Proust, Class, and Nation

How might Proust's work be understood in relation to issues of class and nation? A la recherche du temps perdu was produced in momentous times - the Dreyfus Affair and the Separation of Church and State; the First World War and the consequent Germanophobia; and the continuing polarization in class politics - which all find echoes in the novel.

Edward J. Hughes studied Modern Languages at Queen's University, Belfast in the 1970s and has taught in the University of London since 1980. He is currently Professor of French in the School of Languages, Linguistics and Film at Queen Mary, University of London. He has lectured on Proust and other modern French authors in Britain, Ireland, France, Holland, and the United States and served as President of the Society for French Studies between 2008 and 2010. His research focusses principally on socio-political and cultural readings of modern French literature.