FRW 5415 / FRE 4930-01. Gender, Genre, Manuscript: Chrétien de Troyes in Context
Dr. Lori Walters
MW 12:20-1:35
 
The course locates the twelfth-century poet and romancer within the context of the lyric and romance traditions. It also studies the way that thirteenth-century manuscript compilers positioned Chrétien's romances within a larger, nationalistic context in which the queen assumed increasing importance. My focus in the course is on the woman-centeredness of Chrétien’s works: his emphasis on the courtly lady, the queen, and his patroness, the Countess Marie de Champagne. We will also relate his work to the short stories of Marie de France, in which tales of male prowess take second place to female-oriented tales of love. Taught in English and French, with all major readings available in English, Modern and Old French. Open to advanced undergraduates with permission of the instructor.

 

FRW 5588 / FRW 4433. 18th-Century French Literature: Jean-Jacques Rousseau.
Dr. Noémi Parrat
TR 2:00-3:15

This course will focus mainly on Jean-Jacques Rousseau, on his role in the 18th century and today. Rousseau was one of the most illustrious thinkers of the Enlightenment and a major precursor of the French revolution. Rousseau’s writings, as well as the lifestyle he patterned upon them, have always elicited fervent reactions. We will read Les Confessions, Discours sur l’origine et les fondements de l’inégalité parmi les hommes and passages from Les rêveries du promeneur solitaire and Emile ou de l’Education. We will also read about Rousseau in texts by his contemporaries such as Voltaire, Diderot, Isabelle de Charrière and Mme de Staël, and in recent criticism by Jean Starobinski, Etienne Balibar, Yves Citton and Jacques Derrida. Rousseau is still a hot topic, and Fils unique, a captivating imagined autobiography of Rousseau’s brother, published in 2006 by Stéphane Audeguy, will help us understand what 18th century writings can bring to literary studies today. We will discuss the relationship between politics and literature, the evolution in education and the specifics of autobiography. This course will be taught in French.

 

FRW 5595 - 19th-Century Paris
(cross-listed with HUM 5938 and ARH 5806-01)
Dr. Aimée Boutin
Wednesday 5:30-8:15

Walter Benjamin famously dubbed the city of Paris the capital of the 19th century. Paris was the central location in which French artistic relations flourished in the nineteenth century, but the city also became the main subject of the arts and writings it made possible. This seminar co-taught by a literary scholar (Dr. Boutin) and an art historian (Dr. Weingarden) will compare and contrast how writers and visual artists conceptualized the city of Paris before, during and after the era of Haussmannization. Topics include how artists and writers charted its changing streets, portrayed its growing population, represented urban life and viewed the city’s relationship to its surrounding suburbs and countryside.  This course will focus on how writers such as Balzac and Baudelaire, artists such as Manet and Degas, photographers such as Marville and Atget represented Paris’ radical transformations; how Sand and Daumier depicted women and the working class; and how Zola and Monet illustrated the railway—all of which are issues that emerged as Paris was transformed into the modern city we know today, as a result of a new awareness of the need for urban renewal that culminated in Baron Haussmann’s rebuilding of the city under the direction of Napoleon III. The interdisciplinary nature of the course will provide the opportunity to address how visual and textual representations relate to each other in the nineteenth century. The seminar will be taught in English. All readings will be available in French and in English translation.

 

 

FRE 5505 / FRW 4770 - Caribbean and African Cultures: Exile in Francophone Cultures
Dr. Martin Munro
MWF 2:30-3:20

Exile and migration are perhaps the most important elements in contemporary global society. In many previously–colonized Francophone countries, exile has long been a dominant literary theme, as authors and intellectuals have reflected on the effects of colonialism and cultural assimilation. For these authors, exile may be experienced within the country of birth, or else in the European or North American metropoles they find themselves in. This course considers key Francophone texts of exile from North Africa, sub-Saharan Africa, and the Caribbean. Engaging with broader (Western) theories of exile, the course will encourage reflection on the particular circumstances and difficulties of the black exiled subject. The theme of exile will intersect with other key issues such as: the role of education; gender and exile; writing as a form of exile; colonialism and the psychological heritage of slavery.

 

 

FRT 5555-1 / FRE 4930-02.Immigration and National Identity
Dr. Alec G Hargreaves
MW 3.35-4.50 pm

Immigration is one of the most hotly debated issues in contemporary France. The Islamic headscarf affair, the rise of the extreme-right National Front and the urban riots of 2005 are just some of the issues which have emerged in the last twenty years. In exploring these developments, this course examines the ways in which immigration and ethnicity have been helping to reshape the contours of French society. Working within an inter-disciplinary and comparative framework, students are invited to consider how far France can be said to display a distinctive profile in the field of ethnic relations compared with other countries such as the United States and Great Britain. After a theoretical and historical introduction, the course focuses on the period between the 1980s and the present, when minorities originating in Third World, especially Islamic, countries, have been at the center of key debates in French politics, society and culture. Among the topics covered are minority ethnic settlement, multiculturalism, nationality and citizenship, racism, extreme-right politics and anti-discrimination policy. The course is taught in English and may be taken by students without a reading knowledge of French. The core reading list (in English) is complemented by a reading list in French which students with a reading knowledge of that language are encouraged to use. The course may count for major or minor credit in French provided the written work is done in French.