Course Description

 Who was Napoleon? A fierce patriot or a traitor of the Revolution? A beloved emperor or a merciless dictator? There is not one single or indeed final answer to these questions: in this course we shall learn to make a distinction between the historical figure (his life and actual deeds) and the literary character (how his detractors or enthusiasts represented him). We will explore the multi-faceted representations of Napoleon with a particular focus on his portraits in poems, novels, essays, paintings and sculptures. The syllabus will include readings and excerpts from Balzac, Stendhal, Dumas, Hugo, Thackeray, Tolstoy, Manzoni, Foscolo, Calvino.