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The city is an integral theme, even a privileged character, in the literary and speculative texts of the 17th and 18th century. It is often understood to stand in opposition to the royal court and embodies the spirit of the people in a way related to the modern notion of “solidarity”. This course will look at a number of examples of the peculiar status of the French city (especially Paris) from the late Renaissance through the First Empire. Selections from Marguerite de Valois, Mme de Sévigné, Montesquieu, Diderot, Rousseau, Turgot, Ruault, Rétif de la Bretonne, Mercier, Saint-Just, Robespierre, Napoléon Bonaparte, with a coda from Balzac and Michelet. Please note: taught in French