Per Ernest Hemingway, “If you are lucky enough to have lived in Paris as a young man, then wherever you go for the rest of your life, it stays with you, for Paris is a moveable feast.” Between the end of World War I and the 1929 stock market crash, Paris was a magnet for aspiring U.S. writers, artists and musicians. We will explore the reasons why they became expats for varying lengths of time, who they were, how they lived and what they accomplished. We will try to get some feel of the Paris scene, both in “Black Montmartre” on the Right Bank and in bohemian Montparnasse on the Left Bank. In addition to well-known figures such as F. Scott Fitzgerald, Man Ray, Josephine Baker and Aaron Copland, we will get to know many lesser but fascinating ones. The course combines lecture and discussion.
NOTE: Malcolm Cowley’s “Exile’s Return” is a required text. Assigned shorter texts, musical pieces and documentary films will be accessible online at no cost.
