French Literature Reviews - 2026
A. Corbin, Les filles de rêve
History, Politics and Society
Alain Corbin
Les filles de rêve
Paris: Fayard, "Histoires", 2014
EAN: 9782213680842
135 x 215 mm / 200 p.
18.00 EUR
Publisher's presentation:
The goddess Diana captivated hunters without ever yielding to them. For centuries, men—especially the youngest among them—have spoken of being dazzled by a young woman they chanced to meet, or by a dream fiancée to whom they remained devoted all their lives. The recent disappearance of these dream girls marks a major rupture in the history of the Western imagination. Is it possible today to describe them without irony or contempt? Is it possible to reconstruct the ideal woman without anachronism?
Alain Corbin has ventured into this endeavor. In this book, he brings to life nineteen dream girls drawn from memoirs, novels, and legends. In doing so, he opens a window onto male romanticism—that subtle way of escaping oneself through thoughts of an unattainable beloved. A veil is lifted on a mysterious facet of masculinity. Ultimately, this journey through pure love is a delightful invitation to fantasy.
A historian and specialist in 19th-century France, Alain Corbin is renowned for his pioneering approach to the history of the senses and sensibilities. He is notably the author of Les Filles de noces (Aubier, 1978), The Foul and the Fragrant: Odor and the French Social Imagination (Aubier, 1982), and La Douceur de l’ombre (Fayard, 2013, Environmental Book Prize), all of which have achieved great success in France and abroad. More recently, he published Sois sage, c’est la guerre (Flammarion, 2014).
Written by renowned French historian Alain Corbin, this work investigates the evolution of the idealized woman through memoirs, novels, and legends. As a specialist in nineteenth-century sensibilities and the history of the senses, the author reconstructs nineteen distinct figures who captivated the male imagination across generations. By examining this elusive archetype without irony, the study illuminates a subtle facet of historical masculinity and romantic devotion that has largely vanished from modern experience.
This accessible volume will interest historians of mentalities, cultural researchers, and readers curious about the history of emotion and fantasy in Western culture. It provides valuable context for understanding how past societies constructed intimate ideals and longing. Scholars of nineteenth-century France and those familiar with the author's previous explorations of social imagination will find this a compelling companion to broader studies on intimacy, desire, and the shifting boundaries of romantic thought.