19th Cent. Paris Underworlds

3 Credits · Level: Graduate, Undergraduate

This course will take as its focus the urban underworld of 19th century Paris, in both the literal and figurative meanings of “under world.” Divided into three units – crime; prostitution, and public works – this class will explore literary and sociological representations of nineteenth-century France’s urban underbelly, as well as the public works projects below Paris that shaped the city and its inhabitants above. Using a literary and cultural studies approach to the topic, we will examine canonical and popular works of fiction alongside nineteenth-century social studies as well as visual representations of the underground. On occasion these primary readings will be supplemented with twentieth and twenty-first century historical and literary criticism on relevant topics.