Roiled by revolution upon revolution, inundated by massive migration, and all but razed to the ground and rebuilt by Haussmannization, nineteenth-century Paris was a volatile place to call home. For many, finding and keeping a place to live within the city walls was an impossible task; those who did stay housed were constantly confronting the gaze of the unhoused others. What transpired in those gazes? What made them possible—and sometimes, impossible? In this course, we will investigate the divisive politics of housing in three nineteenth-century French novels (Cousin Bette and Père Goriot by Honoré de Balzac and L'Assommoir by Émile Zola), as well as some verse and prose poems (Baudelaire), excerpts from Les Misérables (Victor Hugo), and selected essays in critical theory.

PLEASE NOTE: Discussions and readings for this class will be in English; no knowledge of French is required.