French Literary Movements

Why This Matters

Understanding French literary movements is essential for interpreting the extraits littéraires, poèmes, and critiques littéraires you'll encounter on the AP French exam. These movements don't exist in isolation—they represent France's intellectual response to social upheaval, scientific discovery, and evolving views of human nature. When you read a passage from Flaubert or analyze a poem by Baudelaire, you're being tested on your ability to recognize tone, register, cultural references, and intertextuality—all of which require understanding the movement that shaped the work.

More importantly, these movements connect directly to Unit 3's exploration of beauty and art in French-speaking countries. The exam frequently asks you to discuss how artistic expression reflects cultural identity and societal values. Don't just memorize author names and dates—know what philosophical principles each movement represents, how movements react against their predecessors, and what themes signal which era. This comparative thinking is exactly what FRQ prompts demand.

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Movements Rooted in Order and Tradition

These early movements share a commitment to established structures—whether religious, classical, or monarchical. Literature served to reinforce moral codes, celebrate heroism, and demonstrate mastery of form. The emphasis on rules, harmony, and collective values distinguishes these movements from the individualistic rebellions that followed.

Medieval Literature (La Littérature Médiévale)

• Religious themes and chivalric ideals—works like La Chanson de Roland glorified Christian knights and feudal loyalty
• Oral tradition dominated, with troubadours and jongleurs performing epic poems (chansons de geste) before literacy spread
• Vernacular emergence marked a crucial shift from Latin to Old French, democratizing literature and establishing French as a literary language

Renaissance (La Renaissance)

• Humanist revival of Greek and Roman classics—François Rabelais and Michel de Montaigne championed l'homme universel (the well-rounded individual)
• Montaigne's Essais invented the personal essay form, exploring the self with unprecedented intimacy and skepticism
• Celebration of earthly life—Rabelais's satirical works embraced humor, the body, and intellectual curiosity over medieval asceticism

Classicism (Le Classicisme)

• Strict adherence to rules—the trois unités (unity of time, place, action) governed theater under Louis XIV's cultural program
• Molière, Racine, and Corneille represent the pinnacle of French drama, balancing raison (reason) with emotional depth
• Moral instruction through art—comedies exposed human folly (Tartuffe), tragedies explored duty versus passion (Phèdre)

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Movements Driven by Reason and Reform

The 18th century brought radical questioning of authority. These writers wielded literature as a weapon against injustice, superstition, and tyranny. Skepticism, critique sociale, and faith in human progress define this era—concepts that directly connect to discussions of individual rights and societal change in francophone cultures.

Enlightenment (Les Lumières)

• Reason over tradition—Voltaire's satirical Candide attacked religious intolerance and philosophical optimism with devastating wit
• Rousseau's revolutionary ideas on education (Émile) and social contract theory shaped democratic thought across Europe
• Diderot's Encyclopédie represented the era's mission: systematize knowledge, challenge censorship, and empower citizens through education

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Movements Celebrating Emotion and the Individual

Romanticism and its offshoots rebelled against Enlightenment rationalism, insisting that feeling, imagination, and personal experience reveal deeper truths than logic alone. These movements connect powerfully to Unit 3's themes of artistic expression and cultural identity—Romantic writers helped define what it means to be French through their passionate engagement with nature, history, and the self.

Romanticism (Le Romantisme)

• Emotion over reason—Victor Hugo's preface to Cromwell (1827) became the movement's manifesto, rejecting classical rules
• Nature as spiritual refuge—landscapes in Hugo, Lamartine, and George Sand reflect inner emotional states (le paysage état d'âme)
• Social engagement—Hugo's Les Misérables combined Romantic passion with fierce advocacy for the poor and oppressed

Symbolism (Le Symbolisme)

• Suggestion over statement—Baudelaire, Verlaine, and Mallarmé used correspondances (sensory connections) to evoke rather than describe
• Baudelaire's Les Fleurs du Mal revolutionized poetry by finding beauty in urban decay, ennui, and moral ambiguity
• Musicality of language—Verlaine's famous dictum "De la musique avant toute chose" prioritized sound and rhythm over literal meaning

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Movements Depicting Reality and Its Forces

These movements share a commitment to representing life as it truly is—not idealized, not sentimentalized. Scientific observation, social critique, and attention to material conditions characterize this approach. Understanding Realism and Naturalism helps you analyze how French literature engages with social issues and everyday life, key themes in AP French cultural discussions.

Realism (Le Réalisme)

• Objective observation—Gustave Flaubert famously sought le mot juste (the exact word) to render reality with surgical precision
• Balzac's La Comédie Humaine catalogued French society across 90+ works, creating a comprehensive portrait of post-Revolutionary France
• Flaubert's Madame Bovary dissected provincial life and romantic illusions, pioneering the modern psychological novel

Naturalism (Le Naturalisme)

• Scientific determinism—Émile Zola applied Darwin and hereditary theory to fiction, treating novels as social experiments
• Zola's Les Rougon-Macquart cycle traced heredity and environment across 20 novels depicting Second Empire France
• Unflinching portrayal of suffering—alcoholism, poverty, and exploitation in works like Germinal and L'Assommoir shocked bourgeois readers

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Movements Exploring the Unconscious and the Absurd

The 20th century brought radical experimentation as writers responded to world wars, psychological theory, and the collapse of certainties. Dreams, irrationality, and existential questioning dominate these movements—concepts that remain central to contemporary French intellectual culture and frequently appear in AP French discussions of identity and the human condition.

Surrealism (Le Surréalisme)

• Liberation of the unconscious—André Breton's Manifeste du surréalisme (1924) called for écriture automatique (automatic writing) to bypass rational control
• Dream logic and shocking imagery—unexpected juxtapositions (le beau comme la rencontre fortuite...) aimed to reveal hidden truths
• Political engagement—many Surrealists embraced revolutionary politics, seeing artistic and social liberation as inseparable

Existentialism (L'Existentialisme)

• "L'existence précède l'essence"—Sartre's famous formula means humans create meaning through choices, not predetermined nature
• Camus's L'Étranger embodies existentialist themes: Meursault's alienation, the absurdity of existence, and authentic living
• Radical freedom and responsibility—in a meaningless universe, individuals must create their own values and accept full accountability

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Quick Reference Table

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Self-Check Questions

1. Which two movements both emphasize reason but differ in their relationship to political authority? How would you explain this difference in an FRQ about art and society?

2. A poem uses dreamlike imagery, musical language, and suggests emotions through symbols rather than stating them directly. Which movement does it represent, and how does it differ from Romanticism?

3. Compare Realism and Naturalism: what scientific concept distinguishes Zola's approach from Flaubert's, and how might this appear in a passage about social conditions?

4. Why is Existentialism's phrase "l'existence précède l'essence" considered revolutionary? How does this philosophy connect to themes of identity and choice that appear throughout AP French cultural content?

5. If an FRQ asks you to discuss how French literature reflects changing views of the individual across time, which three movements would provide the strongest contrast, and what would you emphasize about each?