Proust and His Times

Proust and His Times

CompLit 7430X

Wednesdays, 6:30-8:10

Fall 2018

Required Texts:

Proust, Marcel. Swann's Way. Trans. Moncrieff, Kilmartin, Enright. Modern Library. 2003.
---Within a Budding Grove. Trans. Moncrieff, Enright. Modern Library.

---Time Regained. Trans. Moncrieff, Enright. Modern Library.

links to additional readings on website.

handouts

Course Requirements:

There is a lot of reading to do for this course. You are expected to have read all the material due before each class meeting.

Check the website for assignment updates.

There are 4 response papers. You may write these at any time during the semester, before we discuss the reading or after, if you take a different approach from those of the class discussions.

There will be one 5-page midterm paper and a 7-10 page final research paper. For those who would prefer a less formal academic final paper, there will be other options.

There will be one museum assignment that can be done either as a midterm project or, in extended form, as the final project.

No late papers. If extraordinary circumstances prevent you from getting your paper in on time, please email me.
Each student will lead discussion once during the semester---either to introduce a secondary text or to start a close reading of a particular passage.
Each student will give a 10-15 minute presentation on his or her final paper topic (last 3 class meetings)

Grades:

25% participation

20% response papers, explications, museum assignments

25% midterm paper

30% final paper

Swann justifies his love for Odette by allusions to Botticelli

Bottcelli

Zipporah "The Trials of Moses" (1481-82) Sistine Chapel, Rome
"Her loosened hair flowing down her cheeks, bending one knee in a slightly balletic pose . . . her head on one side, with those great eyes of hers which seemed so tired and sullen when there was nothing to animate her, she struck Swann by her resemblance to the figure of Zipporah, Jethro's daughter." — Swann's Way

Botticelli

Madonna of the Pomegranate (1487) Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence
"She [Odette] had at this moment their downcast, heart-broken expression, which seems ready to succumb beneath the burden of a grief too heavy to be borne when they are merely allowing the Infant Jesus to play with a pomegranate." — Swann's Way

Background:

Chronology of Proust's Life and works (cut and paste the link): http://www.proust-ink.com/

Chronology of the In Search of Lost Time: Genette

Impressionism (late 19th century)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Impressionism

Renoir, Mme Charpentier and her Children (1878) Met. Museum

of Art, New York "Will not posterity, when it looks at our time, find

the poetry of an elegant home and beautifully dressed women in the

drawing-room of the publisher Charpentier as painted by Renoir? Time Regained

Seurat, A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of the Grande Jatte, 1886

Monet, Waterlilies (1906)

See Proust's description of the waterlillies floating on the Vivonne.

Belle Epoque: 1900-1914

Cubism, Abstract art, posters

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cubism

Cubism: 1912 pamphlet "Du Cubisme"(Albert Gleizes and Jean Metzinger, Paris: Eugene Figuiere, 1912, p. 30): "Nothing is real ouside ourselves, nothing is real except the coincidence of a sensation and of an individual mental direction. We do not seek to put into question the existence of objects which strike our senses; but realistically we can only be certain of the image that they cause to unfold in our minds." (qtd in J Theodore Johnson, Jr., p. 48, "Proust's 'Impressionism' Reconsidered in the Light of the Visual Arts of the Twentieth Century" pp. 17-56 in Twentieth Century French Fiction: Essays for Germaine Bree, ed. Geroge Stambolian NJ: Rutgers Univ Press, 1975

Braque, Woman with a Guitar Picasso, Woman with a Guitar (1913) Picasso, Demoiselles d'Avignon (1907)

Toulouse Lautrec, Moulin Rouge Jardin de Paris

Class 1: Aug 29

Background: Turn-of-the-century Paris; Proust biography; opening paragraphs of Swann's Way

Grandmother's gifts:

Corot, Chartres Cathedral (1830) Louvre, Paris
"Instead of photographs of Chartres Cathedral, the Fountains of Saint-Cloud, of Vesuvius, she would inquire of Swann whether some great painter had not depicted them, and preferred to give me photographs of "Chartres Cathedral" after Corot, of the "Fountains of Saint-Cloud" after Hubert Robert, and of "Vesuvius" after Turner." — Swann's Way

Turner, Eruption of Vesuvius (1817) Yale Centre for British Art, New Haven

Class 2: Sept 12
Read through p. 124; Read online chapters from Weber, Fin de siecle, How They Lived; Affections and Disaffections
Pay close attention to the madeleine episode (60-64); views of the steeple of St. Hilaire (88-91); Giotto (110-113)
Read Gilles Deleuze, Proust and signs

For images of Illiers (Combray) cut and past this link: http://www.proust-ink.com/illiers/
Discussion leader:

Description of servants in Combray:

Giotto,Vices and Virtues (1305-06) Scrovegni Chapel, Padua "There must have been a good deal of reality in those Virtues and Vices of Padua, since they seemed to me as alive as the pregnant servant, and since she herself did not appear to me much less allegorical." — Swann's Way

Class 3: Sept 26:

Read through p. 339 of Swann's Way
Discussion leader: Amanda

Possible reponse papers: one page, double spaced, 12-point font:

1. hawthorns, p. 155-156; 158 (middle paragraph); 193-197

2. steeples at Martinville - 253 (bottom) - 255
3. Odette and the cattleyas - p. 328-331

3. reaction to, or close analysis of, any passage that particularly interests you.

Class 4: Oct 3:

Read Swann in Love through p. 490; "Debussy in Fin de siecle Paris" http://www.academia.edu/5330805/Debussy_in_fin-de-siecle_Paris Discussion leader:

Possible response paper topics: or do a close analysis of a paragraph of your choice:
1. sadism (Mlle Vinteuil and her lover)

2. the little phrase: Debussy, Faure, Franck - Discussion leader: Yuna
3. Explain the quote on p. 391: "...he had now, by his jealousy, given her the proof that he loved her too much, which, between a pair of lovers, for ever dispenses the recipient from the obligation to love enough.
Monet and the water lilies on the Vivonne

Class 5: Oct. 10: Finish Swann's Way

Online reading: Freud, Proust and Lacan

Discussion leader:
Swann's dream: 538-541; Discussion leader: Olena

Art: impressionism; cubism; abstract art; Fashion: Worth, Fortuny

Read the Chic Parisienne from Ruth Iskin, Modern Women and Parisian Consumer Culture in Impressionist Painting Discussion leader: Maria

fashion links:

Worth gowns: http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/wrth/hd_wrth.htm

Fortuny: http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hi/hi_fort.htm

Art links (webmuseum) http://www.ibiblio.org/wm/paint/tl/20th/

Dance: Stravinsky, Ballets russes

For a comparative translation from Swann's Way, click here:

http://www.readingproust.com/madelein.htm Discussion leader:

Poiret at the Metropolitan Museum of Art

As you look at the collection, pay careful attention to the classical forms of the dresses---the draping (particularly the Champs Elysees gown), the sleek lines, the colors. Identify particular dresses that Odette could have been wearing in the time of her early relationship with Swann (hint: the decor in her apartment) and those that some of the guests at the final party at the Princesse de Guermantes' would be wearing. What makes these clothes modern? What distinguishes them from the fashions that preceded them (some of the things we looked at from Fortuny and Worth---check the websites above).

A review of the exhibit from The New Yorker

http://www.newyorker.com/arts/critics/artworld/2007/05/21/070521craw_artworld_thurman/

Possible response paper topics:
1. Describe the Verdurin salon

2.Select a passage for close analysis

3. jealousy

4. Write about any aspect of these pages that intrigues, confuses, or mystifies you.

Ghirlandaoi, Old Man with his Grandchild. Louvre, Paris
"He [Swann] had always found a peculiar fascination in tracing in the paintings of the old masters not merely the general characteristics of the people whom he encountered in his daily life, but rather what seems least susceptible of generalization, the individual features of men and women whom he knew . . . in the colouring of a Ghirlandaio, the nose of M. de Palancy." — Swann's Way

Class 6: Oct 17

We will finish volume 1, with particular attention to the last section, Place Names: The Name; fashion (see last week's reading); translation (passage from the French, Kilmartin translation, Davis translation)

Extra reading:

Close analysis: Discussion leaders: Shoshana

Narrative Discourse, Genette

For an interesting article on the organization of Swann in Love, see Jean-Pierre Boon's "Concentric Patterns in Un Amour de Swann," Modern Language Studies, vol 17 No. 3, Summer 1987 (jstor) Discussion leader:

Possible response paper topics:

1. Explain: "For what we suppose to be our love or our jealousy is never a single, continuous and indivisible passion....love and suspicion."

(p. 529)

2. Examine the connection between the closing dream of "Swann in Love" and the opening section of "Place-Names."

3. Compare the Narrator to Swann.

4. Explain the allusions and symbols in the description of the Bois de Boulogne (592-594).

Description of Bloch:

hBellini, Mahomet ,The Sultan Mehmet II (1480) National Gallery, London

"I said it was Bloch. 'Oh, yes, that boy I saw here once, who looks so like the Bellini portrait of Mahomet II. It's an astonishing likeness; he has the same arched eyebrows and hooked nose and promient cheekbones. When he has a little beard he'll be Mahomet himself.'" — Swann's Way

Class 7 and 8: Oct 24 and Oct. 31
Within a Budding Grove
Read p. 1-11; 85-90; 116-119; 261-73; 299-366; 420-474
Additional readings from Gilles Deleuze, Levels of the search: Discussion leader:
Close analysis: Discussion leaders: Jessica
Bloom, Proust and Jealousy. Discussion leader:

For Wednesday, Oct 31: If you need to limit your reading, be sure to read 503-516; 558-581; 593-606; 643-692; 706-730. Find a passage that you would like to discuss in class.
Suggested reading: Bales, Proust and the Fine Arts (especially on Elstir and Vinteuil)
Discussion leaders:

Midterm paper: Due Wednesday, Oct 31: 5 pages, double spaced, 12 pt. font, 1" margins. You can e-mail the paper to me before midnight on the 31st. NO LATE PAPERS ACCEPTED.

1. Examine the connection between Proust and Vermeer. Why does Swann study this particular painter? What was Vermeer's place in the artistic world of turn-of-the-century Paris?

2. Examine the connections between Proust and contemporary psycological theory.

3. Discuss the Proustian analogy between love and sickness.

4. Floral imagery in Proust (hawthorns, cattleyas, chrysantemums)

5. Vinteuil's little phrase and Swann's love.

6. Choose one artistic analogue and analyze how Proust uses it.

or compare the photos with a Parisian street description in Proust.

7. Choose either a Vermeer or a Monet and write a description of the painting in Proustian style. I don't expect you to be able to duplicate the style, but you should be able to capture the flavor, mood, cadence of Proustian description. This topic is meant for those who want to play with creative writing.

8. Visit the furniture rooms at the Met. Find two different rooms (if not entire rooms, then particular pieces from different rooms) that you can associate with one of the salons in the Search. Write a page paper analyzing how and why the particular pieces you selected fit the particular salon. You could choose Odette's salon, Mme Verdurin's, the Guermantes', Charlus' home.

OR: A topic of your choice, but you must have it approved by me BEFORE you write.

Whitstler, Harmony in Pink and Grey: Portrait of Lady Meux (1881) Frick Collection, New York
"And sometimes to a sky and sea uniformly grey a touch of pink would be added with an exquisite delicacy . . . this 'Harmony in Grey and Pink'" — Within a Budding Grove

Class 9, 10, 11: Here are the pages from Volume 3 (The Guermantes Way): 92-11; 173-185; 357-366; 403-441;469-471; 493-502; 573-578; 793-819
on line pdf: Guermantes Way
Vol 4 (Sodom and Gomorrah): 1-43; 171-173; 190-197; 204-220; 236-245; 699-711; 718-724
on line pdf:
Vol 5 (The Captive & The Fugitive): 1-11; 75-100; 146-160; 204-210; 228-250; 268-287; 331-353; 440-558; 719-752; 844-890

on line pdf:

Class 9: Nov. 7

Read the excerpts from The Guermantes Way Discussion leader (close analysis):

Dreyfus Affair:

Look at the NYU site, with postcards from the time of the Affair:

http://modiya.nyu.edu/handle/1964/375

Read: http://www.newyorker.com/arts/critics/books/2009/09/28/090928crbo_books_gopnik

Discussion leader:

Class 10: Nov. 14

Read excerpts from Sodom and Gommorah posted online. Pay particular attention to the portrait of Charlus.

Read "The Myth and Science of Homosexuality" in Homosexuality in French Literature by J. E. Rivers Discussion leader:

and the excerpt on Charlus in the brothel Discussion leader (close analysis): Brianna
Bring in a sentence, episode, paragraph, word that you want to discuss in class.

time and sense, 83-99 by Julia Kristeva.. Discussion leader: Matt

Possible Response paper topics:

Choose a passage to closely analyze from any of the sections due this week, or write on any topic, theme, motif that catches your interest in these pages.
Or, respond to either the Rivers or the Kristeva excerpt.

Class 11: Nov. 21
Read excerpts from The Captive and the Fugitive
reading: Dutch Painting (Yeazell) Discussion leader:

Close analysis: View of Delft: Discussion leader:
Proust and Signs, Presence of Madness (Deleuze) Discussion leader:
Marville photographs
Close reading: pages 342 - 343 in the The Captive,"Each artist…will eventually emerge" to "Composers do not remember..compose his soul." Discussion leader: Nomi

Suggested reading: Landy, "Sentence Structure," in Philosophy as Fiction
Kristeva, Metonymy, from Time and Sense

Class 12: Nov. 28: Time Regained; p. 105-130; 161-169; 180-207; Read more if you have the time.

Kristeva, p. 292-304, The Final Sentence, in Time and Sense:
Michael Wood, "The Death of Paradise," Philosophy and Literature 21, 2(1997): 245-261 (available on JStor). Discussion leader:

Kristeva on Venice in Time and Sense:
Pick a sentence or a scene that you want to discuss in class. Discussion leaders: Kayla
Start thinking about a topic for a final, 7-10 page paper. Oral presentations the last two class meetings.

Class 13: Dec. 5: SUBMIT FINAL PAPER TOPICS
Paper proposal : A clear, limited topic for your paper, stating the question that you will explore and the argument you will make.
A list of at least 4 scholarly secondary sources. This should be in MLA format.
A list of at least 3 passages from the primary text that you will analyze closely in your paper as support for your argument. You will not merely summarize the passages, but rather subject them to a close, detailed reading that yields evidence to support your argument.

finish Time Regained, p.255-330; 481-531.
Kristeva, p. 292-304, The Final Sentence, in Time and Sense:
Discussion leader: Will

Possible response papers:
From the Captive and the Fugitive: Vinteuil septet; View of Delft

Close analysis of a passage of your choice; or wirte on any theme of your choice
From Time Regained:

The paving stones in the Guermantes' courtyard.

Explain the quote: "The true paradises are the paradises we have lost." (261).

A passage, or a topic, of your choice.

Old Odette (382-84)

Close analysis of p. 412 "To return....no longer there."

Bloch's monocle (p. 385)

Class 14 and 15: Dec 12, Dec. 19: 10-minute presentation on your paper topic. These presentations will take the following form: Once you've selected your topic (and cleared it with me), pick one sentence from the novel that is in some way relevant to your topic. You will lead the class discussion focusing on that sentence for your oral presentation. You need to e-mail the sentence to me so that I can send it to all class members and project it on the screen for all to see.
Presentation schedule:

Wednesday, Dec. 12: presenters: Jessica; Shoshanna; Will; Yuna; Olena

Wednesday, Dec. 19: presenters: Nomi; Amanda; Matt; Briana; Kayla; Maria

Final papers due, by e-mail, Dec. 19. You must clear your topic with me by Dec. 5. Final papers need at least four secondary sources (all scholarly sources----can include interviews, films, articles, books)

Study Guide Questions (from www.tempsperdu.com) - Be prepared to discuss these questions in class

1. Early in Swann's Way Proust writes: "Our social personality is a creation of the minds of others " (19), and in Contre Saint-Beuve Proust makes a distinction between the "moi social" and the "moi profond." How does Proust illustrate the disjunction throughout the novel?3
2. The Narrator states, "since I did not know where I was, I did not understand in the first moment who I was"(5). Consider the ways in which Proust writes about the self and the recovery of place as well as the recovery of time.
3. Pay attention to the text's logic of emptiness and fulfillment, deprivation and plenitude, hunger and satiety, absence and presence, as well as excess or superabundance.
In Time Regained the Narrator claims that "The true paradises are the paradises we have lost" (ML 261), but Combray is far from paradisial. What kind of place is it? And what does this say about character of the Narrator's nostalgia?
4. In terms of the narrative, what is the relationship between "Awakenings" and the "episode of the madeleine"?

Vermeer, View of Delft, Mauritshuis, The Hague

At last he came to the Vermeer which he remembered as more striking, more different from anything else he knew . . . he noticed for the first time some small figures in blue, that the sand was pink, and finally, the precious little patch of wall. 'That's how I ought to have written'." The Captive