Books in the Purdue Studies in Romance Literatures series

The analysis of the three authors' proverbs through comparisons with classical, medieval, and early modern collections of maxims and sententiae provides insights on the fluidity of such expressions, and illustrates the tight relationship between proverbs and sociocultural factors.

Argues that the portrayal in poetry of the modern city as a disintegrated, ruined space is part of a critique of the visions of progress and the historical process of modernization that developed during the nineteenth century and the first half of the twentieth century.

This book is the first full-length study to examine Moliere's evolving (and at times contradictory) authorial strategies, as evidenced both by his portrayal of authors and publication within the plays and by his own interactions with the seventeenth-century Parisian publishing industry. Historians of the book have described the time period that coincides with Moliere's theatrical activity as centrally important to the development of authors' rights and to the professionalization of the literary field. A seventeenth-century author, however, was not so much born as negotiated through often acrimonious relations in a world of new and dizzying possibilities.The learning curve was at times steep and unpleasant, as Moliere discovered when his first Parisian play was stolen by a rogue publisher. Nevertheless, the dramatist proved to be a quick learner; from his first published play in 1660 until his death in 1673, Moliere changed from a reluctant and victimized author to an innovator (or, according to his enemies, even a swindler) who aggressively secured the rights to his plays, stealing them back when necessary. Through such shrewdness, he acquired for himself publication privileges and conditions relatively unknown in an era before copyright.As Moliere himself wrote, making people laugh was "e;une etrange entreprise"e; (La Critique de L'Ecole des femmes, 1663). To an even greater degree, comedic authorship for the playwright was a constant work in progress, and in this sense, "e;Moliere,"e; the stage name that became a pen name, represents the most carefully elaborated of Jean-Baptiste Poquelin's invented characters.

Explores the processes and works that laid the foundations of a new literary modernity in the wake of the Mexican Revolution. This book focuses on a period that goes from the signing of the Constitution in 1917 to the death of Alfonso Reyes in 1959.

In the eighteenth century, a type of novel flourished, showing outsiders who come to Europe. After studying the origin of the genre in Montaigne's essay ""Des Cannibales"", this book analyzes Montesquieu's ""Lettres persanes"", Francoise de Graffigny's ""Lettres d'une Peruvienne"", Voltaire's ""L'Ingenu"", and Claire de Duras's ""Ourika"".