October 2013
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The status of early (French-language) Louisiana literature within the larger corpus of French literature is examined initially in connection with the general questions of provincial or regional writing and of what is now called Atlantic literature. The literary worth of nineteenth-century Louisiana writing, viewed broadly, is assessed, along with its connection to Romanticism and its notable features. High culture in New Orleans— theatres, opera, schools, publishing, clubs—is reviewed. Neighborhoods and their features are sketched. The particular achievements of Free People of Color are stressed. The chapter identifies particular features of Louisiana writing: the role played by characteristic Louisiana landscapes and by hurricanes, and the significance of the French Quarter as a center of literary imagination.