Preface to "Mademoiselle de Maupin"
#criticism #France #19thCentury
Théophile Gautier. Preface to Mademoiselle de Maupin.
For me this text has long been an opening to the discussion of the value of literature, or its valuelessness. Gautier challenges the idea that literature need have any usefulness, arguing that beauty has it's own value. Art for Art's sake? The value of aesthethics?
I. Literary Theory and
Criticism
1. History of Literary Theory and
Criticism until 1930
Théophile Gautier.
Preface to Mademoiselle de Maupin.
Supporting References:
- “Théophile Gautier.” The Norton Anthology of Theory and Criticism. Ed. Vincent B. Leitch. New York: W. W. Norton & Co., 2001. 750-3. Print.
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