Research Guides: Global Language Literatures: French

French Literature Reference Material

A New History of Medieval French Literature by Sara L. Preisig (Translator); Jacqueline Cerquiglini-Toulet
Call Number: CFL Floor 3 Book Stacks PQ156.C47 2011

Part history of literature, part theoretical criticism, this book reshapes the language and content of medieval works. By weaving together topics such as the origin of epic and lyric poetry, Latin-French bilingualism, women’s writing, grammar, authorship, and more, Cerquiglini-Toulet does nothing less than redefine both philosophical and literary approaches to medieval French literature. Her book is a history of the literary act, a history of words, a history of ideas and works—monuments rather than documents—that calls into question modern concepts of literature.
The New Oxford Companion to Literature in French by Peter France (Editor)
Call Number: CFL Floor 3 Book Stacks PQ41.N49 1995

Rabelais and Montaigne, Moliere and Racine, Stendhal and Proust--the literature of France boasts a long and glorious tradition. In The New Oxford Companion to Literature in French, readers will have at their fingertips a trusted guide to this rich literary heritage.
Encyclopedia of Contemporary French Culture
Call Number: CFL Floor 4 Book Stacks DC33.7.E53 1998
The Oxford History of the French Revolution
Publication Date: 2018-09-05

Since its first publication to mark the bicentenary of the French Revolution in 1989, this Oxford History has established itself as the Revolution's most authoritative and comprehensive one-volume history in English.

Select Titles

Selections below are in English, but you can search for works in French by using the Advanced Search and choosing "French" from the list of languages.

Astérix Gladiateur
Call Number: CFL Floor 3 Book Stacks NC1499.U3 G585x

French comic book series recounting the tales of Astérix, the last heroic Gaul holding out against the Roman conquest.
Candide by Voltaire; Burton Raffel (Translator)
Call Number: CFL Floor 3 Book Stacks PQ2082.C3 E5 2005

Candide recounts the fantastically improbable travels, adventures, and misfortunes of the young Candide, his beloved Cune;gonde, and his devoutly optimistic tutor, Pangloss. Endowed at the start with good fortune and every prospect for happiness and success, the characters nevertheless encounter every conceivable misfortune. Voltaire’s philosophical tale, in part an ironic attack on the optimistic thinking of such figures as G. W. Leibniz and Alexander Pope, has proved enormously influential over the years. In a general introduction to this volume, historian Johnson Kent Wright places Candide in the contexts of Voltaire’s life and work and the Age of Enlightenment.
Les Liaisons Dangereuses by Choderlos de Laclos; P. W. Stone (Translator, Introduction by)
Call Number: CFL Floor 3 Book Stacks PQ1993.L22 L513 1961

The complex moral ambiguities of seduction and revenge make Les Liaisons dangereuses (1782) one of the most scandalous and controversial novels in European literature. Its prime movers, the Vicomte de Valmont and the Marquise de Merteuil--gifted, wealthy, and bored--form an unholy alliance and turn seduction into a game. And they play this game with such wit and style that it is impossible not to admire them, until they discover mysterious rules that they cannot understand. In the ensuing battle there can be no winners, and the innocent suffer with the guilty.
Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert; Keith Carabine (Contribution by); Roger Clark (Introduction by); Eleanor Marx-Aveling (Translator)
Call Number: CFL Floor 3 Book Stacks PQ2246.M2 E5 1994

When Emma Rouault marries dull, provincial doctor Charles Bovary, her dreams of an elegant and passionate life crumble. She escapes into sentimental novels but finds her fantasies dashed by the tedium of her days. Motherhood proves to be a burden; religion is only a brief distraction. She spends lavishly and embarks on a series of disappointing affairs. Soon heartbroken and crippled by debts, Emma takes drastic action with tragic consequences for her husband and daughter. When published in 1857, Madame Bovary was embraced by bourgeois women who claimed it spoke to the frustrations of their lives.
Swann's Way by Marcel Proust; C. K. Scott-Moncrieff (Translator); Elizabeth Dalton (Introduction by, Intro and Notes by)
Call Number: CFL Floor 3 Book Stacks PQ2631.R63 D813 1956

n Swann's Way, the themes of Proust's masterpiece are introduced, and the narrator's childhood in Paris and Combray is recalled, most memorably in the evocation of the famous maternal good-night kiss. The recollection of the narrato'.s love for Swann's daughter Gilberte leads to an account of Swann's passion for Odette and the rise of the nouveaux riches Verdurins.

Online Resources

The ARTFL Project
Founded in 1982 as a result of a collaboration between the French government and the University of Chicago, the ARTFL Project is a consortium-based service that provides its members with access to North America's largest collection of digitized French resources. Along with ARTFL's flagship database ARTFL-FRANTEXT, ARTFL members are also given access to a large variety of other Subscriber Databases.
Femmes Ecrivains et Littérature Africaine Francophone
Available in French or "modified English," site provides an overview of African women writers writing in French, South of the Sahara. See also a link on the website for (static) bibliography of Women Writers of North Africa.
Groupe d’Études et de Recherches pour le Français Langue Internationale (GERFLINT)
This bibliographic database contains all the publications digitized by GERFLINT in its capacity as publisher. It basically includes the GERFLINT Network of Synergy Journals, a bouquet of about thirty journals in the Humanities and Social Sciences (over 3000 articles) according to a geographical and alphabetical classification from A frique to V enezuela. The reader can access not only the titles, abstracts and keywords but also the full text of the article. The originality of the GERFLINT database lies not only in its global geographical coverage and its maximum level of accessibility: it is part of the reduced number of online international bibliographic bases that are essentially French-speaking.
Les Bibliothèques Virtuelles Humanistes
Manuscripts and early printed works by Renaissance humanists from libraries throughout France.
Poésie Française
Search by nationality or century for French and Francophone poetry. Part of the site is also devoted to those who wish to post their poetry (which can also be searched).

French Films

There are a number of French language films in the library's collection. The DVD's are on the third floor of the library and can be checked out with your student ID just like books! (Make sure to check out the popular releases when you're there, too!).

Disclaimer: Make sure to check the Region number of the DVD you are going to check out when viewing DVDs manufactured outside the U.S./North America ...DVD's produced in other countries are manufactured using a different format than those made in the U.S. Most computers and modern DVD players can easily accommodate these formats. Manufacturers also include region codes which prevent DVDs manufactured in one region from being played on computer equipment from another region. The Chester Fritz Library has dedicated computer equipment which can play those non-US DVDs which have region codes other than 1 (North America) or 0 (no region code--may be played on any equipment). The settings on your personal computer will be permanently adjusted if you attempt to play DVDs with region codes other than 0 or 1. Once these codes are reset on your computer (typically automatic after about 5 viewings), you will not be able to adjust it back, nor will you be able to view DVDs made in the U.S., which will likely be your more typical viewing preference. Please use library equipment only for viewing international DVDs.

Awakenings
Call Number: CFL Floor 3 Room 320 (PN1997 .A9354 1997 DVD)

Publication Date: 1997
The Doctor by Haines, Ronda
Call Number: CFL Floor 3 Room 320 (R154.R73 H35 2012 DVD)
And The Band Played On
Call Number: CFL Floor 3 Room 320 (PN1995.9.A435 A53 2010 DVD)
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
Call Number: CFL Floor 3 Room 320 (PN1997 .O525 2002 DVD)
My Left Foot
Call Number: CFL Floor 3 Room 320 (PN1997 .M92 2005 DVD)
My Father's Glory (La gloire de mon père)
Call Number: CFL Floor 3 Room 320 (PQ2631.A26 Z53 1990 DVD)

Publication Date: 1990
Le Château de ma Mère
Call Number: CFL Floor 3 Room 320 (PN1997 .C46 1990 DVD)
L'Auberge Espagnole
Call Number: CFL Floor 3 Room 320(PN1997.2 .A8 2003 DVD )
The French Revolution
Call Number: CFL Floor 3 Room 320 (DC148 .F716 2005 DVD)
The Last Days
Call Number: CFL Floor 3 Room 320 (D804.195 .L37 2003 DVD)
Le retour de Martin Guerre
Call Number: CFL Floor 3 Room 320 (PN1997 .R486 2004 DVD )
The Mission
Call Number: CFL Floor 3 Room 320 (PN1997 .M589 2003 DVD)
House of Sand and Fog
Call Number: CFL Floor 3 Room 320 (PN1997.2 .H662 2004 DVD)
The Mosquito Coast
Call Number: CFL Floor 3 Room 320 (PN1997 .M75 1999 DVD)
Fitzcarraldo
Call Number: CFL Floor 3 Room 320 (PN1997 .F57 1999 DVD )