Charles Augustin Sainte-Beuve

Charles Augustin Sainte-Beuve (1804–1869) was a French literary critic and writer who interpreted literature through authors’ lives, character, and social worlds.

Biographical criticism: A method of literary interpretation that uses an author’s life to illuminate literary works. Sainte-Beuve made an author’s character and circumstances central evidence for interpreting writing.
French Romanticism: A nineteenth-century movement in French literature and art emphasizing emotion, individual imagination, and historical change. Sainte-Beuve first gained prominence within the literary culture shaped by Romanticism.
Adèle Foucher: A French woman who married Victor Hugo in 1822 and became the subject of Sainte-Beuve’s unrequited love. Her marriage to Hugo marked the personal rupture behind Sainte-Beuve’s separation from the poet’s circle.
Marcel Proust: A French novelist and essayist whose writings challenge the assumption that an author’s life explains the work. Proust’s essay against Sainte-Beuve argues that the writing self differs from the social person.
Tableau historique et critique de la poésie française et du théâtre français au XVIe siècle: Sainte-Beuve’s 1828 study of French poetry and drama in the sixteenth century. This early historical study established his reputation before his mature critical portraits.
Causeries du lundi: A series of literary essays Sainte-Beuve published in French newspapers from 1849 to 1869. These weekly portraits show his method at work across writers, periods, and literary forms.
Charles Fourier: A French social theorist who proposed cooperative communities known as phalansteries. Sainte-Beuve’s early essay on Fourier connected his literary ambitions to contemporary social thought.
Matthew Arnold: An English poet and critic who promoted disinterested judgment and the study of literary culture. Arnold admired Sainte-Beuve’s critical intelligence and helped introduce his work to English audiences.
Against Sainte-Beuve: Marcel Proust’s posthumously published essays criticizing Sainte-Beuve’s biographical method. Proust directly contests the critical procedure most closely associated with Sainte-Beuve.
Vie, poésies et pensées de Joseph Delorme: Sainte-Beuve’s 1829 book of poems and prose presented as the life and writings of Joseph Delorme. It blends invented biography and poetry, anticipating his enduring interest in personality.

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