Join us for a one hour discussion about Guy de Maupassant!

Dr. Céline Brossillon is an Assistant Professor of French and Comparative Literature; Gender, Women and Sexuality Studies but also Coordinator in Comparative and Global Literatures, at Ursinus College, Pennsylvania. She holds a Doctorate in nineteenth-century French literature from Université Paris III-Sorbonne Nouvelle in France.

Prior to the session, she suggests the reading or re-reading of 2 or 3 short stories in order to engage in a discussion in French and English about Solitude in Maupassant

With the attendees, she will examine :  the transition from sought-after solitude to destructive isolation among singles in Maupassant’s works.

This is the selection of short-stories, letters from Maupassant that Céline recommends you to read before the session

Lettre trouvée sur un noyé(1884)

Solitude (1884)

Suicides(1880)

Lui? (1883)

Le Horla (1887) 

La Chevelure (1884) 

La Petite Roque (trigger warning: viol, meurtre) (1885)

 Dr. Celine Brossillon is the Author of Le Taureau triste: La Solitude du célibataire de Maupassant (CNRS, 2021), Co-editor of L’Amour des Morts: Love with Ghosts, Vampires and Other Dead(ly) Beings in the Francophone Nineteenth Century (French Forum, 47.1, Spring 2022) and Co-editor of Écrire le huis clos au XIXe siècle(Classiques Garnier, 2024)

*** WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ***

Day: Tuesday, May 20th, 2025
Time: 12:00-1:00 pm
Duration: 1 hour
Location: Alliance Française de Philadelphie, 1420 Walnut St, Suite 700, Philadelphia, PA 19102
Language: French,  English
Fee: $10