French Literature Reviews - 2026
Anna Opiela, La Musique dans la pensée et dans l’œuvre de Stendhal et de Nerval
Other Literary Studies
Anna Opiela, La Musique dans la pensée et dans l’œuvre de Stendhal et de Nerval, Honoré Champion, "Romantisme et modernités" series, 2015. EAN13: 9782745328694.
- 336 pages
- 60 EUR
Publisher's overview:
Positioned at the crossroads of interdisciplinary comparative studies, this book attempts to define the role of music in the works of Stendhal and Nerval, two writers acutely attuned to the art of sound. It begins by outlining the philosophical background and methodologies of music-literary research, before employing an eclectic approach and the concept of the literary score to analyze the literary texts. After exploring the distinct sources of Stendhal's and Nerval's musical interests, as well as the theme of music embedded within the spatiotemporal fabric of the novel, the study examines how music is transposed into the authors' style and textual structure.
Anna Opiela holds a Ph.D. in Literature and is an Associate Professor at the Institute of Romance Studies at the University of Warsaw. She has published articles on the role of music in French literature and has presented her research at academic conferences in several countries (Poland, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Belgium).
This scholarly monograph contributes to the rich tradition of interdisciplinary comparative studies, specifically exploring the intersection between French literature and musicology during the nineteenth century. By examining how acoustic arts informed the worldview and creative output of two major romantic authors, the book engages with broader critical debates surrounding the relationship between sound, philosophy, and narrative structure. It situates itself within nineteenth-century French literary studies, shedding light on the ways romantic and post-romantic writers sought to emulate the emotional immediacy of musical composition through written language.
The volume will be of particular interest to researchers, graduate students, and scholars specializing in nineteenth-century French literature, romanticism, and the interactions between the arts. It offers valuable methodological frameworks for those investigating music-literary research, textuality, and stylistic transposition. Readers seeking to deepen their understanding of how Stendhal and Nerval integrated auditory aesthetics into their novels and essays will find this detailed academic analysis to be an illuminating resource for their literary investigations.