On April 15, 2019, the iconic cathedral of Notre-Dame in Paris caught fire. Almost as soon as the blaze had been contained, public controversies followed. In what style should the cathedral be rebuilt? Who would finance the reconstruction? What does it mean, really, to "restore" an active religious site that is also one of the most visited tourist attractions in the world? In this seminar we will study recent debates about the future of Notre-Dame, and the major underlying problem that they expose: what role can a cathedral play in the national symbolism and the cultural memory of a modern, secular state? As we explore this question, we will study documents that reveal the changing role that Notre-Dame has played in Parisian (and French) life from the Middle Ages to the present day: artistic representations, processions and ceremonies, architectural essays, novels, musicals, poetry, journalistic reportage, and film. These windows onto the building's past and present will help us imagine the new cultural roles that the restored cathedral will play in twenty-first-century France and beyond.This course counts toward the seminar requirement for the major. Prereq: Thinking-It-Through or In-Depth.
Course Attributes: EN H; AS HUM; AS LCD; FA HUM; CFH MH
