Timeline of French Literary Movements

Medieval Period (1000-1500)

- Courtly Love Literature (12th-13th centuries): Troubadour poetry celebrating idealized love - Chansons de Geste (11th-13th centuries): Epic poems celebrating heroic deeds - Christine de Pizan (1364-1430): First professional woman writer in Europe

Renaissance (1500-1600)

- Humanism: Revival of classical learning and emphasis on human potential - François Rabelais (1494-1553): Satirical novels blending humor and humanism - La Pléiade: Group of poets promoting French language and classical forms - Michel de Montaigne (1533-1592): Inventor of the essay form

Classical Age (1600-1715)

- French Academy Founded (1635): Standardization of French language - Classical Theater: Unity of time, place, and action - Pierre Corneille (1606-1684): Master of heroic tragedy - Molière (1622-1673): Greatest French comic playwright - Jean Racine (1639-1699): Perfection of classical tragedy - Madame de Lafayette (1634-1693): Pioneer of the psychological novel

Enlightenment (1715-1789)

- Philosophes: Writers as social critics and reformers - Voltaire (1694-1778): Satire as weapon against injustice - Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712-1778): Nature, emotion, and social contract - Denis Diderot (1713-1784): The Encyclopédie and experimental fiction

Romanticism (1800-1850)

- Emphasis on emotion, nature, and individualism - Victor Hugo (1802-1885): Leader of Romantic movement - Alexandre Dumas (1802-1870): Historical adventure novels - George Sand (1804-1876): Women's independence and social reform

Realism and Naturalism (1850-1890)

- Scientific observation of society and human behavior - Stendhal (1783-1842): Psychological realism - Honoré de Balzac (1799-1850): La Comédie Humaine - Gustave Flaubert (1821-1880): Aesthetic perfection and objective narration - Émile Zola (1840-1902): Naturalism and social documentation

Symbolism (1860-1910)

- Poetry as music, suggestion over statement - Charles Baudelaire (1821-1867): Modern poetry and urban consciousness - Paul Verlaine (1844-1896): Musicality in verse - Arthur Rimbaud (1854-1891): Visionary poetry and rebellion - Stéphane Mallarmé (1842-1898): Pure poetry and linguistic experimentation

Modernism (1900-1945)

- Experimentation with form and consciousness - Marcel Proust (1871-1922): Memory and time in narrative - André Gide (1869-1951): Moral complexity and authenticity - Colette (1873-1954): Sensuality and female experience - Surrealism: Dreams and the unconscious in literature

Existentialism and Absurdism (1940-1960)

- Literature of commitment and human condition - Jean-Paul Sartre (1905-1980): Existence precedes essence - Simone de Beauvoir (1908-1986): Feminism and existentialism - Albert Camus (1913-1960): The absurd and revolt

Nouveau Roman (1950-1970)

- Experimental fiction challenging traditional narrative - Marguerite Duras (1914-1996): Memory and desire - Alain Robbe-Grillet (1922-2008): Objective description

Négritude and Francophone Literature (1930-present)

- Assertion of African and Caribbean identity - Aimé Césaire (1913-2008): Decolonization and cultural identity - Léopold Sédar Senghor (1906-2001): African humanism

Contemporary Literature (1980-present)

- Autofiction and global perspectives - Michel Houellebecq (1956-): Provocative social criticism - Annie Ernaux (1940-): Sociological autobiography - Tahar Ben Jelloun (1944-): Maghrebi experience and exile

This timeline provides the framework for understanding how each writer in this collection fits into the broader sweep of French literary history. As you read their individual stories, you'll see how they built upon, reacted against, or revolutionized the traditions they inherited.# Christine de Pizan (1364-1430): The First Professional Woman Writer