Callaway, Caroline M

English

Loyola Marymount University

       Mapping ​Les Misérables: ​An Exploration of Setting      Caroline Callaway Loyola Marymount University Honors Program Advisor: Dr. Paul Harris      In this proposal I am requesting funding for a study of the locations in Victor Hugo’s ​Les                 Misérables​. Specifically, I intend to map the specific settings within each main city mentioned in               the novel, namely Digne, Paris, and Montreuil-sur-Mer. I hope to create a comprehensive map of               all the locations within the novel, complete with longitudinal data of each place. I will first                conduct archival research to determine where each location is in each city, and then I will visit                 the places, documenting any details through dictated description and photography. Furthermore,           I intend to eventually use this information to investigate the historical and social contexts of the                landscape of the novel.      Introduction According to Dr. Harris Ives of Ibaraki Christian University, Victor Hugo’s novel ​Les Misérables ​has become a part of the collective memory of Western Civilization (Harris, 17). While this assertion may seem far fetched, the novel’s popularity has in fact persisted as the story of Jean Valjean continues to captivate both readers and now theatergoers. Much of the allure of the story comes from its settings around France-- Paris especially has become a city enveloped in mystery and myth. (Scott) This mystery and beauty has lured many people to France, with some ​Les Misérables ​fans centering their international trips around finding some of the more prominent settings of the novel. (Social Potato) The novel has even spurred travel writing that urges people to seek out the novel’s locations. (Trend) The interest in the landscape of the novel is not a new phenomenon, as in 1925 André le Breton had searched for the Petit-Picpus school that Cosette attended. (Cooley) The interest in the places of ​Les Misérables seems warranted, given how detailed Hugo writes of France, giving incredibly specific references to cities and even streets. Furthermore, details within these descriptions often add subtext to the plot that otherwise would have been missed. In order to later investigate the meaning within the locations, a map of the landscape is of paramount importance. Despite all of the interest in and detail on the setting in Hugo’s novel, no comprehensive map exists to guide readers through the landscape. I intend to locate the specific places within the novel and put them into a sort of interactive map so as to answer not only this need, but also in order to begin investigating the rich subtext within the setting of the novel.  Background Similarly to ​Les Misérables ​and Paris, Alan Sillitoe’s novels ​Saturday Night and Sunday Morning ​(1958), ​Key to the Door ​(1961), ​The Open Door ​(1989), and ​The Death of William Posters ​(1965) all feature the city of Nottingham quite prominently. Stephen Daniels and Simon Roycroft write about how the novels drew so heavily on the setting to move the plot, as well as how large of an influence ​Les Misérables ​had on Sillitoe’s writing of landscape. (Daniels) Hugo’s novel also draws immensely on the setting for the story, as often the plot turns on Jean Valjean’s movement throughout France, or even within Paris itself. However, the landscape of  Les Misérables ​has shifted dramatically since the publication of the novel in the 1860’s. The story begins in Digne, a small mountain town home to a benevolent bishop, and one of the first places Jean Valjean stops in the novel. (Hugo) Digne has expanded since the nineteenth century, and now in addition to encompassing more land, also has the name Digne-les-Bains. (“Histoire de Digne Les Bains”) Furthermore, during World War II, the town was first occupied by Italy and later by Germany. The city was bombed in 1944, and some buildings were damaged. (​Département Des Alpes-de-Haute-Provence En 1939-1945​). Montreuil sur Mer, the town in northern France when Valjean becomes Mayor, while having maintained much of the charm and atmosphere of medieval times, has still suffered some destruction. Most prominently the citadel has been reworked several times since the novel was written. (​Présentation et Historique de Montreuil-Sur-Mer​) Of the three most prominent cities in the novel, Paris is featured most in the book, and has also gone through the largest transformation since the nineteenth century. In 1853, after much of ​Les Misérables ​had been written, but before it had been published, Napoleon III appointed Georges-Eugene Haussmann as prefect of the Seine. Haussmann was to oversee the modernization of Paris, a project which intended to expand the sewer system, construct large boulevards, install gas street lights, create building regulations, construct monuments and parks, as well as to separate the city into districts called arrondissements. Furthermore, the plan included reorganizing the street system into something more symmetrical in order to remedy the chaos of the winding unplanned medieval streets. (Alvarado) This “Haussmannization” as it became known, permanently changed the landscape of Paris.   Methods In order to comprehensively map the landscape of ​Les Misérables, ​I intend to first conduct archival research working with maps and administrative documents pertaining to the cities discussed above. I plan to engage with maps of pre-Haussmannization Paris, as well as early nineteenth century Digne and Montreuil. Furthermore, I plan to engage eighteenth and nineteenth century administrative texts that provide information on the gritty details of these cities in the early 1800’s. I also plan to reference a few secondary sources, such as André le Breton’s article “Réalité et Fiction: Le vrai Petit-Picpus des Misérables,” M. Maurice Dumolin’s  Guide Through Old Paris, ​as well as Arthur Stoddard Cooley’s article “On the Trail of Jean Valjean.” While the resources on nineteenth century Paris are somewhat readily available, primary and secondary information on both Digne and Montreuil is harder to come by. In order to supplement the information available, I intend on conducting interviews with locals in each city in order to get a better understanding of the town. Specifically in Digne I plan on contacting the diocese in order to get information on where the Bishop’s palace would have been in the early 1800’s. In order to conduct these interviews, I plan on submitting a proposal to the International Review Board. Once I have located a specific setting in the book, I plan on recording the exact location using latitude and longitude, as well as any available street address. I then plan on recording how the location looks both through my own dictated description, as well as with photographs.  Expected Results I intend to come away from the research with not only geographical information about the setting of the novel, but also visual representations of each place, as well as written descriptions of the locations. I intend to use this information in a few ways: first, I intend on creating an exhibit of some kind in which to display the information, either virtual, physical or both; secondly, I intend on using the details of each specific place to later research the historical and social contexts of the novel’s landscape. The first goal of the exhibit would pull inspiration from the Center for Civil and Human Rights in Atlanta, Georgia. The center is made up of three main galleries, with the largest gallery taking visitors through the civil rights era. The exhibit follows a general timeline of the Civil Rights Movement, and similarly, a ​Les Misérables ​exhibit would move along the timeline of the novel, taking visitors through the landscape of the novel as Valjean would have experienced it, while also providing information on how each location had changed. The second outcome I hope to work towards consists of future research into these locations in order to gather more knowledge on the specific social and historical contexts of facets of these places. This information could then be integrated into the exhibit, further enriching visitors’ experience of the novel’s setting.    Conclusion Les Misérables ​has inspired readers for over a century, through the heroic actions of characters, the romances, and through the zeal of revolt. However, there would have never been a bread thief, nor a bishop, nor a barricade if not for the story’s setting in France. ​Les Misérables could not have taken place anywhere but France, as the country’s history influences so much of the story. And it is that same history that now shrouds this landscape from view, blocking the readers view through decades of demolition and reconstruction.   Bibliography Alvarado, Estevan. ​Baron Haussmann & the Revival of Paris​. http://www.museumofthecity.org/project/haussmann-and-revival-of-paris/. Accessed 26 Nov. 2017. Cooley, Arthur Stoddard. “On the Trail of Jean Valjean.” ​The French Review​, vol. 3, no. 5, 1930, pp. 355–64. Daniels, Stephen, and Simon Rycroft. “Mapping the Modern City: Alan Sillitoe’s Nottingham Novels.” ​Contemporary Literary Criticism​, vol. 148, 2002, pp. 257–89. Département Des Alpes-de-Haute-Provence En 1939-1945​. http://www.ajpn.org/departement-Alpes-de-Haute-Provence-4.html. Accessed 11 Dec. 2017. “Histoire de Digne Les Bains.” ​Lycee Pierre Gilles De Gennes​, http://www.lyc-gillesdegennes.ac-aix-marseille.fr/vielyceenne/Webville/Histoiredign.html. Accessed 11 Dec. 2017. Hugo, Victor. ​Les Misérables​. Translated by Norman Denny, Penguin Classics, 2012.  Ives, Harris. “Sorting Out the Differences between Multiple Versions of Victor Hugo’s Les Miserables--Films and Books.” ​Christ in Western Literature and Painting​, Shumpusha Publishing, 2004, pp. 17–40. “Les Misérables.” ​The Social Potato​, 14 Jan. 2013, http://thesocialpotato.maryfaye.net/2013/01/14/les-miserables-the-paris-of-the-miserables/. Présentation et Historique de Montreuil-Sur-Mer | Montreuil-Sur-Mer​. http://www.ville-montreuil-sur-mer.fr/histoire-de-montreuil-sur-mer. Accessed 11 Dec. 2017. Scott, Stanley J. “The Myth of Paris.” ​Melbourne Studies in Education​, vol. 1, no. 1, 1957, pp. 104–21, doi:https://doi.org/10.1080/17508485709555907. Trend, Nick. “Les Misérables: Victor Hugo’s France.” ​The Telegraph​, 5 Feb. 2016. www.telegraph.co.uk​, http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/destinations/europe/france/articles/Les-Miserables-Victor-Hugos-France/ Budget Round-trip Flight from LAX to CDG: $1,000 Round-trip Train between Paris and Digne: $140 Lodging in Digne (7 nights): $350 Lodging in Paris (14 nights): $900 Paris Visite Pass: (Public Transport in Paris): $43.79 Rental Car (7 Days): $170* Lodging in Montreuil-sur-Mer: $350 Food (28 days): $1,000 Total: $3, 953.79 *There is no train line to get to Montreuil-Sur-Mer, I would have to drive.  

Mapping Les Miserables: An Exploration of Setting

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Mapping Les Miserables: An Exploration of Setting

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