Introduction: Meeting French Literature

Abstract

French Literature: A Very Short Introduction looks at literary works in terms of their central characters. The kind of person chosen as the focal point of the plot and that person's relation to his or her society can tell us a good deal about a literary text and its time. The focus on the main character's thoughts, actions, and characteristics makes the protagonist an obvious place to start an exploration of the literature. The question ‘What is French literature?’ is asked, since some authors whose first language is not French have chosen to write a significant portion of their work in French, for instance Samuel Beckett.