
Studying Criminality and the Popular Press through Les Misérables (95)
Les Misérables and the Literature of Paris (104)
Misery and Militancy: Hugo’s Social and Political Engagement in Les Misérables (112)
“Les horizons du rêve”: Hugo’s Utopianism (120)
Les Misérables and the French Revolution: How to Keep That “Unfamiliar Light” Aflame (129)
Les Misérables and Adaptation Studies (136)
Reading Les Misérables with High School Students (145)
Critical Perspectives
Teaching Les Misérables through the Lens of Gender and Sexuality (153)
Infinity and Home: Exploring Moral Action in Les Misérables (161)
What the Novel Omits from the Musical: Teaching 1848 and the Misfortunes of Progress (169)
But I Digress: Teaching Les Misérables through the Historical and Philosophical Digressions (176)
No Expectations: An Aspect of Misery in Les Misérables (183)
Type Transformed: Character and Characterization in Les Misérables (190)
Notes on Contributors (199)
Survey Respondents (203)
Works Cited (205)
Index (221)
