Boulevard du crime

A study of crime and criminality in relation to French culture and literature from the late-middle ages through the 20th-century. Readings in a variety of sources including poetry (from Villon to Verlaine), theater (Racine), the novel (Zola, Genêt, Duras), trials (Gilles de Rais, the prototype of Bluebeard), memoirs (Lacenaire, dubbed the "elegant murderer"), and criminological treatises. Film screenings will complement readings. Taught in French.