Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) style, in literature, the mysterious yet recognizable result of a successful blending of form with content. Generally speaking, all the arts reflect one of two stylistic tendencies: the classical or t...

(Encyclopedia) Valéry, Paul pōl välārēˈ [key], 1871–1945, French poet and critic. A follower of the symbolists, Valéry was one of the greatest French poets of the 20th cent. He was encouraged by Pierry Loü...

(Encyclopedia) Rousseau, Henri äNrēˈ ro͞osōˈ [key], 1844–1910, French primitive painter, b. Laval. He was entirely self-taught, and his work remained consistently naive and imaginative. Rousseau was called L...

(Encyclopedia) Saint-Denis săN-dənēˈ [key], city (1990 pop. 90,806), Seine–Saint-Denis dept., N central France. It is an industrial suburb N of Paris. Metals, chemicals, machinery, electronics, and food produc...

(Encyclopedia) Burckhardt, Jacob or Jakob Christoph yäˈkôp krĭsˈtôf bo͝orkˈhärt [key], 1818–97, Swiss historian, one of the founders of the cultural interpretation of history. He studied under Ranke at th...

(Encyclopedia) Frontenac, Louis de Buade, comte de Palluau et de frŏnˈtĭnăk, Fr. lwē də büädˈ koNt də pälüōˈ ā də frôNtənäkˈ [key], 1620–98, French governor of New France. His early military ca...

(Encyclopedia) Fanon, Frantz Omar fräNts ômärˈ fänôNˈ [key], 1925–61, French West Indian ps...

(Encyclopedia) Modiano, Patrick (Jean Patrick Modiano) zhäN pätrēkˈ mōdyänōˈ [key], 1945–, French novelist. He has been acclaimed for his treatment of memory, loss, and the puzzle of identity in novels tha...

(Encyclopedia) Deneuve, Catherine, 1943–, French film actress, b. Paris as Catherine Fabienne Dorléac. The daughter of actors and sister of actress Françoise Dorléac (1942–67), the cool and beautiful blonde h...

(Encyclopedia) Comte, Auguste ōgüstˈ kôNt [key], 1798–1857, French philosopher, founder of the school of philosophy known as positivism, educated in Paris. From 1818 to 1824 he contributed to the publications ...