Portrait of Lord Melvyn Bragg, host of In Our Time

French literary critics

Literary criticism (or literary studies) is the study, evaluation, and interpretation of literature. Modern literary criticism is often influenced by literary theory, which is the philosophical discussion of literature's goals and methods.

4 episodes

Episodes in this category also belong to the following categories:

CulturePhilosophyOntologistsFellows of the American Academy of Arts and SciencesPhilosophy writersPhilosophers of literaturePhilosophers of mindTheorists on Western civilizationMetaphysiciansAphoristsAtheist philosophers20th-century atheistsNobel laureates in LiteraturePhilosophers of social science18th-century philosophersExistentialistsUniversity of Paris alumniWriters from Paris20th-century French philosophersFrench Roman CatholicsFrench atheistsFrench political philosophersPhilosophers of sexuality19th-century atheistsBurials at Père Lachaise CemeteryFormer Roman CatholicsFrench philosophers of educationFrench philosophers of scienceFrench women philosophersModernist writers20th-century French novelistsConversationalistsFrench male non-fiction writersFrench philosophers of cultureFrench philosophers of historyFrench socialistsLegion of Honour refusalsPhenomenologistsPhilosophers of deathÉcole Normale Supérieure alumni19th-century French philosophersBisexual novelistsCritical theoristsFrench LGBTQ novelistsFrench Nobel laureatesFrench epistemologistsFrench feministsFrench philosophers of artFrench sociologistsFrench women novelistsLGBTQ Roman CatholicsLibertarian socialistsScholars of feminist philosophy18th-century French women writers19th-century French novelists, 19th-century French women writers19th-century mystics20th-century French women writers20th-century mysticsBisexual memoiristsBlind writersBurials at Montparnasse CemeteryFrench Resistance membersFrench Roman Catholic writersFrench anarchists, French anti-capitalists, French anti-fascistsFrench bisexual women, French bisexual writersFrench communistsFrench humanistsJerusalem Prize recipientsLycée Condorcet alumniLycée Henri-IV alumniLycée Louis-le-Grand alumniPeople with hypochondriasisSocialist feministsWomen in the French Revolution19th-century French LGBTQ people, 20th-century French LGBTQ people19th-century French letter writers20th-century French dramatists and playwrights20th-century French essayists, 20th-century French short story writers20th-century French memoiristsBisexual women writersCommunist women writersContinental philosophersConverts to Roman Catholicism from Calvinism, Romantic philosophersDeaths from pneumonia in France, Prix Goncourt winnersFeminist studies scholarsFeminist theoristsFree love advocatesFrench Marxists, French anti-war activistsFrench biographers, French ethicistsFrench essayistsFrench magazine foundersFrench salon-holdersFrench scientists with disabilitiesFrench short story writersFrench travel writersPeople of the First French EmpirePhilosophers of nihilismScholars of antisemitism
  1. Germaine de Staël

    Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the ideas, works and life of Germaine de Stael (1766-1817), a literary critic, author, opponent of Napoleon and developer of Romanticism.

    16 November 2017

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    Featuring: Catriona Seth, Alison Finch, Katherine Astbury

     
  2. Proust

    Melvyn Bragg discusses the life and achievements of the 19th century French novelist Marcel Proust whose 3000 page work À La Recherche du Temps Perdu has been called the definitive modern novel.

    17 April 2003

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    Featuring: Jacqueline Rose, Malcolm Bowie, Robert Fraser

     
  3. Sartre

    Melvyn Bragg discusses the life and works of French novelist, playwright and philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre.

    7 October 2004

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    Featuring: Jonathan Rée, Benedict O'Donohoe, Christina Howells

     
  4. Simone de Beauvoir

    Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss Simone de Beauvoir - her work on existentialist ethics, philosophy and literature and her influence on feminism.

    22 October 2015

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    Featuring: Christina Howells, Margaret Atack, Ursula Tidd