An important subject for Colette, and for us today, is the question of who are the outsiders in our society and why? Through Colette’s artful storytelling and profound insights into human nature we will examine the lives of those who lived on the fringes of ‘polite society’. As is true today, the world at the turn of the last century was faced with seismic changes. In politics, there was the rise of nationalism and the continued threat of dictatorial leaders. There was extreme polarization regarding the role of religion versus the implementation of the 1905 law separating church and state. The Dreyfus Affair revealed inherent antisemitism and raised the question of who is a member of our society and who is not? And then there was the threat to patriarchal culture from the feminist movement and the emergence of the “New Woman.” Sound familiar? Come join us to reflect on a world that was and is.

Required Reading: The Collected Stories of Colette edited by Robert Phelps. This is no longer in print but many copies are available from used book sites. Supplemental readings supplied by instructor.

Jeanne Randorf fell in love with French and France at the age of 12. She went on to study in Strasbourg and Paris earning a B.A. and Master’s degree in French Literature from Middlebury Language School. Decades later, she is still a Francophile and Francophone, and loves combining the study of history and literature.