Welcome to the Winter 2025 registration for
Yale Alumni College
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Bingeing on Balzac
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Peter Brooks
Sterling Professor of Comparative Literature Emeritus
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Wednesdays, January 22 - February 26,
4:30-6:30 pm ET
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In-Person/Online
369 Lexington Ave
New York, NY
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$ 400
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Course Description:
Balzac invented the nineteenth century, said Oscar Wilde. Very true: coming to maturity in the wake of the Revolution and the Napoleonic Wars, Balzac sets out to finish with his pen what Napoleon had begun with the sword: to create modern France. Balzac shows us how to make sense of the new world born from the French Revolution and its aftermath, including the coming of industrialism and finance, of new claims to individualism in the pursuit of happiness, as well as the new dominance of the cash nexus. A self-declared monarchist and Catholic, he was much admired by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels for his mordant analysis of early capitalism. He invents more than 2,400 characters, from all walks of life. He creates a dynamic world of ambition and passion, making the single novel inadequate: we need always more as The Human Comedy unfolds.
We will read and discuss a shortish novel or else two novellas per week; in the case of the very long Lost Illusions, we will read only Part 2; and the last two weeks will be devoted to Père Goriot, Balzac’s most perfect novel, along with a related novella.
The main point is to enjoy these great tales, and to discuss them together. I am not going to lecture: this will be a real seminar, with class presentations led by participants, and the understanding that everyone has read the week’s assignment.
Course Materials to rent/purchase:
Colonel Chabert, trans. Carol Cosman (New Directions) 978-0811213592
A Passion in the Desert, Adieu, Gobseck, in The Human Comedy: Selected Stories, ed. Peter Brooks (New York Review Books) 978-1590176641
Lost Illusions, trans. Kathleen Raine (Modern Library) 978-0375757907
The Wild Ass’s Skin, trans. Helen Constantine (Oxford World Classics) 9780199579501
Père Goriot, trans. Henry Reed (Signet Classics) 978-0451529596
[many of these titles are available on Kindle as well, but make sure it’s the same translation]
*For those who wish to read in the original French, here are the French titles, most available in the Folio collection published by Gallimard.
Le Colonel Chabert & Adieu
Une Passion dans le désert (Editions du Cénacle)
Illusions perdues
La Peau de chagrin.
Le Père Goriot
Gobseck
Syllabus:
WEEK 1: January 22 - Introduction; Balzac, Colonel Chabert
WEEK 2: January 29 - A Passion in the Desert and Adieu, in The Human Comedy: Selected Stories
WEEK 3: February 5 -(This session will be held online)
Lost Illusions, part 2: “A Great Man from the Provinces in Paris”
WEEK 4: February 12 - The Wild Ass’s Skin
WEEK 5: February 19 - (This session will be held online)
Père Goriot
WEEK 6: February 26 - Père Goriot; Gobseck
To view our other courses please visit our website.
Bingeing on Balzac
Peter Brooks
Wednesdays, January 22 - February 26,
4:30-6:30 pm ET
Course Fee: $400.00
Peter Brooks
Peter Brooks is Sterling Professor of Comparative Literature Emeritus. He was the founding director of the Whitney Humanities Center (1981-91), and served again as director from 1996-2001. He also chaired the Departments of Comparative Literature and of French. He taught also at the University of Virginia and Princeton University. He served as a visiting professor at Harvard, the University of Texas, Austin, the University of Copenhagen, the University of Bologna, and the Georgetown University Law Center. During the 2001-2002 academic year, he was Eastman Professor at Oxford University, and Fellow of Balliol College. He holds a BA and PhD from Harvard University.
His teaching and publication have been mainly on the novel (largely French and English) and the theory of narrative; on psychoanalysis in relation to literature; and on law and the humanities. He received his BA and PhD from Harvard University, and studied also at the University of London and the University of Paris.
He was decorated Officier des Palmes Académiques in 1986; and in 1997 he received an honorary doctorate from the Ecole Normale Supérieure, Paris; and in 2001 an MA from Oxford. He is a member of the American Academy of Arts and the American Philosophical Society, and a Corresponding Fellow of the British Academy. He was given the William C. DeVane Prize for Scholarship and Teaching in 2012, the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation Distinguished Achievement Award in 2008.
His books include: Seduced by Story (2022), Balzac’s Lives (2020), Flaubert in the Ruins of Paris (2017), Enigmas of Identity (2011), Henry James Goes to Paris (2007), Realist Vision (2005), Troubling Confessions (2000), Psychoanalysis and Storytelling (1994), Body Work (1993), Reading for the Plot (1984), The Melodramatic Imagination (1976), The Novel of Worldliness (1969), many of them translated into other languages; two novels: The Emperor’s Body (2011) and World Elsewhere (1999); and various edited volumes, including The Humanities and Public Life, with Hilary Jewett (2014), The Human Comedy: Selected Stories (2014), Anthologie du mélodrame Classique, with Myriam Faten Sfar (2011), Whose Freud? The Place of Psychoanalysis in Contemporary Culture, with Alex Woloch (2000), Law’s Stories, with Paul Gewirtz (1996). A new book, Henry James Comes Home. Rediscovering America in the Gilded Age, will be published in February, 2025.
Scroll down for YACOL policies and regulations.
Class sizes will be limited to 20 participants. Class participation will be on a first come, first served basis. If a class has more than 20 participants sign up, a wait list will be started. Should a participant be placed on a wait list he/she will be notified by e-mail.
CANCELLATION POLICY:
Participants can cancel and receive a full refund up to January 7. After January 7, there will be no refunds issued.
If Yale Alumni College cancels any course prior to its start, you may sign up for another course or your fee will be fully refunded.
In the event of a disruption to the original course schedule including but not limited to; Professor absence, hazardous weather conditions, or local travel restrictions, Yale Alumni College will do its best to reschedule the missed class for the week immediately following the original end date at the same course time and day. In the event of a potentially lengthy disruption to an in-person course schedule the course will be continued in an online format if agreed upon by the professor. Otherwise, the course will be postponed until in-person courses can resume in the area.
COVID-19 PRECAUTIONS:
To ensure the safety of the entire group, if you or a household member are feeling unwell (particularly if symptoms include fever, chills, aches, severe headache, cough, dizziness, faintness, or shortness of breath), please stay home and self-test.
If any participant or faculty member develops COVID-19 symptoms or tests positive throughout the course, the individual will not be allowed to participate in the program until after a 5-day isolation period starting from the date the positive Covid-19 test result was obtained. It is recommended that even after the minimum isolation period due to any potential or confirmed exposure to COVID-19 that those participants continue to wear masks when in the classroom for another week.
If a participant develops COVID-19 symptoms or tests positive throughout the course, we ask that they notify the professor as well as Yale Alumni College at their earliest convenience. In-person courses will not be recorded and there will be no refunds for missed classes due to illness.
CODE OF CONDUCT:
• Yale Alumni College expects all participants to be respectful of the thoughts and opinions of the others expressed in the classroom including faculty.
• All participants are encouraged to participate in the discussion and to express opinions freely in a way that respects others in the class.
• Participants should conduct themselves responsibly and respectfully at all times in the classroom and at any group outing organized by Yale Alumni Association.
• Please be aware of your personal limitations if you choose to consume any alcoholic beverage during class.
• In the event of disruptive behavior, YACOL reserves the right to terminate an individual's participation in the class without refund.
IMPORTANT REGISTRATION INFORMATION:
Please be sure to complete all pages of this informational form. You MUST choose your course at the bottom of the Registration Page to properly complete Registration. Then be sure to click the final "Click to Complete Registration" button. Your reservation has not been received by the YAA until you complete payment information on final screen. Please double check that the name of the class you want to register for is correct before confirming registration.
You will receive a summary email immediately after you complete your registration.
PLEASE NOTE:
If you are registering for yourself plus your spouse or a family member, please select "Register a Guest" at the bottom of the main registration page. Please ensure you check the class name for each guest as well. All guests pay the same registration fee. If you are not a Yale alum you may still register for this course. You do not need to have an alum register on your behalf. Please just click the proper affiliation in the registration process. If you have any questions on registration, please contact Sharon.small@yale.edu.
CONSENT TO USE OF PHOTOGRAPHIC IMAGES.
By registering for, attending or participating in this event, I grant my permission to the Yale Alumni Association (YAA) and/or Yale University to photograph, videotape, and/or audio record my image and/or voice(and that of any minor guest attendees(s)) and the right to to use and reproduce such as images and/or recordings in all media, including digital media, for purpose of promoting Yale University and the YAA programs and events, other purposes in accordance with Yale's mission. I understand that I will have no approval rights with respect to use of these images.