Toward a History of Reading in Modern France, 1800-1940

Documents in the history of' reading can appear in curious guises, such as the portrait of Henri Fantin-Latour's two sisters completed by 1859 (see illustration).' Seated in the corner of a sewing room, Marie is portrayed with an open book before her, while Nathalie appears in a deeply pensive mood. The two women are apparently reading together, a common middle-class activity in nineteenthcentury France. And yet, Fantin-Latour's treatment of this familiar domestic scene leaves the attentive viewer uneasy. Is Marie reading aloud here or not? Her lips are neither parted nor pursed, and her sister seems absorbed, if not entirely distracted, by her own thoughts. Their immediate relationship is made no clearer by the artist's odd choice of' title, L)eux Soeurs, ou Les Brodeuses; reading is not even mentioned. Knowledge of the women involved complicates still further an adequate understanding of' their situation. The pensive Nathalie, we know, suffered from schizophrenia and was committed to the Maison nationale de Charenton in the same year that the painting was completed. Was Marie, then, reading aloud to render comfort to her deranged companion? Or was she reading silently to herself' out of' despair, or simply out of

Political science · Reading (process · French Literature and Criticism · French Literature and Poetry · History · Law · Renaissance Literature and Culture

• Qu'est-ce que la «littérature générale

  Open Access•Philippe Ouvera•Revue de Synthèse•2007

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