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À Rebours
''À rebours'' (; translated ''Against Nature'' or ''Against the Grain'') is an 1884 novel by the French writer Joris-Karl Huysmans. The narrative centers on a single character: Jean des Esseintes, an eccentric, reclusive, ailing aesthete. The last scion of an aristocratic family, Des Esseintes loathes nineteenth-century bourgeois society and tries to retreat into an ideal artistic world of his own creation. The narrative is almost entirely a catalogue of the neurotic Des Esseintes's aesthetic tastes, musings on literature, painting, and religion, and hyperaesthesic sensory experiences. ''À rebours'' contains many themes that became associated with the Symbolist aesthetic. In doing so, it broke from Naturalism and became the ultimate example of "Decadent" literature, inspiring works such as Oscar Wilde's ''The Picture of Dorian Gray'' (1890). In his preface for the 1903 publication of the novel, Huysmans wrote that he had the idea to portray a man "soaring upwards into dream ...
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WikiProject Novels
A WikiProject, or Wikiproject, is a Wikimedia movement affinity group for contributors with shared goals. WikiProjects are prevalent within the largest wiki, Wikipedia, and exist to varying degrees within sister projects such as Wiktionary, Wikiquote, Wikidata, and Wikisource. They also exist in different languages, and translation of articles is a form of their collaboration. During the COVID-19 pandemic, CBS News noted the role of Wikipedia's WikiProject Medicine in maintaining the accuracy of articles related to the disease. Another WikiProject that has drawn attention is WikiProject Women Scientists, which was profiled by '' Smithsonian'' for its efforts to improve coverage of women scientists which the profile noted had "helped increase the number of female scientists on Wikipedia from around 1,600 to over 5,000". On Wikipedia Some Wikipedia WikiProjects are substantial enough to engage in cooperative activities with outside organizations relevant to the field at issue. For e ...
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Jules Barbey D'Aurevilly
Jules-Amédée Barbey d'Aurevilly (2 November 1808 – 23 April 1889) was a French novelist and short story writer. He specialised in mystery tales that explored hidden motivation and hinted at evil without being explicitly concerned with anything supernatural. He had a decisive influence on writers such as Auguste Villiers de l'Isle-Adam, Henry James, Leon Bloy, and Marcel Proust. Biography Jules-Amédée Barbey — the d'Aurevilly was a later inheritance from a childless uncle — was born at Saint-Sauveur-le-Vicomte, Manche in Lower Normandy. In 1827 he went to the Collège Stanislas de Paris. After getting his baccalauréat in 1829, he went to Caen University to study law, taking his degree three years later. As a young man, he was a liberal and an atheist, and his early writings present religion as something that meddles in human affairs only to complicate and pervert matters. In the early 1840s, however, he began to frequent the Catholic and legitimist salon of Baroness Am ...
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Gustave Flaubert
Gustave Flaubert ( , , ; 12 December 1821 – 8 May 1880) was a French novelist. Highly influential, he has been considered the leading exponent of literary realism in his country. According to the literary theorist Kornelije Kvas, "in Flaubert, realism strives for formal perfection, so the presentation of reality tends to be neutral, emphasizing the values and importance of style as an objective method of presenting reality". He is known especially for his debut novel ''Madame Bovary'' (1857), his ''Correspondence'', and his scrupulous devotion to his style and aesthetics. The celebrated short story writer Guy de Maupassant was a protégé of Flaubert. Life Early life and education Flaubert was born in Rouen, in the Seine-Maritime department of Upper Normandy, in northern France. He was the second son of Anne Justine Caroline (née Fleuriot; 1793–1872) and Achille-Cléophas Flaubert (1784–1846), director and senior surgeon of the major hospital in Rouen. He began writ ...
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Fontenay-aux-Roses
Fontenay-aux-Roses () is a Communes of France, commune in the southwestern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the Kilometre Zero, center of Paris. In 1880 a girls school École Normale Supérieure was opened in the town. It was one of the most prestigious of Paris and even of whole France in term of scientific research. It became a mixed school in 1986, and was relocated to Lyon in 2000. Fontenay is the location of the Commissariat à l'énergie atomique, and former location of the first French nuclear reactor, Zoé (reactor), Zoé, and the first French tokamak, tokamak fusion experiment, Tokamak de Fontenay aux Roses, TFR. Name The commune name originates from a local spring-fed stream (Latin ''fons'', French ''fontaine'') in the hillside descending from the Châtillon plateau, with "of roses" added to distinguish this commune from numerous French communes named Fontenay. Climate The climate of Fontenay-aux-Roses is oceanic gradient. The observation stations u ...
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French Nobility
The French nobility (french: la noblesse française) was a privileged social class in France from the Middle Ages until its abolition on June 23, 1790 during the French Revolution. From 1808 to 1815 during the First Empire the Emperor Napoléon bestowed titles that were recognized as a new nobility by the Charter of June 4, 1814 granted by King Louis XVIII of France. From 1814 to 1848 (Bourbon Restoration in France and July Monarchy) and from 1852 to 1870 (Second French Empire) the French nobility was restored as an hereditary distinction without privileges and new hereditary titles were granted. Since the beginning of the French Third Republic on September 4, 1870 the French nobility has no legal existence and status. However, the former authentic titles transmitted regularly can be recognized as part of the name after a request to the Department of Justice. Families of the French nobility could have two origins as to their principle of nobility: the families of immemorial ...
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John Of Ruusbroec
John van Ruysbroeck, original Flemish name Jan van Ruusbroec () (1293 or 1294 – 2 December 1381) was an Augustinian canon and one of the most important of the Flemish mystics. Some of his main literary works include ''The Kingdom of the Divine Lovers, The Twelve Beguines, The Spiritual Espousals, A Mirror of Eternal Blessedness, The Little Book of Enlightenment'', and ''The Sparkling Stone''. Some of his letters also survive, as well as several short sayings (recorded by some of his disciples, such as Jan van Leeuwen). He wrote in the Dutch vernacular, the language of the common people of the Low Countries, rather than in Latin, the language of the Catholic Church liturgy and official texts, in order to reach a wider audience. Life Until his ordination John had a devout mother, who brought him up in the Catholic faith; of his father we know nothing. John's surname, ''Van Ruusbroec'', is not a surname in the modern sense but a toponym that refers to his native hamlet - modern ...
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Epigraph (literature)
In literature, an epigraph is a phrase, quotation, or poem that is set at the beginning of a document, monograph or section thereof. The epigraph may serve as a preface to the work; as a summary; as a counter-example; or as a link from the work to a wider literary canon, with the purpose of either inviting comparison or enlisting a conventional context. A book may have an overall epigraphy that is part of the front matter, or one for each chapter. Examples * As the epigraph to '' The Sum of All Fears'', Tom Clancy quotes Winston Churchill in the context of thermonuclear war:Why, you may take the most gallant sailor, the most intrepid airman or the most audacious soldier, put them at a table together – what do you get? The sum of their fears. * The long quotation from Dante's ''Inferno'' that prefaces T. S. Eliot's "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock" is part of a speech by one of the damned in Dante's Hell. * The epigraph to E. L. Doctorow's ''Ragtime'' quotes Scott Joplin' ...
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Des Esseintes At Study Zaidenberg Illustration
Des is a masculine given name, mostly a short form (hypocorism) of Desmond. People named Des include: People * Des Buckingham, English football manager * Des Corcoran, (1928–2004), Australian politician * Des Dillon (other), several people * Des Hasler (born 1961), Australian rugby league player-coach * Desmond Des Kelly (born 1965), British journalist * Desmond Des Lynam (born 1942), British television presenter * Desmond Des Lyttle (born 1971), English footballer * Desmond Des O'Connor (1932–2020), British entertainer * Des O'Connor, Australian rugby league player in the 1970s * Desmond Des O'Grady (born 1953), Irish retired Gaelic footballer * Des O'Hagan (1934–2015), Irish communist * Desmond O'Malley (1939–2021), Irish politician, government minister and founder and leader of the Progressive Democrats * Desmond Des O'Neil (1920–1999), Australian politician * Des O'Reilly (1954–2016), Australian rugby league player * Desmond Smith (general) (1911–19 ...
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Ali Baba
"Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves" ( ar, علي بابا والأربعون لصا) is a folk tale from the '' One Thousand and One Nights''. It was added to the collection in the 18th century by its French translator Antoine Galland, who heard it from Syrian storyteller Hanna Diyab. As one of the most popular ''Arabian Nights'' tales, it has been widely retold and performed in many media across the world, especially for children (for whom the more violent aspects of the story are often suppressed). In the original version, Ali Baba ( ar, علي بابا ') is a poor woodcutter and an honest person who discovers the secret of a thieves' den, and enters with the magic phrase " open sesame". The thieves try to kill Ali Baba, but Ali Baba's faithful slave-girl foils their plots. Ali Baba's son marries her and Ali Baba keeps the secret of the treasure. Textual history The tale was added to the story collection '' One Thousand and One Nights'' by one of its European translators, ...
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Louis Quinze
The Louis XV style or ''Louis Quinze'' (, ) is a style of architecture and decorative arts which appeared during the reign of Louis XV. From 1710 until about 1730, a period known as the Régence, it was largely an extension of the Louis XIV style of his great-grandfather and predecessor, Louis XIV. From about 1730 until about 1750, it became more original, decorative and exuberant, in what was known as the Rocaille style, under the influence of the King's mistress, Madame de Pompadour. It marked the beginning of the European Rococo movement. From 1750 until the King's death in 1774, it became more sober, ordered, and began to show the influences of Neoclassicism. Architecture The chief architect of the King was Jacques Gabriel from 1734 until 1742, and then his more famous son, Ange-Jacques Gabriel, until the end of the reign. His major works included the Ecole Militaire, the ensemble of buildings overlooking the Place Louis XV (now Place de la Concorde; 1761-1770), and the P ...
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Altar Bell
In the Roman Rite of the Catholic Church, Lutheranism, Methodism and Anglicanism, an altar bell (also Mass bell, sacring bell, Sacryn bell, saints' bell, sance-bell, or sanctus bell) is typically a small hand-held bell or set of bells. The primary reason for the use of such bells is to create a “joyful noise to the Lord” as a way to give thanks for the miracle taking place atop the altar. An ancillary function of the bells is to focus the attention of those attending Mass that a supernatural event is taking place on the altar. These are kept on the credence table or some other convenient location within the chancel. In the Catholic Church At Mass "A little before the Consecration, if appropriate, a minister rings a small bell as a signal to the faithful."General Instruction of the Roman Missal< ...
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Stéphane Mallarmé
Stéphane Mallarmé ( , ; 18 March 1842 – 9 September 1898), pen name of Étienne Mallarmé, was a French poet and critic. He was a major French symbolist poet, and his work anticipated and inspired several revolutionary artistic schools of the early 20th century, such as Cubism, Futurism, Dadaism, and Surrealism. Biography Mallarmé was born in Paris. He was a boarder at the ''Pensionnat des Frères des écoles chrétiennes à Passy'' between 6 or 9 October 1852 and March 1855. He worked as an English teacher and spent much of his life in relative poverty but was famed for his '' salons'', occasional gatherings of intellectuals at his house on the rue de Rome for discussions of poetry, art and philosophy. The group became known as ''les Mardistes,'' because they met on Tuesdays (in French, ''mardi''), and through it Mallarmé exerted considerable influence on the work of a generation of writers. For many years, those sessions, where Mallarmé held court as judge, jester, ...
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