Still perceived as a "minor" genre at the end of the eighteenth century, the novel was quickly elevated as the literary form of choice in the years following the French revolution. In this course we will trace the evolution of the novel with respect to the broad contexts of nineteenth-century French history and culture. We will focus in particular on the rise of French realism and its relation to the development of modernity in France, examining the treatment of such themes as revolution, money and commercialism, urban space (the street, the arcade, the barricade), the changing role of women in French society and the emerging contours of modern identity - along with its distinctively modern pathologies (alienation, boredom, addiction). Texts will include Stendhal's La Chartreuse de Parme, George Sand's Indiana, two shorter works of Balzac (Le Colonel Chabert, Gobseck), Flaubert's Madame Bovary and Zola's Au Bonheur des Dames. To help illuminate the problem of literary realism, we will take up the question of realist representation in the visual arts as well, examining relevant works by such artists and photographers as Courbet, Millet, Daumier, Manet, Degas, Nadar and Atget. We will also view film adaptations of several of the works we'll be reading, which will allow us to investigate the seemingly natural affinity between the nineteenth-century novel and the cinema. Conducted in French. Format: seminar. Requirements: class participation, an oral presentation, three short papers and a final longer paper. Prerequisites: French 109 or 110, or permission of instructor. Enrollment limit: 20 (expected: 15).