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X-ORIGINAL-URL:https://barricadescon.com/
X-WR-CALNAME:Barricades: A Les Mis Convention
X-WR-CALDESC:A fan-run fan-academic convention about Victor Hugo's Les Miserables
X-WR-TIMEZONE:UTC
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TZID:UTC
X-LIC-LOCATION:UTC
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TZOFFSETFROM:+0000
TZOFFSETTO:+0000
TZNAME:UTC
DTSTART:20260624T204827
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BEGIN:VEVENT
CLASS:PUBLIC
UID:MEC-9dc372713683fd865d366d5d9ee810ba@barricadescon.com
DTSTART;TZID=UTC:20240714T153000
DTEND;TZID=UTC:20240714T160000
DTSTAMP:20240617T034917Z
CREATED:20240617
LAST-MODIFIED:20240623
PRIORITY:5
SEQUENCE:0
TRANSP:OPAQUE
SUMMARY:Lee’s Misérables: Jean Valjean, Confederate Hero
DESCRIPTION:Victor Hugo’s Les Misérables (1862) was as big a success in the United States as elsewhere in the world upon publication, hailed throughout the young nation as the commanding masterpiece of modern French literature. Why would a novel that celebrates violent insurrection and radical republican ideals be so warmly received in America? One of the (many) answers to that question is that the novel appeared in the midst of the Civil War, and that it provided engrossing reading to the many soldiers stuck in place for weeks or months in camp, hospitals, and prisons. Most surprising, though, is the evidence of Les Misérables’ appeal to Confederate soldiers (who jokingly called themselves “Lee’s Misérables”), as Hugo was on record as an ardent abolitionist. My paper will illustrate and explain the paradoxical appeal of Hugo’s novel in the South in two contexts: first, I will draw attention to the ways in which Confederate nationalists likened their cause to the European Revolutions of 1848; and second, I will explain the novel’s resonance within what Wolfgang Schievelbusch has called the “culture of defeat,” the emotional resonance, in some historical contexts, of narratives of doomed causes and heroic failure.\nThis event will be recorded and will available following the con for two weeks from when it is first uploaded.\n
URL:https://barricadescon.com/events/lees-miserables/
CATEGORIES:Academic track
LOCATION:Track 2
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