Aeneas Takes the Metro
The Presence of Virgil in Twentieth-Century French Literature

Fiona Cox

Studies In Comparative Literature 3

Legenda

1 July 1999  •  238pp

ISBN: 1-900755-10-6 (paperback)  •  RRP £75, $99, €85

FrenchFictionTranslation


This study traces Virgil's journey through twentieth-century France by examining his profile in the works of Gide, Aragon, Valéry, Pagnol, Klossowski, Butor, Simon and Pinget, and by looking at how their Virgilian appropriations complement and modify current readings of the Aeneid and other works. His presence in these works provides insights not only into modern French culture but into the Virgilian oeuvre itself. This process of mutual illumination is highlighted in Cox's argument by theories of intertextuality and dialogism. Although Virgil's presence in French literature is characterized by its focus on exile and uncertainty, Cox's study reaffirms the multivalency of this great European poet and his continuing relevance at the turn of the millennium.

Fiona Cox is a Lecturer in French at University College, Cork. Her research interests include the reception of classical poetry and the idea of poetic vocation in nineteenth-century France. She has published on Hermann Broch and Pierre Klossowski.

Reviews:

  • unsigned notice, Forum for Modern Language Studies 37.3, 2001, 341
  • ‘Affirms that Virgil's 'flexibility and openness to reception' has ensured his continuing relevance for writers of widely differing persuasions.’ — Julian Cowley, The Year's Work in English Studies 80, 2002, 615
  • ‘The fine chapters on Pierre Klossowski's controversial Aeneid translation and on the nouveau roman constitute in their grouping a genuine contribution to our understanding of Virgil's postwar reception... the coherence of traditional heroic and imperialistic readings gives way to a postmodern view of Aeneas as exile.’ — Theodore Ziolkowski, French Studies LV.2, 2001, 269-70
  • ‘Wide-ranging and illuminating... In sum, Aeneas Takes The Metro illustrates, if proof were needed, the ability of a well-informed and scholarly comparative study to transcend linguistic, formal and temporal barriers successfully and productively.’ — Kiera Vaclavik, New Comparison 31, 2002, 202-3

Bibliography entry:

Cox, Fiona, Aeneas Takes the Metro: The Presence of Virgil in Twentieth-Century French Literature, Studies In Comparative Literature, 3 (Legenda, 1999)

First footnote reference: 35 Fiona Cox, Aeneas Takes the Metro: The Presence of Virgil in Twentieth-Century French Literature, Studies In Comparative Literature, 3 (Legenda, 1999), p. 21.

Subsequent footnote reference: 37 Cox, p. 47.

(To see how these citations were worked out, follow this link.)

Bibliography entry:

Cox, Fiona. 1999. Aeneas Takes the Metro: The Presence of Virgil in Twentieth-Century French Literature, Studies In Comparative Literature, 3 (Legenda)

Example citation: ‘A quotation occurring on page 21 of this work’ (Cox 1999: 21).

Example footnote reference: 35 Cox 1999: 21.

(To see how these citations were worked out, follow this link.)


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