All Courses

Topics vary from semester to semester. From the 19th-century serial novel to Netflix success “Lupin,” dramas of life play out in French crime narrative that track transgressions, from affairs of the heart to atrocities committed by the government. This course examines works by figures ranging from convict turned policeman Vidocq, the real-life inspiration for Hugo’s Jean Valjean of Les Misérables, to Fred Vargas and Léa Slimani, two women who have revised the genre today. As we study the evolution of crime in literature since the early 19th century, we shall also consider the rise and manner of crime reporting in the French media and today’s cultural fascination with “true crime.”