France

===Literature and philosophy===
{{Main|French literature|French philosophy}}

The earliest French literature dates from the [[Middle Age]]s when what is now known as modern France did not have a single, uniform language. There were several languages and dialects, and writers used their own spelling and grammar. Some authors of French medieval texts, such as ''[[Tristan and Iseult]]'' and ''[[Lancelot-Grail]]'' are unknown. Three famous medieval authors are [[Chrétien de Troyes]], [[Christine de Pizan]] ([[Langues d'oïl|langue d'oïl]]), and [[William IX of Aquitaine|Duke William IX of Aquitaine]] ([[Occitan language|langue d'oc]]). Much medieval French poetry and literature was inspired by the legends of the [[Matter of France|Carolingian cycle]], such as ''[[The Song of Roland]]'' and the various [[chansons de geste]]. The ''Roman de Renart'', written in 1175 by Perrout de Saint Cloude, tells the story of the medieval character [[Reynard]] ('the Fox') and is another example of early French writing. An important 16th-century writer was [[François Rabelais]], who wrote five popular early [[picaresque]] novels. Rabelais was also in regular communication with [[Marguerite de Navarre]], author of the ''[[Heptameron]]''.<ref>{{Cite journal|title=Rabelais and Marguerite de Navarre on Sixteenth-Century Views of Clandestine Marriage | first= Cathleen M. |last= Bauschatz | journal = Sixteenth Century Journal | volume = 34 | issue = 2 | pages = 395–408 | date = 2003| doi = 10.2307/20061415 | jstor = 20061415 | s2cid= 163972746 }}</ref> Another 16th-century author was [[Michel de Montaigne]], whose most famous work, ''[[Essays (Montaigne)|Essais]]'', started a literary genre.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Montaigne |url=http://www.humanistictexts.org/montaigne.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110525201508/http://www.humanistictexts.org/montaigne.htm |archive-date=25 May 2011 |access-date=22 July 2011 |publisher=Humanistictexts.org}}</ref>

French literature and poetry flourished during the 18th and 19th centuries. [[Denis Diderot]]'s best-known works are ''[[Jacques the Fatalist]]'' and ''[[Rameau's Nephew]]''. He is best known, however, as the main editor of the ''[[Encyclopédie]]'', whose aim was to sum up all the knowledge of his century (in fields such as arts, sciences, languages, and philosophy) and to fight ignorance and [[obscurantism]]. During that same century, [[Charles Perrault]] was a prolific writer of children's fairy tales including ''[[Puss in Boots]]'', ''[[Cinderella]]'', ''[[Sleeping Beauty]]'' and ''[[Bluebeard]]''. At the start of the 19th century, [[symbolist poetry]] was an important movement in French literature, with poets such as [[Charles Baudelaire]], [[Paul Verlaine]] and [[Stéphane Mallarmé]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Le Symbolisme français |url=http://users.skynet.be/litterature/symbolisme/symbolismefrancais.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180307192737/http://users.skynet.be/litterature/symbolisme/symbolismefrancais.htm |archive-date=7 March 2018 |access-date=29 July 2010 |website=users.skynet.be}}</ref>

The 19th century saw the writings of many renowned French authors. Victor Hugo is sometimes seen as "the greatest French writer of all time"<ref name="victor">{{Cite web |title=Victor Hugo est le plus grand écrivain français |url=http://www.lecavalierbleu.com/images/30/extrait_75.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130723121408/http://www.lecavalierbleu.com/images/30/extrait_75.pdf |archive-date=23 July 2013}}</ref> for excelling in all [[literary genre]]s. The preface of his play ''[[Cromwell (play)|Cromwell]]'' is considered to be the manifesto of the [[Romanticism|Romantic movement]]. ''[[Les Contemplations]]'' and ''[[La Légende des siècles]]'' are considered "poetic masterpieces",<ref name="hugo">{{Cite web |title=Victor Hugo 1802–1885 |url=http://www.enotes.com/victor-hugo-criticism/hugo-victor |access-date=16 July 2011 |publisher=Enotes.com}}</ref> Hugo's verse has been compared to that of Shakespeare, [[Dante]] and [[Homer]].<ref name = hugo/> His novel ''[[Les Misérables]]'' is widely seen as one of the greatest novels ever written<ref>{{Cite web |title=All-Time 100 Best Novels List |url=http://www.adherents.com/people/100_novel.html |url-status=usurped |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051128235020/http://adherents.com/people/100_novel.html |archive-date=28 November 2005 |access-date=22 July 2011 |publisher=Adherents.com}}</ref> and ''[[The Hunchback of Notre-Dame|The Hunchback of Notre Dame]]'' has remained immensely popular. Other major authors of that century include [[Alexandre Dumas]] (''[[The Three Musketeers]]'' and ''[[The Count of Monte-Cristo]]''), [[Jules Verne]] (''[[Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea]]''), [[Émile Zola]] (''[[Les Rougon-Macquart]]''), [[Honoré de Balzac]] (''[[La Comédie humaine]]''), [[Guy de Maupassant]], [[Théophile Gautier]] and [[Stendhal]] (''[[The Red and the Black]]'', ''[[The Charterhouse of Parma]]''), whose works are among the most well known in France and the world.

In the early 20th century France was a haven for literary freedom.<ref name="Beat censors"/> Works banned for obscenity in the US, the UK and other Anglophone nations were published in France decades before they were available in the respective authors' home countries.<ref name="Beat censors">{{Cite news |title=Dirty books and literary freedom: The Lady Chatterley publisher who beat the censors |publisher=BBC |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/25GtYStZ3wsmZHBt6BCP51p/dirty-books-and-literary-freedom-the-lady-chatterley-publisher-who-beat-the-censors |url-status=live |access-date=28 August 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211117185434/https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/25GtYStZ3wsmZHBt6BCP51p/dirty-books-and-literary-freedom-the-lady-chatterley-publisher-who-beat-the-censors |archive-date=17 November 2021}}</ref> The French were disinclined to punish literary figures for their writing, and prosecutions were rare.<ref name="Beat censors"/> Important writers of the 20th century include [[Marcel Proust]], [[Louis-Ferdinand Céline]], [[Jean Cocteau]], [[Albert Camus]], and [[Jean-Paul Sartre]]. [[Antoine de Saint-Exupéry]] wrote ''[[The Little Prince]]'', which has remained popular for decades and is one of the best selling books in history.<ref name="Patrick Modiano">[http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/afp/141009/modiano-strengthens-frances-literature-nobel-dominance Modiano strengthens France's literature Nobel dominance] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141018105721/http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/afp/141009/modiano-strengthens-frances-literature-nobel-dominance|date=18 October 2014}}, [[Global Post]], 9 October 2014</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2019-01-22 |title=The Little Prince {{!}} Plot, Analysis, & Facts {{!}} Britannica.com |url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/The-Little-Prince |access-date=2023-08-30 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190122012253/https://www.britannica.com/topic/The-Little-Prince |archive-date=22 January 2019 }}</ref>

Medieval philosophy was dominated by [[Scholasticism]] until the emergence of [[Humanism in France|Humanism]] in the Renaissance. [[Modern philosophy]] began in France in the 17th century with the philosophy of [[René Descartes]], [[Blaise Pascal]] and [[Nicolas Malebranche]]. Descartes was the first [[Western philosophy|Western philosopher]] since ancient times to attempt to build a philosophical system from the ground up rather than building on the work of predecessors.<ref>Russell, Bertrand (2004) [1945]. ''A History of Western Philosophy''. Routledge. p. 511</ref><ref>Kenny, Anthony (2006). ''The Rise of Modern Philosophy: A New History of Western Philosophy, vol. 3''. Oxford University Press. pp. 40</ref> France in the 18th century saw major philosophical contributions from [[Voltaire]] who came to embody the Enlightenment and [[Jean-Jacques Rousseau]] whose work highly influenced the French Revolution.<ref>{{Cite web |title=VOLTAIRE - University of Kent |url=https://www.kent.ac.uk/ewto/projects/anthology/voltaire.html |access-date=2023-08-30 |website=www.kent.ac.uk}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Williams |first=David Lay |date=2012-08-01 |title=Review of Rousseau and Revolution |url=https://ndpr.nd.edu/reviews/rousseau-and-revolution/ |language=en |issn=1538-1617}}</ref> French philosophers made major contributions to the field in the 20th century including the [[Existentialism|existentialist]] works of [[Simone de Beauvoir]], Camus, and Sartre.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2022-07-07 |title=Who Were the Most Famous Existentialists? |url=https://www.thecollector.com/who-were-the-most-famous-existentialists/ |access-date=2023-08-30 |website=TheCollector |language=en}}</ref> Other influential contributions during this time include the moral and political works of [[Simone Weil]], contributions to [[structuralism]] including from [[Claude Lévi-Strauss]] and the [[Post-structuralism|post-structuralist]] works by [[Michel Foucault]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Norman |first=Max |title=The subversive philosophy of Simone Weil |url=https://www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/culture/37517/the-subversive-philosophy-of-simone-weil |access-date=2023-12-16 |website=[[Prospect (magazine)|Prospect]] |language=en |date=2021-04-11 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231207180719/https://www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/culture/37517/the-subversive-philosophy-of-simone-weil |archive-date=2023-12-07 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Pollard |first=Christopher |date=2019-08-26 |title=Explainer: the ideas of Foucault |url=http://theconversation.com/explainer-the-ideas-of-foucault-99758 |access-date=2023-08-30 |website=The Conversation |language=en}}</ref>