"Les Miserables"

Michal Ginsburg, Professor, French and Comparative Literature

In this course, we will discuss Hugo's "Les Miserables" in its historical and cultural context, as well as through the lens of its many and varied adaptations. We will try to understand what makes the novel unique and what makes it such an inviting object for adaptation in different media and appropriation in different cultures. The first hour of each class will usually be devoted to discussing a particular aspect of the novel, whereas in the second hour we will compare and contrast some aspect of the novel with the way it is treated in some of its adaptations (For those who wish to read the novel ahead of time Profess Ginsburg will suggest parts that could be skipped or skimmed).