French literature

The earliest French literature dates from the Middle Ages, when what is now known as modern France did not have a single, uniform language. There were several languages and dialects and each writer used his own spelling and grammar.[citation needed] The authors of French mediaeval texts are unknown, such as Tristan and Iseult and Lancelot and the Holy Grail. Much mediaeval French poetry and literature were inspired by the legends of the Matter of France, such as The Song of Roland and the various Chansons de geste. The “Roman de Renart”, written in 1175 by Perrout de Saint Cloude tells the story of the mediaeval character Reynard ('the Fox') and is another example of early French writing. The names of some authors from this period are known, for exampleChrétien de Troyes and Duke William IX of Aquitaine, who wrote in Occitan.

An important 16th century writer was François Rabelais who influenced modern French vocabulary and metaphor.[citation needed] During the 17th century, plays by Pierre Corneille, Jean Racine and Molière, as well as the moral and philosophical books by Blaise Pascal and René Descartes, deeply influenced the French aristocracy leaving an important new niche for authors of the following decades, such as Jean de La Fontaine, who was an important poet from this century.

French literature and poetry flourished in the 18th and 19th centuries. The 18th century saw the works of writers, essayists and moralists such as Voltaire, Denis Diderot and Jean-Jacques Rousseau. Charles Perrault was a prolific writer of famous children's fairy tales including “Puss in Boots”, “Cinderella”, “Sleeping Beauty” and “Bluebeard”.
19th century poet, writer, and translator Charles Baudelaire.

At the turn of the 19th century symbolist poetry was an important movement in French literature, with poets such as Charles Baudelaire, Paul Verlaine and Stéphane Mallarmé. The 19th century saw the writings of French authors: Victor Hugo (Les Misérables), Alexandre Dumas (The Three Musketeers and The Count of Monte-Cristo), and Jules Verne (Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea), which are amongst the most well-known in France and the world. Other 19th century fiction writers include Émile Zola, Honoré de Balzac, Guy de Maupassant, Théophile Gautier and Stendhal.

The Prix Goncourt is a French literary prize first awarded in 1903. Important writers of the 20th century include Marcel Proust, Louis-Ferdinand Céline, Albert Camus, and Jean-Paul Sartre. Antoine de Saint Exupéry wrote Little Prince which has remained popular for decades with children and adults around the world. For most of the 20th century, French authors had more Literature Nobel Prizes than those of any other nation. Compare the Evolution of Nobel Prizes by country.