The French always take aesthetic issues very seriously; A history of French literature is the best teaching material for studying the development of literature. Because French literature has a long and rich history, and it has had a far-reaching influence on other languages' literature in the process of development, it is generally considered to occupy the core position in the development of western literature.
Sometimes French people regard themselves as the descendants of Gaul, inherit the so-called "Gaul spirit", pursue relaxed and pleasant joy, like to ridicule others, and never seriously think about life and life-related issues. In fact, this "Gaul spirit" can be seen in all French literature. However, a very basic feature of French literature is often overlooked, that is, the "Gaul spirit" in the works of most of the greatest French writers is not obvious.
It is obviously impossible to explain clearly the characteristics of complex French literature by such a simple generalization. For most foreigners, especially English speakers, French prose, which is characterized by clear expression, accurate expression and elegant style, seems to be superior to French poetry in form. However, the French will try their best to refute this point. In their eyes, the unique rhythm of French poetry can never be fully appreciated by onlookers, and its charm is no less than that of the well-known French prose. For the French, the uniqueness of French poetry is rooted in the tradition of French civilization, and it also suits the French taste.
Middle Ages: Diversification of Literary Forms
The earliest French literature can be traced back to the 11th century. Song of Roland, whose author is unknown, is the earliest epic in France. Similar epics include Beowulf, Song of Nibelungen, etc. Most of these epics praise the great monarch. For example, Song of Roland is a tribute to the famous French king Charlemagne (742-814). In addition, chivalrous legends prevailed in medieval France, all of which praised chivalry and promoted elegant love. The most important writer in France in this period was Kerity de Trouvat in the 12th century, who was the most famous narrative poet in medieval France. In addition, most of the poems that are popular in Provence in the south are based on the elegant love between knights and ladies. Most of these poems have rich imagination, but their styles are pretentious and their literary value is not high. It was not until the end of the Middle Ages that the first truly great lyric poet, Fran? ois Villone (1431-1465), appeared in France.
The style of French prose in the Middle Ages is the most common in history and chronicles, but the most attractive of this kind of works is the series of stories of "Okasian and Nicole Lady" that appeared since the 12th century.
Like other parts of Europe, French drama originated from medieval religious drama, but after a long time, these two literary styles became enemies like fire and water. The earliest drama is only a simple plot of religious ceremonies, and the most common is the legend about Christmas and Easter. However, when the performance place of these plays was transferred from the church to the public, and the original Latin was replaced by French, the development of French drama began to follow a completely different road from Roman Christian style. Those burlesque dramas with humorous language, rough form and realistic style are popular. In this farce, as well as satirical fables and short narrative poems, the shadow of the "Gaul spirit" mentioned above appeared for the first time.
16th century: the influence of the Renaissance
The French Renaissance began during the reign of Francois I (1515-1547). The collapse of feudalism, the introduction of printing technology and the rediscovery of the cultural heritage of ancient Greece and Rome are the most important factors that gave birth to the French Renaissance. Although the European Reformation, which was in full swing at that time, also influenced France in this century, until the end of the 16th century, the French were still devout Catholics. In the field of literature, the influence of Renaissance is mainly reflected in the creative tendency of classicism. A group of writers named "Seven Star Poetry Society" published a manifesto in 155, which defined the rules of academic literature creation. The lyric poet Biel de Longsha (1524-1585) was the leader of the Seven Star Poetry Society. Poetic tragedy appeared formally. This theme attached importance to the combination of plot, time and place and flourished in France for 3 years.
However, the greatest French writer in the 16th century wrote in prose style. Francois Rabelais (149-1553) and his most famous work, Biography of the Giant, were written in the style of fiction whose form was still ambiguous at that time. Biography of the Giant has a strange style, is extremely exaggerated, and its language is very rough, sometimes even vulgar, but it satirizes the society mercilessly in the gag. Montaigne (1533-1592), another French writer in the 16th century, had a completely different style from rabelais. His style is mature and quiet, and he is the first great essayist in modern times. His works aim to reflect his real life experience, not to pursue the gorgeous language.
17th century: French classicism ruled Europe
In the 17th century, France completely became a monarchy. The famous French Academy established in 1635 led to the centralization of French culture. Nicolas boileaudespreaux Desplo (1636-1711), a literary theorist, published The Art of Poetry, which established the creation rules of classical literature and became the absolute authority at that time, and allowed no challenge.
French classicism holds that literary creation should take the classical works of ancient Greece and Rome as models, while poetry should follow the principles of nature and rationality. The creation of all rhyme styles must follow strict rules, especially tragedy creation. However, under these restrictions, French literature reached its first peak in history, which was the classicism period, also known as the "Louis XIV period", because it basically coincided with the long reign of Louis XIV, the "sun king" (1643-1715). During this period, France was the undisputed overlord of Europe, both politically and culturally. In the classical era, the development of politics, religion and literature should follow the authoritative dogma. However, the related concepts of classicism, such as order, balance and elegance, still reflect the French people's pursuit of literary taste. Pierre Gao Naiyi (166-1684) and jean racine (1639-1699) created many poetic tragedies according to the principles of classicism. Most of Gao Naiyi's works describe themes related to personal honor, while Racine often describes tragic love. Theologian and orator Jacques-Bonnier Boucher tried to concretize the classical principles, but his achievements were not as good as that of another religious writer. Blaise pascal (1623-1662) was not only a great thinker, but also the greatest French prose writer at that time. In the serious classical era, Moliere (1622-1673) and La Fontaine (1621-1695) were the most distinctive styles. The former creates witty and lively modern comedies, while the language stories created by the latter have become a must-read for French children today. Francois de Larochefoucauld is a master of writing prose aphorisms. The style of "Prose Motto" is rich in French literature.
Classical literature is essentially aristocratic literature, which embodies the aesthetic taste of the royal family, and its achievements are limited to a few fields. With the continuous improvement of citizens' education level and the continuous expansion of social attention, the rigid dogma of classicism has gradually become the shackles of literary development. However, whether you can understand the spirit of classicism and appreciate its masterpieces is still considered by the French as a sign to judge whether a person has culture or not.
18th century: the age of reason
The style of French literature in the 18th century is very different from that in the 17th century, and its change is the most rapid between the death of Louis XIV in 1715 and the outbreak of the French Revolution in 1789. This is an era of promoting rationality, and it is also an era of breeding many ideas, some of which are even destructive to the existing system and country, and their basic tendency is critical, skeptical and innovative. The ideas of freedom, tolerance, fraternity, equality and revolution are accepted and supported by more and more people.
Some of these ideas come from the British intelligentsia. The most distinctive literary works of this century are all propaganda of ideas and challenges to tradition, dogma and authority. At this time, a large number of writers known as "philosophical parties" appeared in France, mainly including Montesquieu, Voltaire and Diderot. Montesquieu (1689-1755) satirized all aspects of social customs and praised the British Constitution. Voltaire (1694-1778) attacked stubborn superstitions and sympathized with the victims of religious persecution and political oppression. In him, the principle of rationalism is most profoundly embodied. However, most of Voltaire's works are too dependent on the times and do not have eternal literary charm. Only his letters and some stories are still read today. Denis Derot (1713-1784) was the editor-in-chief of the famous Encyclopedia. "Encyclopedia" not only provides people with a lot of information, but also aims to attack ignorance and intolerance and get rid of ignorance and superstition. From the perspective of pure literature, the creation of this period still belongs to the category of classicism. For example, Voltaire's poetic tragedy is largely based on the creation of Gao Naiyi and Racine. Diderot is an innovator to a greater extent. His drama creation and his contribution to drama theory, including the concept of "drama", have adapted to the needs of the growing middle class.
Buel de Ma Liwo (1688-1763) in the first half of the 18th century and Buel Pierre Augustin Caron de Beaumarchais (1732-1799) in the second half of the 18th century inherited the tradition of classical comedy creation. In addition, there are still some writers who are engaged in pure literary creation that has nothing to do with the propaganda of ideas, and some novels have appeared, including Gil Brass by alain rene lesage (1668-1747) and Manon Lescau by Rabbi Plev (1697-1743).
the most important French writer in the 18th century was Swiss-born Jean-jean-jacques rousseau (1712-1778). His works promote the natural virtue and instinctive rationality of human beings and attack the decay of social civilization. He is eager to live in a knowledge-oriented world, and he himself is an innovator of education and an enlightener of revolutionary ideas. In literature, he is regarded as the pioneer of romanticism. Throughout the eighteenth century, Rousseau's influence exceeded that of any other writer.
Romantic literature: a backlash against classicism
From the outbreak of the French Revolution in 1789 to the final subversion of Napoleon's regime in 1815, the French people focused on observing external things. This is the most changeable time in French political history. If it weren't for the political changes that attracted the attention of the French, the romantic movement would have appeared earlier in France. Romantic movement is a direct reaction to French classicism. To some extent, romanticism emphasizes human feelings rather than rationality; Emphasize individuals, not society; This is not completely in line with the national characteristics of the French. The origin of French romanticism appeared in the story creation of Fran? ois-René de chateaubriand (1768-1848) and Madame de Stael's introduction of German romanticism elements, which was also reflected in Alphonse de Lamartin (179-1869).
romanticism's defense of poetic tragedy opened the real curtain of this movement. The release of victor hugo's Onani in 183 symbolized the final victory of romantic drama. Boileau's "Three Uniforms" was formally abolished, and the prosodic restriction of poetic tragedy was also liberated. Hugo (182-1885) was the most outstanding genius and well-deserved spiritual leader in the romantic movement. He wrote a lot in his life, and made great achievements in poetry, drama, novels and other fields. His lyric poetry creation status is considered supreme.
other writers of this movement include Alfred de Winnie (1799-1863) with pessimistic style, Theophil Gautier (1811-1872) with beautiful style, and alfred de musset (181-1857) who is good at depicting melancholy romantic feelings. These three poets were also engaged in the creation of novels, while Miao Sai in his later period achieved great success in the field of drama creation. The novelist Dumas (182-187) won worldwide fame with his masterpiece three musketeers.
Prosper Merimee (183-187) was a master of short stories. George sand (184-1876), the most famous French woman writer, was the best at describing rural life. Charles Augustine Saint-Boff (184-1869) is the greatest French literary critic of this era. He devoted his life to the spread of romantic ideas and tried to objectively interpret his works instead of commenting on them.
by the mid-19th century, the romantic movement had reached its peak. Romanticism advocates the liberation of human personality from norms and dogmas, which provides writers with endless inspiration. It revived all branches of literature, and poetry creation undoubtedly benefited the most from it. In this movement, foreign writers had a great influence on the development of French literature, especially the works of Shakespeare, Scottus and Byron.
Realistic literature: scientific development and industrialization
Realism emerged after romanticism, adhering to the principle of truly depicting real life. The birth of realism is a reconciliation of romanticism to some extent, but its essence is the product of the continuous development of science and technology and the intensification of industrialization.
after the emergence of realism, the real description of real life has become the mainstream of literary creation. Stendhal (1783-1842) was a true pioneer of French realism, and the novel Red and Black still has a wide audience. Balzac's novel creation (1799-185) is the most outstanding representative of French realistic literature. His Human Comedy is a magnificent literary building, no less than a chronicle of French social customs in the 19th century. In addition to novels, Dumas and ogier's drama creation also followed the principle of realism.
This realistic principle of pursuing truth and science has even been applied to poetry creation, among which the famous "Gaodan School" poets group is an outstanding representative, especially.