Browse Hierarchy HST5399: Marie-Antoinette to Coco Chanel: A Cultural History of France from the Revolution to the Second World War

¿Let them eat cake¿ is one of the most famous lines of modern French history, whether Queen Marie-Antoinette said it or not. But was she really that out of touch? How excessive was her lifestyle and did it lead to the French Revolution? This module will explore questions like this to introduce students to the cultural history of France from the mid-eighteenth century to the end of the Second World War. Through explorations of art, fashion, music, shopping, cafés, photography, and exhibitions, this module will examine how, through diverse figures such as Napoleon and Coco Chanel, modern France came to define itself and how Frenchness has been perceived and constructed globally.