Rewriting Les Mystères de Paris
The Mystères Urbains and the Palimpsest

Amy Wigelsworth

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Legenda (General Series)

Legenda

1 September 2016  •  238pp

ISBN: 978-1-909662-36-0 (hardback)  •  RRP £80, $110, €95

ISBN: 978-1-315543-18-5 (Taylor & Francis ebook)

ModernFrenchFiction

Key works of popular fiction are often rewritten to capitalize on their success. But what are the implications of this rewriting process? Such is the question addressed by this detailed study of several rewritings of Eugène Sue’s Mystères de Paris (1842-43), produced in the latter half of the nineteenth century, in response to the phenomenal success of Sue’s archetypal urban mystery. Pursuing a compelling analogy between city and text, and exploring the resonance of the palimpsest trope to both, Amy Wigelsworth argues that the mystères urbains are exemplary rewritings, which shed new light on contemporary reading and writing practices, and emerge as early avatars of a genre still widely consumed and enjoyed in the 21st century.

Amy Wigelsworth completed her PhD at Durham University. She currently holds a part-time lectureship in French at the Sheffield Business School (Sheffield Hallam University), and also teaches French at the University of York.

Reviews:

  • ‘Presentant des demonstrations dont Jes etapes sont habilement resumees pour clore chaque chapitre, Rewriting Les Mysteres de Paris offre des etudes fouillees d'reuvres riches mais rarement traitees par la critique... La demonstration est convaincante et stimulante par Jes avenues de reflexion qu'elle ouvre.’ — Nicolas Gauthier, L'Esprit Créateur 57.1, 2017, 141

Bibliography entry:

Wigelsworth, Amy, Rewriting Les Mystères de Paris: The Mystères Urbains and the Palimpsest (Legenda, 2016)

First footnote reference: 35 Amy Wigelsworth, Rewriting Les Mystères de Paris: The Mystères Urbains and the Palimpsest (Legenda, 2016), p. 21.

Subsequent footnote reference: 37 Wigelsworth, p. 47.

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

Bibliography entry:

Wigelsworth, Amy. 2016. Rewriting Les Mystères de Paris: The Mystères Urbains and the Palimpsest (Legenda)

Example citation: ‘A quotation occurring on page 21 of this work’ (Wigelsworth 2016: 21).

Example footnote reference: 35 Wigelsworth 2016: 21.

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

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