Character and Meaning in the Novels of Victor Hugo

Acknowledgments

Acknowledgments ix I would like to express my gratitude to Claudie Bernard of New York University, who, as my dissertation director, was tireless in her commentary and served as a model for sound practices. Charles Affron and Nancy Regaldo, also of New York University , were wonderful resources, and the gift of their time was much appreciated. I’ve been fortunate to engage in intense conversation and lively debate about Hugo, character, and fiction with colleagues , students, and friends, and I thank them collectively for helping me to shape and sharpen my thinking. In particular, I’d like to recognize the ongoing support of Nicole Desrosiers. Her encouragement and friendship have been invaluable. An earlier version of Part 1, Chapter 2 (“Hugo Novelist”) was published as “Inscribing His Ideal Reader(ship): Victor Hugo and the Shaping of le lecteur pensif,” in French Forum 28.2 (Spring 2003): 21–34 © University of Nebraska Press. It is published here with permission of the University of Nebraska Press. My family has always been the center of everything. My husband, Steve, deserves special mention for signing on— without complaint—for a lengthy cohabitation with Victor Hugo. Caroline helped in ways that only she could. But my largest debt is to my grandfather, Benedict Sohm, whose generosity and intellectual curiosity were unparalleled. The wings of his pride carried me every time I felt the weight of seeing this project to the end. ...