European Languages and Societies Commons^™

Retracer La Poésie Française Des Lumières Aux Surréalistes En Passant Par Moi [Tracing French Poetry From My Perspective, The Enlightenment Through Surrealism], Emily Wieder

Modern Languages: Student Scholarship & Creative Works

Attuned to social changes, artists both celebrate and contest progress. From the Age of Reason through the Age of Disillusionment and even today, French poetry has shaded development in hues of freedom. Liberty in the 18th century connoted democratic ideals, then following the Revolution, writers aimed to free creativity. Seeking to retrace modern French literature and to frame the movements around their historical and philosophical contexts, this paper asks how preceding poets influenced upcoming ones. This essay surveys the literary evolution in France by concentrating on twelve poets, two males and one female, from four periods: The Enlightenment, Romanticism, Symbolism, …