Dr. Sheryl Kroen
skroen@history.ufl.edu
Class time: Tu./Th. 1-5PM
Office Hours: TuTh 5-6 PM
HIS 4956: France and the History of Consumer Culture
While every textbook treatment of modern Europe would include “political” revolutions
(in France, in 1789, across Europe in 1848, in Russia in 1917), and the “industrial”
revolutions of the nineteenth century, it is rare to find any discussion of the “consumer”
revolution of the 18th and 19th centuries. This is changing now, as scholars are turning
their attention to the transformations that brought consumer culture into existence. Our
course takes advantage of this exciting new scholarship.
Description: This course offers a historical overview of the rise of consumer culture in
France since the seventeenth century. Starting with the age of courtly consumption and a
visit to Versailles, we will trace the rise of mass consumption across the late 19th
Century, and conclude with a discussion of France in the context of the increasingly
global (and Americanized) consumer culture of the twentieth century.
Requirements: 3 papers and class participation. Class participation means attendance,
completion of the assigned reading, and contribution to class discussion. No late
assignments will be accepted without penalty. Official documentation is required for
scheduling make-ups of assignments and for excusing absences.
Required Reading:
Rosalind Williams, Dream Worlds: Mass consumption in Late Nineteenth-Century
France
Gustave Flaubert, Madame Bovary
Emile Zola, Ladies’ Paradise (UC Press, 1992, with Introduction by Kristin Ross)
Kristen Ross, Fast Cars, Clean Bodies
José Bové, The World is not for Sale
Tues., June 29:
Orientation
Wed., June 30:
Film, evening, time to be announced.
Thurs., July 1:
Beginnings: Europe in the 17C
Read Rosalind Williams, Dream Worlds, Chapters 1 and 2,
pp. 1-57.
Excursion to Versailles
Tues., July 6 :
Discussion of film, Versailles, Williams and papers
2-3 page paper on courtly consumption, based on Williams,
Versailles visit, and film
Thurs., July 8:
Lecture: Consumer Revolution of the 18C and Cultural
Transformations in the Age of Capital
Read Walter Benjamin, “Paris, Capital of the 19th C,” handout.
START READING MADAME BOVARY
Friday, July 9:
Excursion: walking tour Arcades and Haussmannization
Mon., July 12:
Guest Lecture: Prof. Vanessa Schwartz, 1PM
Tues., July 13:
Madame Bovary: the quintessential consuming woman?
Finish Madame Bovary
Lecture: Remaking Paris: Haussmannization
Thurs., July 15:
Spectacular Realities: Paris in the age of Mass consumption
Excursion: Musée d’Orsay: meet there at 1PM
Start reading Williams/Zola for next week!
Tues., July 20:
Great Exhibitions, Department Stores: Consumption and
Democracy
Read Williams, Dream Worlds, chapter 3, pp. 58-106; chapters 6-8
(skim), pp. 213-384.
Excursion: walking tour of Grand Palais/Eiffel Tower, Great
Exhibition site from 1879: meet at Grand Palais at 1PM
Thurs., July 22:
The Birth of the Department Store: The Bon Marché
Read Emile Zola, Ladies Paradise
Excursion: Tour of Bon Marché: meet at Bon Marché at 1PM
Tues., July 27:
5-7 page paper due on 19C Consumer Culture in France
See handout for possible topics concerning Williams,
Flaubert, Zola, Benjamin.
Lecture: Post-WWII: American-style Consumer Democracy and the
Marshall Plan
Film by Jacques Tati this week, viewing time to be announced.
Thurs., July 29:
Culture
1950s France: Hygiene, Advertising, Critiques of Consumer
Read: Kristen Ross, Fast Cars, Clean Bodies.
In class: excerpts from Roland Barthes, Georges Perec, The Things
Tues., Aug. 3:
José Bové, The World is Not For Sale
Thurs., Aug. 5:
Concluding remarks.
Final Paper due on twentieth century topic, or overview of
consumer culture covered all term. See handout for
possible topics.