La Belle poque Paris (1870-1914)

The city of Paris in the years 1870-1914, “La Belle Époque”, was the scene for one of the most vibrant, progressive and chaotic periods in the history of France.  Bookended by the revolution of the Paris Commune and the outbreak of World War I, this era saw simultaneous and successive waves of social and cultural disruption, discovery and innovation, at all levels of society, in all dimensions of economic and political life and in all areas of artistic creation. We will experience this exceptionally intense period using a number of iconic sites in and around Paris as the catalyst for exploring the political events, artistic movements and cultural phenomena of the time. These will include political developments such as the advent of the Third Republic, the industrial boom, and the Dreyfus Affair, as well as cultural moments: in the visual arts with the movements of Impressionism, Symbolism, Fauvism, and Cubism;  in music with the compositions of Debussy, Satie and Saint-Saëns; in theater with plays of Sardou and Rostand;  and in literature with the works of Barbey d’Aurevilly, Zola, Huysmans, Mallarmé, Rachilde, Renée Vivien, Colette, and Proust. Special attention will be given to the evolving image and role of women and the questioning of gender and sexual identity.  We will also examine how French colonialism is a political and cultural element in this period, specifically through its representation in the Expositions Universelles of 1878, 1189 and 1900. Throughout our exploration we will consider not only the beauty and sparkle of the era but also the darker underside of this moment of intense social and cultural tension. And finally, we will consider that the term “La Belle Époque” is itself a label and a retrospective lens through which the mid-twentieth century saw the period of 1870-1914. This will lead us to examine how collective memory is a cultural process that creates “periods” in the past to better explain the present. Class activities will include site and museum visits, concerts, theatre and promenades in the city of Paris and its environs.