BASC70147 - Victor Hugo, Les Misérables

Course Description

Unlike the film/play, the original novel Les Misérables is a sophisticated work that combines history, philosophy, and literature, crossing genres in a way that is true of perhaps only Tolstoy’s War and Peace, genuinely earning its place as one of the greatest novels of the 19th century. Interweaving the story of Jean Valjean with a meta-structure that involves us in French post-revolutionary history, including the Napoleonic wars, class relations, the place of the church, the criminal law code, education, the architecture of Paris, and the situation of women, Hugo casts a wide net, aiming at nothing less than capturing the human condition and the wide-ranging attempts to progress “form injustice to justice, from falsehood to truth,...from corruption to life...” Using Christine Donougher’s 2015 translation (Penguin), we will undertake a careful reading of the novel over our 8 weeks, relishing its pleasures and delving deeply into Hugo’s aims and meaning.

Course Syllabus

Notes

Online registration deadline: Thursday, June 16 at 5 pm CT

Remote courses require you to login to Canvas to access the Zoom Classroom. You will receive an invitation to join Canvas about a week before your course begins. Please visit the Liberal Arts Student Resources page to find step by step instructions for Canvas and Zoom: Online Learning Resources