Novels on prostitution
From the 18th to the 21st century, prostitution has been a common theme in novels approached by some of the world's greatest authors. The focus here is not on erotic novels with prostitutes as characters, but rather on novels of social and psychological analysis that treat prostitution as a moral, social, psychological and even political issue.
This theme offers a viewpoint on the evolution of mentalities and the way moral values are constructed in a cultural and social context. The literary treatment of these issues enables them to be formulated according to the modalities of literary genres, and to be proposed to the reader as thought experiments and invitations to reflection and empathy. Finally, the different points of view of the authors studied, including that of women prostitutes, will provide an opportunity to question possible differences between the treatment of the theme by the two sexes.
- Cleland, Fanny Hill
- Détour par les poètes du XIXe siècle (Baudelaire, Verlaine, Mallarmé)
- Zola, Nana
- Maupassant, La Maison Tellier, Boule de suif
- Albert Londres, Le Chemin de Buenos Aires
- Joseph Kessel, Belle de jour
- Grisélidis Réal, Le noir est une couleur ; Carnet de bal d’une courtisane
- Michel Houellebecq, Plateforme
- Emma Becker, La Maison
- Teaching coordinator: Wanlin Nicolas