The Cambridge Companion to Flaubert

by Timothy A. Unwin (Editor)

This Companion's textual analysis of the complete range of Flaubert's work, including Madame Bovary, is accompanied by discussion of broader theoretical issues, including Flaubert's place in the canon of French literature. The series of new essays represents the latest scholarly thinking on the novelist's work and critical legacy. A variety of critical approaches provides insight into the continuing power of Flaubert's writing. An afterword by Mario Vargas Llosa concludes the volume. The book includes a chronology and suggestions for further reading.

Genres: Nonfiction, Literature

258 pages, Paperback

First published November 18, 2004

About the author

Professor Tim Unwin is Emeritus Professor of French, and General Editor of French Studies. He is a former Ashley Watkins Chair of French Language and Literature. Prior to Bristol he taught at the universities of Exeter, Edinburgh, Queen's Belfast, Western Australia, and Liverpool where he was James Barrow Professor of French. He was founder President of the Society of Dix-Neuviémistes and is a former President of the Association of University Professors and Heads of French (AUPHF). He is on the editorial board of the Australian Journal of French Studies, the international advisory board of the Journal of European Studies, and the editorial committee of Essays in French Literature and Culture. He is also co-moderator of Francofil, an international electronic forum for French studies.

His research interests are in the nineteenth-century novel, and travel and technology in the nineteenth century. He has written books on Flaubert, Verne, Constant, and reflexivity, and has done scholarly editions of a number of nineteenth-century texts. He has also edited two volumes in the 'Cambridge Companion' series, and numerous collections of scholarly essays.

Reviews

[Matt Snee · Rating 4 out of 5]

Surprised this has bad reviews. Isn't great, but it's also very balanced and illuminating.

[James F · Rating 3 out of 5]

A collection of 14 very uneven essays on Flaubert's writing. The book is organized by themes (History, Death, Characterization, Style, the Writing Process, the Visual, etc.) rather than treating the works individually. Some of these articles gave me some new insights; others were rather subjective or obvious. One managed to cram into a few pages every bit of critical jargon possible, from very different theoretical approaches. The book did give me some idea of the kind of studies that are popular today with regard to Flaubert and literature in general.