FRENCH
STUDENT HANDBOOK 2009-2010
To be read in conjunction with the School of Modern Languages Handbook and the College’s Student Handbook, this handbook is specific to students taking French courses at RHUL.
It has been put together by the French teaching staff and is designed to help you get the most out of your years of undergraduate study leading to the BA degree of the University of London.
The information supplied in this handbook is intended for use of students in the School of Modern Languages, Literatures and Cultures, Royal Holloway University of London. The School reserves the right to modify at any time any statement made therein and to amend the contents as deemed necessary by the Head of School.
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CONTENTS
Page
Staff List ……………………………………………………………………..……….……..4
Staff Initials, Offices, Telephone Numbers and E-mails …………………………...……..5
Teaching and Research Interests of Staff………………………………………..….……...6
TABLE 1: Lectures/Seminars and Essay Deadlines ……………………………...….…....9
Degree Programmes ……………………………………………………..…………………..9
TABLE 2: Single, Major and Joint Degrees: French Components ……..……...…...... 13
Important Notices: (i) Progression Requirements ……………………………………………….…..14 (ii) Oral Exams ……………………………………………………………..…....14
TABLE 3: European Studies (French Group A), HYE/MHPYE and French Minor (including European Studies French Group C) ……………………………....……….…15
TABLE 4: Multilingual Studies, International Theatre (France) …………….…….…...16
French Prizes 2009 …………………………………………………………………...….….18
TABLE 5: Course Convenors 2008-2009 …………………………...………………….….19
TABLE 6: Course Specifications: Table of Contents ………………………………...... 20 Course Specifications – First Year……….…………………………………….……...... 22 Course Specifications – Second Year ………………………………………………....…...... 35 Course Specifications – Final Year and Course Options …………………………………….43
Period of Residence Abroad (PRA) …………………………………………………...…...51
The French Society…………………………………………………………….………...... 52
French Resources Information …………………………………………………...….….… 53
Using French Accents and special characters ...……………………………………..…... 55
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STAFF LIST
Dr Timothy Chesters (PRA Coordinator – Universities Term 1, School Webmaster)
Dr Ruth Cruickshank (Sabbatical Term 1, PRA Coordinator – Assistantships and Work Placements and History and Year Abroad Coordinator Terms 2-3)
Professor Colin Davis (School Director of Research and Director of MA programme)
Dr Joseph Harris (Sabbatical Term 2, ELCs Coordinator)
Dr Ruth Harvey (Exams Term , Library) Dr Ruth Hemus (leave 2009-10, Leverhulme Early Career Fellow) Dr Marie Landick (leave 2009-10) Dr Áine Larkin (Visiting French Teacher) Professor John O’Brien (School Director of Graduate Studies, Faculty Research Committee) Professor Eric Robertson (Head of French, PRA Co-ordinator – Assistantships and Work Placements Term 1)
Dr Emily Salines (Senior Language Advisor and External programme, Multilingual Studies Coordinator) Dr Hannah Thompson (Deputy Head of School, Head of Admissions) Dr Michèle Vincent
Dr Adam Watt (Sabbatical Term 1, PRA Coordinator – Universities, School ESO coordinator, Terms 2-3)
Professor James Williams (Academic Coordinator, Film Studies Coordinator and University of London in Paris (ULIP) Coordinator)
Lectrices Mlle Jean Chiron Mlle Anne-Célia Feutrie Mlle Laélia Véron
Administrative Staff in the School of Modern Languages Mrs Ann Hobbs Ms Sarah Midson Ms Helen Thomas Mlle Catherine Thorin (Senior Faculty Administrator)
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STAFF INITIALS, OFFICES, PHONE NUMBERS AND E-MAIL ADDRESSES
The list below includes all members of staff with whom you may have contact, including visiting lecturers and postgraduate tutors.
Extensions commencing with the digit 3 are available by direct dial by prefixing them with 44. So, for example, to ring Dr Harvey on 3241 from outside the College or from a mobile, you need to dial (01784) 443241.
All rooms listed below are in the International Building and should be prefixed with IN, eg Dr Harvey 110 = IN110.
Teaching Staff Initials Room Phone e-mail Dr Chesters (TC) 101 3741 [email protected] Mlle Chiron (JC) 116 3251 [email protected] Dr Cruickshank (RC) 117 3252 [email protected] Prof Davis (CD) 102 3253 [email protected] Mlle Feutrie (ACF) 116 3251 [email protected] Dr Harris (JHr) 120 3243 [email protected] Dr Harvey (RH) 118 3241 [email protected] Dr Landick (ML) 114 3248 [email protected] Prof O’Brien (JO’B) 112 3861 j.o’[email protected] Prof Robertson (ER) 119 3257 [email protected] Dr Salines (ES) 115 3742 [email protected] Dr Thompson (HT) 113 3975 [email protected] Mlle Véron (LV) 116 3251 [email protected] Dr Vincent (MV) 114 3248 [email protected] Dr Watt (AWt) 105 3740 [email protected] Prof Williams (JW) 111 3249 [email protected]
Part-time lecturers and Teaching Fellows Dr Larkin (AL) 161 3739 [email protected]
Departmental numbers 01784 443244/3254/3201/ 01784 414310/ (Office) Fax 01784 470180
Senior Administrator in charge of Departmental Office Mlle Catherine Thorin 124 4310 [email protected]
Modern Languages administrative staff: Mrs Ann Hobbs 123 3201 [email protected] Ms Sarah Midson 123 3753 [email protected] Ms Helen Thomas 123 3244 [email protected]
5 TEACHING AND RESEARCH INTERESTS OF STAFF
French is one of the leading French sections in the country. Our French staff boast a wide range of research and pedagogical expertise, from literature of the medieval period to the present, to diverse interests in the visual image, poetry, autobiography, linguistics, cultural and intellectual history.
Dr Timothy Chesters is a specialist in the relationship between demonology and literature in early modern France. He is the author of articles on Ronsard and Jean de La Taille, and is currently writing a book on ghosts and apparitions in late Renaissance France. His other research interests include the history of the book and libertine narrative.
Dr Ruth Cruickshank is a specialist in post-war French fiction, film and thought, with particular interests in the impact and representation of consumerism, globalisation and neo- imperialism in post-war French cultural production; and in contemporary fiction. She is the author of Fin de millénaire French Fiction: The Aesthetics of Crisis (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2009) and of articles on Ernaux, Houellebecq, Redonnet, symbolic violence and global market economics in recent filmic images of Paris, the cinema of the Trente glorieuses, Denis and Varda. She is currently writing a book on the relationship between representations of food and conceptions of identity in post-war France: Leftovers: The Politics of Food in Post-war French Fiction, Film and Thought.
Professor Colin Davis is a specialist in twentieth-century French literature, film and thought, with interests including ethics, ethical criticism, Holocaust literature, recent fiction, and the connections between philosophy, fiction and film. He is the author of Michel Tournier: Philosophy and Fiction (1988), Elie Wiesel's Secretive Texts (1994), Levinas: An Introduction (1996), Ethical Issues in Twentieth-Century French Fiction: Killing the Other (2000), French Fiction in the Mitterrand Years: Memory, Narrative, Desire (co-written with Elizabeth Fallaize, 2000), After Poststructuralism: Reading, Stories and Theory (2004), Haunted Subjects: Deconstruction, Psychoanalysis and the Return of the Dead (2007), and Scenes of Love and Murder: Renoir, Film and Philosophy (2009). He is currently writing a book on philosophical interpretations of literature and film.
Dr Joseph Harris is a specialist in early-modern French literature, especially seventeenth- and eighteenth-century drama. His research interests include gender, sexuality and queer theory, comedy and laughter, reception and audience response, and sensibility and identification. He is the author of Cross-Dressing in Seventeenth-Century France (2005) and co-editor of Exposure: Revealing Bodies, Unveiling Representations (2004). He is currently working on theories of spectatorship in sixteenth-to-eighteenth-century French theatre, identification in pre-twentieth-century France, and sensibility in the eighteenth century.
Professor Ruth Harvey is a specialist in medieval French and Occitan literature. She is the author of The Troubadour Marcabru and Love, a major critical edition of Marcabru's works, and articles on medieval Occitan literature and society. She is currently completing a collaborative edition of over 150 troubadour dialogue-songs and her next project is a study of courtly culture and society.
Dr Ruth Hemus is a Leverhulme Early Career Fellow, working on a two-year project entitled Writing, gender and identity in the avant-garde. Her research interests lie in European modernist and avant-garde movements, spanning literature, performance and visual arts, and with a particular focus on gender. Her first book, Dada's Women, was published by Yale University Press in 2009.
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Dr Áine Larkin is a specialist in late nineteenth- and early twentieth-century literature, with a particular interest in photography and its relationship with literature. She has written articles on the roles of food, music, and X-rays in novels, and is currently completing a book on Marcel Proust and photography.
Professor John O'Brien is the author of Anacreon Redivivus, editor of (Ré) interprétations, and co-editor of Montaigne et la rhétorique, Belleau's Les Odes d'Anacréon, Distant Voices Still Heard, and La familia de Montaigne. He is also the author of articles on various aspects of Renaissance literature, particularly Montaigne, and is currently working on the imagination and on the Martin Guerre narratives.
Professor Eric Robertson is the author of Arp: Painter, Poet, Sculptor (Yale, 2006), Writing between the Lines, a study of the bilingual novelist and essayist René Schickele (1995), and various articles and chapters on twentieth-century French literature, especially poetry, and visual arts. He is also the co-editor of Yvan Goll - Claire Goll: Texts and Contexts (1997), Robert Desnos: Surrealism in the Twenty-First Century (2006) and Dada and Beyond (2 Volumes, 2009 forthcoming). His ongoing projects include a monograph on Blaise Cendrars and a study of avant-garde art and virtual technologies.
Dr Emily Salines specialises in language teaching. Her research interests include translation theory and history, comparative literature and contemporary crime fiction. She is the author of articles and a book on Baudelaire as translator (Alchemy and Amalgam; Translation in the Works of Charles Baudelaire; Rodopi 2004).
Dr Hannah Thompson is a specialist in nineteenth-century French fiction and has published on Zola, Rachilde, Hugo and narratives of war. She is the author of Naturalism Redressed: Identity and Clothing in the Novels of Emile Zola (Oxford: Legenda, 2004), co-editor of Corporeal Practices: (Re)figuring the Body in French Studies (2000) and editor of New Approaches to Zola (2003). She is particularly interested in nineteenth-century representations of the body and the ways in which modern theories of the body such as gender theory and monster theory intersect with Realism and Naturalism. She is also researching literary and filmic representations of Parisian monuments.
Dr Michèle Vincent is a specialist on French syntax. She works within the framework of the Principles-and-Parameters Theory and is particularly interested in aspects of agreement, case assignment and auxiliary selection in French and other Romance languages. After recently completing her doctoral thesis entitled Aspects of Participle Agreement in French: a Minimalist Approach, she has published articles on the feature composition of French participial light verbs and on the nature of the feature percolation operation proposed in recent minimalist literature.
Dr Adam Watt is a specialist in late nineteenth- and early twentieth-century literature, in particular the work of Marcel Proust. He is the author of Reading in Proust's 'A la recherche’: ‘le délire de la lecture’ (Oxford University Press, 2009) and editor of Le Temps retrouvé Eighty Years After: Critical Essays/Essais critiques (Peter Lang, 2009). His current research examines contemporary English-language versions of nineteenth- and twentieth-century poetry in French. He is currently writing The Cambridge Introduction to Marcel Proust (forthcoming with Cambridge University Press, 2010).
Professor James S. Williams specialises in modern French literature, cinema, and gender studies. He is the author of The Erotics of Passage: Pleasure, Politics, and Form in the Later Work of Marguerite Duras (1997), Camus’s La Peste (2000), The Cinema of Jean Cocteau
7 (2006) and Jean Cocteau (2007). He is also (co)editor of Gay Signatures: gay and lesbian theory, fiction and film in France, 1945-1995 (1998), Revisioning Duras: Film, Race, Sex (2000), Gender and French Cinema (2001), as well as of books on Jean-Luc Godard including The Cinema Alone (2000), For Ever Godard (2004), and Jean-Luc Godard: Documents (2006) (catalogue of the Godard exhibition Voyages(s) en Utopie held at the Centre Pompidou in 2006). He is currently researching a book provisionally entitled Space and Being in Contemporary French Cinema.
8 TABLE 1. LECTURE/SEMINAR ALTERNATION AND ESSAY DEADLINES
09.11.09 16.11.09 23.11.09 30.11.09 07.12.09 11.01.10 18.01.10 25.01.10 01.02.10 08.02.10 22.02.10 01.03.10 08.03.10 15.03.10 22.03.10 28.09.09 05.10.09 12.10.09 19.10.09 26.10.09 tion week 21.09.09 Induc- 29.03.10 02.11.09 14.12.09 15.02.10
YEAR ONE WEEK 0 1 2 3 4 5 R 7 8 9 10 11 C 12 13 14 15 16 R 18 19 20 21 22 FR1104 L S L S L E L S L S L H S L S L S E S L S L S FR1105 S L S L S A S L S L S R L S L S L A L S L S L E FR1106 S L S L S D S L S L S I L S L S L D L S L S L A FR1107 S L S L S I S L S L S S L S L S L I L S L S L S FR1108 L S L S L N L S L S L T S L S L S N S L S L S T G M G E A R YEAR TWO S WEEK 0 1 2 3 4 5 W 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 W 18 19 20 21 22 V FR2102 L S L S L E L S L S L S L S L S E S L S L S A FR2103 L S L S L E L S L S L V S L S L S E S L S L S C FR2104 L S L S L K L S L S L A S L S L S K S L S L S A FR2105 S L S L S S L S L S C L S L S L L S L S L T FR2106 S L S L S S L S L S A L S L S L L S L S L I T O N
DEGREE PROGRAMMES
The programmes aim to
A. develop advanced skills in understanding, speaking and writing authentic French, and this aim is fundamental to the programme.
B. broaden and deepen a student’s knowledge and understanding of key aspects of the society and culture of France and of the francophone world.
C. provide a learning environment in which students from all backgrounds will be able to develop intellectually.
D. provide experience and opportunity for developing such transferable skills as the capacity for critical analysis and judgment, the ability to articulate ideas, devise and sustain arguments, the assimilation and evaluation of complex material, the ability to present, orally and in writing, the results of rational and coherent thinking and the ability to collaborate in group projects.
E. introduce all students to the methods of independent research, both in a general sense and in relation to those approaches specific to research in modern languages and literatures.
Working within the outline of the College Mission statement with its emphasis on nurturing ‘research, learning and teaching of the highest quality and which advances knowledge, the personal development of its students and staff, and the public good’, French staff are dedicated to ensuring that students completing these programmes should develop and be able to demonstrate knowledge, understanding and skills under A and B below.
A. Knowledge and understanding of
1. the phonetics, grammar, structure and vocabulary of the principal varieties of French
2. France and French culture, in particular of crucial aspects of the recent history of France, its social and political structures and its role in relation to other cultures, especially francophone cultures outside Europe
3. key aspects of the arts in a French or francophone context, especially philosophy, literature, esthetics and cinema, in their comparative, contemporary or historical perspectives
4. the interaction between all three of the foregoing
5. the resources and techniques available to students and researchers in the field of French studies and of their wider applicability.
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B. Skills
(a) Discipline-specific skills
In the process of acquiring, developing and applying these elements of knowledge and understanding, it is intended that students should also acquire, develop and apply the following skills, specific to French language, culture and society programmes. They should demonstrate the ability to:
1. understand spoken French (live and recorded) of a variety of registers, used in a variety of circumstances and for a variety of purposes
2. express ideas, requests, inquiries and responses in spoken French appropriate in register, authentic and accurate, in a variety of circumstances and for a variety of purposes, in particular to conduct sustained discussion.
3. read written French with understanding and appreciation in a variety of registers and circumstances and for a variety of purposes, in particular to do this for the purpose of conducting research related to other aspects of the curriculum.
4. write effectively, in a variety of registers and for a variety of purposes, French which is accurate and authentic.
5. identify, analyse and discuss specific linguistic features of French using appropriate terminology and transcribe spoken French using an appropriate system of notation.
6. distinguish between varieties of French both spoken and written and identify the characteristics of such varieties.
7. identify, analyse, discuss and propose solutions to problems in translation and make and evaluate translations of a wide range of text types both from French to English and from English to French.
8. make effective and critical use of reference resources related to French, especially dictionaries, grammars and electronic resources including learning packages and databases.
9. formulate, explain and justify critical assessments of the role of French and francophone civilisation in relation to the culture of Europe and the wider world.
(b) Intellectual skills
The programmes are designed to encourage students to develop the ability to:
1. read, understand, analyse and evaluate a wide variety of written material
2. listen effectively and critically
3. identify, understand and reproduce the essential arguments and structures of a variety of written material
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4. write accurately, concisely and effectively in French as well as in English
5. analyse, annotate and prepare material (written or audio-visual) with a view to presenting its content orally, in French as well as in English, and to taking an active part in discussion and development of its subject.
6. participate actively in a structured and focused discussion
7. apply methods of independent research, in particular bibliographical and library skills and the application of on-line resources
8. demonstrate understanding of critical writing in a specific field and apply coherent critical approaches in linguistic, philosophical, socio-historical, literary and esthetic discourse
9. prepare and deliver effective oral presentations, in French as well as in English, using, where appropriate, visual or other aids and written material for distribution
10. research, prepare and submit written material which conforms to recognised conventions of presentation and scholarly discourse, including an extended report deriving from personal research.
(c) Personal and interpersonal skills
The programme will facilitate students’ personal and other key skills that are transferable to a wide variety of other activities, specifically, the ability to:
1. motivate, manage and improve their own learning and performance, especially in relation to time-management and working under pressure
2. work effectively and constructively with others
3. identify, analyse and solve problems
4. communicate and present material effectively, using a wide range of appropriate resources, both traditional and those supported by information technology
5. relate to their social environment with intellectual integrity, insight, adaptability and creativity
6. display understanding of cultural difference.
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Constructing your degree-programme
French undergraduate degree programmes are based on the course-unit system. This provides a flexible but coherent degree structure.
Your degree programme consists of 12 course units, or 4 units in each year of study on campus1. The University of London requires that you pass 9 units to qualify for a degree. The number of French units will depend on your particular degree programme. The various degree programmes are constructed as follows:
Degree Programme Minimum-Maximum Number of Units of French
Single French 9½-12 Joint Degree with French 6 Major French 8½-9 European Studies 3-6 Minor French 3 French as another subject 2-2½ Multilingual Studies with French 3-4½
French courses are worth half a course unit. Each course is assessed separately, in most cases by a combination of coursework and a written examination at the end of the academic year in which the unit is studied.
The combination of course units that make up each year of study varies considerably according to your degree programme and to your individual interests. In each year of study, there are courses designated as core (i.e. a course which must be taken). For example, for Year I Single Honours or Major French students, FR1004 ‘Pratique du Français: du texte à l’oral’ is a core course – it must be taken. Core courses may be complemented by an individual choice of options. Certain language courses are core and, moreover, are designated as compulsory courses. A compulsory course is a course which must be taken and passed in order to progress to the next year of study or to the Year Abroad. For example, FR1001 is a compulsory course for Year I Single Honours, Major French, French Joint, French Minor and European Studies (French) students. One language course is known as core (PR), i.e. a course which must be taken and which carries a pass requirement to be passed by the end of the final year, failure of which might result in a change of degree title or might affect the final degree classification, as specified in the assessment regulations within the College Regulations for a particular programme. This is the case for FR3001 for many of our degree programmes.
TABLES 2 & 3 provide an indication of the required number of course units, the core and compulsory courses and the range of options from which the remaining units may be chosen.
1 Please note that this statement does not refer to the units gained during the Period of Residence Abroad. At present these affect degree programmes in different ways for students in years 1, 2 and 3 of the programmes. Please see the PRA section of this Handbook for further information. 12 TABLE 2. SINGLE, MAJOR AND JOINT DEGREES: THE FRENCH COMPONENTS
French Major French Joint TYPE OF COURSE SINGLE FRENCH
YEAR ONE YEAR ONE YEAR ONE YEAR ONE
FR1001, FR1002, FR1004 FR1001, FR1002, FR1004 FR1001, FR1002, Core language half-units plus any 5 of the following plus any 3 of the following plus any 2 of the following FR1104, FR1105, FR1106, FR1107, FR1104, FR1105, FR1106, FR1107, FR1104, FR1105, FR1106, FR1107, Optional half-units FR1108 FR1108 FR1108 and/or up to one unit outside the Dept and one unit in Minor subject and two units in Joint subject Other units
YEAR TWO YEAR TWO YEAR TWO YEAR TWO
FR2001, FR2002, FR2004 FR2001, FR2002, FR2004 FR2001, FR2002, Core language half-units plus any 5 of the following plus any 3 of the following plus any 2 of the following FR2106, FR2102, FR2103, FR2104, FR2106, FR2102, FR2103, FR2104, FR2106, FR2102, FR2103, FR2104, Optional half-units FR2105 FR2105 FR2105 and/or up to one unit outside the Dept and one unit in Minor subject and two units in Joint subject Other units
YEAR FOUR YEAR FOUR YEAR FOUR YEAR FOUR
FR3001, FR3002, FR3003 FR3001, FR3002, FR3003 FR3001, FR3002 Core language half-units Plus Plus Plus Final Year Dissertation FR3119 Final Year Dissertation FR3119 Obligatory half-unit Plus Plus Four final-year half-unit options, one Two final-year half-unit options from Two final-year half-unit options from Optional half-units from each group of range FR3101 - the range FR3101 – FR3117 the range FR3101 – FR3119 FR3117 and one unit in Minor subject (may include a half-unit Link Essay where available) and two units in Joint subject
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PROGRESSION REQUIREMENTS: FR1001, FR1002, FR2001, FR3001
The progression and award requirements are essentially the same across all Honours Degree foreign language programmes at Royal Holloway. Students must pass units to the value of at least three units on each stage of the programme and additionally must pass the compulsory course units in all stages, which normally will be the core language course(s). (Please refer to the relevant Programme Specifications or Handbook for further details.) Students who do not pass the compulsory course(s) in the final year will not normally qualify for the award of the degree title in the particular language for which they are registered. Students are considered for the award and classified on the basis of a weighted average. This is calculated from marks gained in courses taken in stages two and four, and gives twice the weighting to marks gained in stage four. The two units taken during stage three are included in the average mark for stage two.
For further details on the general rules governing progression and award requirements please refer to Undergraduate Regulations 63–97 which can be found on the College website http://www.rhul.ac.uk/Registry/academic_regulations/Undergraduate_Regulations.html#Pr ogression
IMPORTANT - ORAL EXAMS
Candidates are advised that they MUST attend at the Oral exam time allocated to them. Except in cases of bona fide medical circumstances, supported by independent written evidence, no replacement time can be allocated. Failure to attend at the allocated time without such evidence will result in the award of 0 (zero) for the Oral exam. It is the responsibility of students to check the latest version of oral exam timetables as displayed on Modern Language notice boards. Failure to consult notice boards or to read exam documents or communications or mistakes in reading notice boards or exam documents or communications do NOT constitute extenuating circumstances.
14 TABLE 3. EUROPEAN STUDIES (FRENCH GROUP A SUBJECT), HYE/MHPYE AND FRENCH MINOR (INCLUDING EUROPEAN STUDIES FRENCH GROUP C SUBJECT)
EUROPEAN STUDIES (GROUP A FRENCH) HISTORY &YE / MODERN HISTORY FRENCH MINOR (INCLUDING EUROPEAN & POLITICS &YE* STUDIES GROUP C) Type of course YEAR ONE YEAR ONE YEAR ONE FR1001, FR1002 FR1001, FR1002 FR1001, FR1002 Core language half-units Students may, but need not, select any plus FR1104 plus one or two of any one of Optional half-units FR1104, FR1105, FR1106, FR1105, FR1106, FR1107 FR1107, FR1108 FR1108 YEAR TWO YEAR TWO YEAR TWO FR2001, FR2002 FR2001, FR2002 FR2001, FR2002 Core language half-units plus any one or two of FR2106, FR2102, FR2103, Optional half-units FR2104, FR2105 YEAR FOUR YEAR FOUR YEAR FOUR FR3001, FR3002 FR3001, FR3002 plus a half- FR3001, FR3002 Core language half-units plus -unit from the range FR3101 – two half-unit options from the FR3119. NB In these programmes Optional units & half-units range FR3101 – FR3119 It is not obligatory to take French units in Year 4, but any taken must be chosen from this list.
15 TABLE 4. MULTILINGUAL STUDIES AND INTERNATIONAL THEATRE (FRANCE)
MULTILINGUAL STUDIES INTERNATIONAL THEATRE (FRANCE) TYPE OF COURSE YEAR ONE YEAR ONE FR1001, FR1002 FR1001 Core language half-units Students may, but need not, select any one of Optional half-units FR1104, FR1105, FR1106 FR1107, FR1108 YEAR TWO YEAR TWO FR2001, FR2002 FR1002, FR2001 Core language half-units Plus (optional) any one of FR2105 FR2106, FR2102, FR2103, Optional half-units FR2104, FR2105 YEAR FOUR YEAR FOUR FR3001, FR3002 None Core language half-units Plus one (optional) or two half-unit options from the range FR3101 – FR3119 Optional half-units
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FRENCH PRIZES
June 2010
French will offer the following prizes:
Blanche Laycock Memorial Fund (£100) for the student who has the most outstanding record in French studies during his/her degree course.
ED Higginson Prize (£40) for the second-year student who has shown the most promise.
Dawn Hughes Memorial Prize (£80) for a final-year student in Joint French and German who achieves the most outstanding performance in the final B.A. examination.
FC Johnson Memorial Prize (£60) awarded biennially to the student in the second or third year who has shown the most promise in Medieval French.
Alison Morris Prize (£100) for a first- or second-year student showing particular excellence in the French language.
Florence Terry Memorial Prize (£40) for the first-year student who has shown the most promise.
Florence Terry Memorial Prize (£100) for the final-year student who has achieved the most outstanding performance in the B.A. examination.
Pierre Turquet Prizes (2) (£60) for outstanding first or second-year students.
Kevin Roe Memorial Prize (£40) awarded biennially to a first- or second-year undergraduate student for outstanding work in nineteenth- or twentieth-century literature.
Driver Prize or Bursary (£60) for a project approved by the Head of Language.
Christie Prize (£50): for an essay in French on a prescribed subject. Shared with Italian.
Malcolm Smith Memorial Fund: The Fund is administered by the School Board which, on the recommendation of its Research Committee, can determine that, in any year, and subject only to the available income, it be used for one or more of the following purposes: the award of a prize to an undergraduate with preference being given to one who has shown distinction in the area of French Renaissance studies in their final examination; travel grants to postgraduates undertaking research in French Renaissance studies; any other academic purpose consistent with Malcolm Smith’s commitment to Renaissance scholarship (e.g. Publication grants, memorial lectures, financial assistance for research in the field).
18 TABLE 5. COURSE CONVENORS 2009– 2010
Code Title Term Term Term 1 2 3 FR1001 Pratique de l’écrit: expliquer, résumer, rédiger RH RH RH FR1002 Pratique de l’oral: la France à travers ses médias ES ES ES FR1004 Pratique du français : du texte à l’oral MV MV MV FR1104 Perspectives on Modern France: Crisis, Nation, Identity CD RC RC FR1105 The Visual Image in French Culture and Society RH RH RH FR1106 Heroes and Anti-heroes in their Social and Cultural Context JHr AW AW FR1107 Language, Communication and Society MV MV MV FR1108 Landmarks: Reading the Classics of French Literature JOB JOB JOB
Code Title Term Term Term 1 2 3 FR2001 Pratique de l’écrit: analyser et argumenter ES ES ES FR2002 Pratique de l’oral: La France contemporaine à ES ES ES travers son cinéma FR2004 Translating from and into French TC ER ER FR2102 Writing Romance and Desire HT HT HT FR2103 French: The Linguist’s View MV MV MV FR2104 Culture and Ideology: La France et la Francophonie ER ER ER FR2105 Stage and Screen in France JW AW AW FR2106 Cinema in France JW JW JW
Code Title Term Term Term 1 2 3 FR3001 Pratique de l’écrit: Communiquer et convaincre ES ES ES FR3002 Pratique de l’oral: Réflexions et débats ES ES ES FR3003 Advanced Translating Skills MV RC RC FR3101 Advanced French Linguistics MV MV MV FR3102 Arthurian Romance: Chrétien de Troyes RH RH RH FR3109 Gender and Transgression in Early-Modern French Literature JHr FR3110 Redefining the Erotic in Contemporary French Literature and JW JW JW Film FR3111 Fictions of History: Narrative, Film and Event in Early Modern JOB JOB JOB France FR3112 Image, Identity and Consumer Culture in Post-war Fiction & Film RC RC FR3113 Text and Image in France: From Cubism to the Present ER ER ER FR3114 Ethics and Violence : Murder, Suicide and Genocide in Literature CD CD CD and Film FR3115 Marcel Proust’s A la recherche du temps perdu AW AW FR3116 The Libertines: Narratives of Experience in Early Modern France TC FR3117 The Passion of Place: Desire and Identity in Modern Paris HT HT HT FR3119 Dissertation RH RH ER
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TABLE 6. COURSE SPECIFICATIONS: TABLE OF CONTENTS
Year 1 courses COURSE CODE COURSE TITLE FR1001 Pratique de 1écrit: expliquer, résumer, rédiger FR1002 Pratique de 1'oral: La France à travers ses médias FR1004 Pratique du français : du texte à l’oral FR1104 Perspectives on Modern France: Crisis, Nation, Identity FR1105 The Visual Image in French Culture and Society FR1106 Heroes & Anti-heroes in their Social & Cultural Context FR1107 Language, Communication and Society FR1108 Landmarks: Reading the Classics of French Literature
Year 2 courses COURSE CODE COURSE TITLE FR2001 Pratique de 1’écrit: analyser et argumenter FR2002 Pratique de 1'oral: La France contemporaine à travers son cinéma FR2004 Translating from and into French FR2102 Writing Romance and Desire FR2103 French: The Linguist's View FR2104 Culture and Ideology FR2105 Stage and Screen in France FR2106 Cinema in France
Year 4 courses COURSE CODE COURSE TITLE FR3001 Pratique de l’écrit: communiquer et convaincre FR3002 Pratique de l’oral: Réflexions et débats FR3003 Advanced Translating Skills FR3101 Advanced French Linguistics FR3102 Arthurian Romance: Chrétien de Troyes FR3109 Gender and Transgression in Early Modern French Literature FR3110 Redefining the Erotic in Contemporary French Literature and Film FR3111 Fictions of History: Narrative, Film and Event in Early Modern France FR3112 Image, Identity and Consumer Culture in Post-war Fiction & Film FR3113 Text and Image in France: From Cubism to the Present FR3114 Ethics and Violence : Murder, Suicide and Genocide in Literature and Film FR3115 Marcel Proust’s A la recherche du temps perdu FR3116 The Libertines: Narratives of Experience in Early Modern France FR3117 The Passion of Place: Desire and Identity in Modern Paris FR3119 Dissertation
The information contained in the course outlines on the following pages is correct at the time of publication but may be subject to change as part of our policy of continuous improvement and development. Every effort will be made to notify you of any such changes.
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COURSES
Introduction
This section of the French Student Handbook contains descriptions of courses offered in the current session. In any one year additional courses may be offered, especially if a new member of staff is appointed at a late stage. It may also be necessary to withdraw a course in the event of unforeseen staffing changes after the Handbook has gone to press. You will always be given an update prior to pre-registration.
The variables in the courses offered each year are dictated by the availability of specialist staff to teach them.
The following descriptions are intended as summaries only. Course tutors will provide details of material to be covered, as well as teaching schedules and assignment deadlines. They will offer you advice on reading and preparation, and they will explain how the intended learning outcomes of a course correspond to teaching, learning and assessment methods.
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Code: FR1001 Course Value: Half Unit Status: Compulsory WRITTEN FRENCH: EXPLIQUER, Title: Availability: Annual RESUMER ET REDIGER Prerequisites: Recommended: Co- Professor Ruth Harvey ordinator: Course Dr Joseph Harris, Professor Ruth Harvey, Dr Áine Larkin, Lectrices Staff Aims The aims of the course are: • To develop the analytical skills required in the understanding of written material; • To promote familiarity with the vocabulary and constructions of French as used in formal written discourse; • To extend the ability to write accurately and concisely; • To revise basic points of French grammar in context and develop command of grammatical terminology After completion of this course, the recommended reading and the course work assignments, students will have Learning developed: Outcomes: • Understanding of specific methodology in Written French • Command of basic grammar knowledge in context • Ability to work on varied authentic material • A wider and specific vocabulary in formal French
The course content will be threefold: Course 1. Seminars on a weekly basis, organised as follows: Content: • Stylistic analysis of expressions taken from authentic texts. • The techniques of the Résumé • Introduction to the French essay 2. A series of 10 Grammar Lectures (every two weeks) the programme of which is: • the noun and adjective, function and value in the sentence • the verb, its function and value in the sentence • past participle, its construction and function in the sentence • past participle etc. continued • past tenses in French, value, function and construction • past tenses etc. continued • the subjunctive mood • the subjunctive mood continued • the conditional, its function and construction • mock examination in lecture theatre 3. A series of compulsory grammar exercises in the Call-Lab. Teaching & Teaching will be in seminars and lectures and conducted largely in French. Learning methods will be developed Learning through practical exercises done in seminars as well as in lectures. Students will be given regular course work Methods enabling them to put into practice the theoretical content of seminars and lectures. Bescherelle, Complete Guide to Conjugating 12000 French Verbs, English Edition (Hatier, Paris, 1993) Key French Grammar and Usage, R. Hawkins, M.N. Lamy and R. Towel (Arnold, 1997) Bibliograph Practising French Grammar, R. Hawkins, M.N. Lamy and R. Towel (Arnold, 1997) y: Charnet C et al, Rédiger un résumé, un compte-rendu, une synthèse (Hachette, Paris, 1997)
In-course Coursework Feedback:
Assessment Exam 80% Coursework 20% (5 assignments plus one test done in class. The 4 best marks and the test mark are used to calculate the overall coursework mark). Deadlines: will be indicated to students at their first seminar.
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Code: FR1002 Course Value: Half Unit Status: Compulsory PRATIQUE DE L’ORAL: LA FRANCE A Title: Availability: Annual TRAVERS SES MEDIAS Prerequisites: Recommended: Co-ordinator: Dr Emily Salines Course Staff Lectrices To develop students’ skills in listening, comprehension, expression and presentation through the medium of Aims: French.
After completion of the course, including the lab exercises and after regular use of online resources in French, Learning Outcomes: students are expected to be able to • demonstrate the listening and comprehension skills required for the understanding of spoken French (live and/or recorded) • demonstrate their ability to conduct, with an increased measure of confidence and accuracy, a structured and focused discussion in the TL
The course content will focus on the study of a wide range of audio-visual material: students will learn to talk Course Content: about and analyse TV commercials, official images of French politicians, and a French film in its entirety. They will be introduced to French cultural issues and discuss regularly French current affairs through the discussion of news recordings. The transferable skills worked on will be that of oral presentation techniques.
Teaching & Students are assigned to a small group meeting weekly and the course is conducted in French by French native Learning speakers. Students also take part in a self-training scheme taking place in the Language Laboratory. This is an Methods essential element of the course, involving regular visits to the Lab and self-training for the presentation of an audio-visual document (see Language Lab sheet for more details). Students are strongly encouraged to make full use of online resources in French (e.g. podcasts, television and radio programmes, etc.) in order to immerse themselves in French language and culture as much as possible.
Not applicable Key Bibliography:
In-course Periodic coursework assessment Feedback:
Assessment: Exam 50%
Coursework 50%. The coursework mark is calculated as follows: Term 1 • one mark for an oral presentation 15% • one mark for participation in a debate 15% • one mark for participation and attendance 20%
Term 2: • one mark for an oral presentation 15% • one mark for a mock examination, 15% • one mark for participation and attendance 20%
Deadlines: as published on notice boards
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Core for single and major Code: FR1004 Course value Status 0.5 French PRATIQUE DU FRANÇAIS: DE L’ÉCRIT A Title: Availability: Annual L’ORAL Prerequisites: None Recommended: N/A Coordinator: Dr Michèle Vincent Course Staff Dr Emily Salines, Dr Michèle Vincent The course aims to lead students to: Aims: • develop and demonstrate skills in reading, writing, understanding and speaking French; • develop skills in both oral and written presentation of a variety of printed or electronic material, principally of a journalistic nature; • develop analytical skills as applied to French written in frozen, formal and consultative registers. A particular feature of this course is that it aims to place responsibility for the learning experience largely in the hands of the students.
Learning • Recognise the relationship between lexis and register; Outcomes: • Understand, recognise and use articulateurs logiques and termes de reprise; • Highlight and re-use new grammatical structures and vocabulary; • Synthesise and/or translate from TL to SL and vice-versa; • Use and manipulate material to elicit appropriate responses from their fellow-students; • Recognise the potential of written material as a linguistic teaching and learning resource; • Present material orally or in writing with an awareness of its impact on other course-members.
Course The course will be based on written material, selected principally from the French press (newspapers, Content: magazines, specialist journals, web-based material, etc.), initially by the course-leader but thereafter by the students themselves in consultation with the course-tutor. Students will work with this material in some or all of the following ways: • Select and copy text for distribution; • Highlight elements which are of linguistic importance and likely to be of interest to the group; • Provide explanations or comments on such elements; • Create exercises based on features of the article, for example questions to check comprehension, grammatical exercises, translation exercises and exercises requiring summary skills; • Jumbling parts of the passages so that other members of the group can re-order them to restore the logical development of the text; • Rewrite parts of the article in a different form (e.g. a different register or for a different purpose). Teaching & The course will take the form of a weekly seminar, conducted mainly in French. After an introductory period, Learning seminar leadership will be assigned, either to individuals or to groups of two or three students. This will Methods require students to select, prepare and present material in the ways outlined above (Course content). Other members of the group will be required to respond to the presentation either orally or in the form of written exercises. Key For reference: Bibliography: Aplin, Richard, A Dictionary of Contemporary France (Hodder & Stoughton, 1993) Albert, Pierre, La Presse Que sais-je? (Presses Universitaires de France, 1996) Hughes, Alex & Reader, Keith Encyclopedia of Contemporary French Culture (Routledge, 1998)
Preparatory work for presentations will involve selecting, reading, analysing, highlighting features of the text, devising explanations and comments and creating exercises based on the text. Students (or groups) will be In-course given a detailed assessment of their performance in these areas. Other members of the group will be required Feedback: to complete a variety of exercises in class and between seminars. Whilst compulsory, assessment of such exercises will be formative rather than summative. Feedback will be delivered both orally and in writing. Assessment: Coursework: 100% divided as follows: Seminar presentation: 50% Press portfolio of 3 written presentations: 50% (Group assessment is only permitted for the seminar presentation. Portfolios are personal and not collaborative.) Deadlines: as published on notice boards
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Code: FR1104 Course Value: 0.5 Status: Optional PERSPECTIVES ON MODERN FRANCE: Title: Availability: Annual CRISIS, NATION, IDENTITY Prerequisites: Recommended: Co-ordinator: Professor Colin Davis, Term 1. Dr Ruth Cruickshank, Term 2. Course Staff: Dr Ruth Cruickshank, Professor Colin Davis, Professor Eric Robertson, Professor James Williams The aims of this course are to allow students to: Aims:
• Provide students with a set of perspectives on the politics and culture of modern France via study of works reflecting key moments of national crisis from the First and Second World Wars to the Algerian War and
the student uprising of May 68 • Further develop independent study skills by reading primary texts and developing personal responses to them in advance of lectures and seminars • Further develop analytical skills and critical approaches to literary texts • Further develop planning, research and academic writing skills. After the prescribed reading, and completion of the course, and of the hand-in assignments, students are Learning Outcomes: expected to be able to: • Demonstrate understanding of a number of interrelated themes central to the comprehension of modern France • Explain the relationship between writing and history at certain key moments of perceived national crisis • Analyse how national identity is constructed • Critically and analytically discuss primary and secondary material in class • Demonstrate independent research skills by drawing on the university library and other suitable resources to find information relevant to the aims of the course. • Combine techniques of textual analysis and personal judgment to form clearly expressed critical examinations of a variety of texts (historical, polemical, creative) which exhibit a combination of critical reading, independent thought, and a capacity to construct an accurately referenced argument in appropriate scholarly form. The course will encourage students not to treat individual blocks or moments of French history in isolation but Course Content: rather to use these moments of crisis (political, military, economic, social. cultural, constitutional) as windows onto the phenomenon that is modern France, its institutions, self-images and identity. The course will introduce students to the question of how national and cultural identities are constructed and fostered and to a consideration of the potency of the icons, myths and discourses of French national life. The following areas will be considered: • The construction of national identity; the idea of the integrity and defence of the nation; xenophobia and anti-Semitism • Republican tradition seen as constructed identity; the legacy of 1789 the ideology of Republicanism; forces and opinion formers: the Army, the Press, the role of the intellectual and the writer. • Perspectives on the historical event: contemporary accounts; official discourses: notions of evolutionary continuity, the developing nation, the republican heritage; collective memory, revisionism and the reconstruction of historical events; the concept of generation; the role of cultural representations in different genres and media • Definitions of crisis: military crisis; ideological conflicts; political crisis: crisis of legitimisation; decolonization economic crisis; generations in conflict. Teaching & The contact element of the course will consist of one hour of classroom presence per week over the teaching Learning year in which lectures alternate with seminars. All students are expected to attend the Academic Skills for Methods: Students of Modern Languages seminars. The independent study element of the class consists of reading the set texts in advance of the beginning of each block, reviewing reading/viewing in the light of the guide questions detailed on the block handout and researching, planning and writing coursework assignments (c 4 hours per week). Essential Reading (to be bought and read in advance of each block) and Viewing Key Bibliography: Block 1: World War 1 Reading: Annette Becker & Stéphane Audoin-Rouzeau, La Grande guerre 1914-1918 (Gallimard, 'Découvertes', 1998) Block 2: World War 2 Reading: Gilles Martinez and Thierry Scotto di Covella, La France de 1939 à 1945 (Seuil 'Memo' no. 79, 1977) Viewing: Renoir, La règle du jeu ; Clouzot, Le corbeau Block 3 La Bataille d’Alger Reading : Henri Alleg, La Question (Paris: Editions de Minuit, 1961) Viewing: La Bataille d’Alger, dir. Gillo Pontecorvo, 1965. 791.437 BAT
25 Block 4: Mai 68 Reading: Handouts Margaret Atack, May 68 in French Fiction and Film: Rethinking Representation, Rethinking Society (OUP, 1999) Viewing: Godard, La chinoise; Godard, Tout va bien (+ Ophuls, Le chagrin et la pitié) Recommended Further Reading James F. McMillan, Twentieth-century France (London: Arnold, 2000) Ian Ousby, The Occupation (Cambridge, 1999) Robert Gildea, France since 1945 (Oxford, 1997) Formative All coursework assignments will be marked and returned with detailed feedback on Relevance, Structure and Assessment & Argument, Critical Thought and Evaluation, Style and Presentation. Correct answers will be available for each Feedback: Pre-block Moodle test once the test period is closed.
Summative Exam: 50% Assessment: Students will sit a 2 hour examination comprising a critical commentary on a passage from one of the set texts and answer one of five essays questions referring to the other texts studied. Coursework: 40% Students will complete three assignments: one commentary and two essays. Pre-block reading tests: 10% Students will sit three pre-block tests on Moodle to demonstrate that they have read/watched primary texts/films before each study block. Deadlines: as published on notice boards
THE VISUAL IMAGE IN FRENCH Course Value: Course Title: 0.5 CULTURE AND SOCIETY Course JACS Code: Course Code: FR1105 R130
Availability: (Please state which Terms 1 and 2 Status: Optional teaching terms) Pre-requisites: N/A Co-requisites: Co-ordinator: Professor Ruth Harvey Course Staff: Professor Ruth Harvey, Dr Ruth Hemus, Professor Eric Robertson The aims of this course are to allow students to: Aims: • To analyse an extensive corpus of images across a range of media and contexts (painting, sculpture, photography, caricature, advertising, video clips), as well as across the centuries • To consider in the context of the massive circulation of images, the generalised social practice of receiving visual information the scientific, historical, aesthetic and ideological aspects of cultural representations in their relation with the written and spoken language • To develop social, cultural, communicative and interpretive skills through the study of different visual media • To enhance skills in interpreting visual material, becoming more receptive to visual signs and more critical in their appreciation of visual imagery and information • To develop more generalised reading skills, which support critical concepts studied elsewhere (e.g. point of view, descriptive detail, time and space, connotation and denotation) • To integrate these skills by examining certain elements (newspaper front pages, advertising and more generally imagery /figures of speech) in a way which synthesises writing strategies and reception and analyses in greater depth the communicative function of any language, be it verbal or visual (or both) • Further develop independent study skills by reading primary texts and developing personal responses to them in advance of lectures and seminars • Further develop analytical skills and critical approaches to visual images • Further develop planning, research and academic writing skills After the prescribed reading, and completion of the course, and of the hand-in assignments, Learning Outcomes: students are expected to be able to: • Demonstrate awareness and appreciation of the complexity and richness of the visual image and an understanding of its functioning • Discuss the relationship between word and image in a variety of contexts and media • Critically and analytically discuss primary and secondary material in class • Demonstrate mastery of the appropriate technical and analytical vocabulary • Demonstrate independent research skills by drawing on the university library and other suitable
26 resources to find information relevant to the aims of the course • Combine techniques of textual analysis and personal judgment to form clearly expressed critical examinations of visual materials which exhibit a combination of critical reading, an understanding of the range of critical approaches which might be taken to such material, independent thought, and a capacity to construct an accurately referenced argument in appropriate scholarly form. The course comprises the following areas of study: Course Content: • Image and Resemblance: the mimetic tradition; verisimilitude and visual representation; descriptive and expressive functions of the visual image; techniques of analysing visual images • Depth, Perspective, Time and Space: the tradition of one-point perspective; theories of representation; composition, distance and scale; angles of vision; the role of photography • Point of View: the role of the spectator; representation and ideology; art and politics; gendered representations • Semiology of the Visual Image: theories of Semiotics; denotation and connotation; approaches to decoding visual and linguistic messages; fixed and moving images. The contact element of the course will consist of one hour of classroom presence per week over the Teaching & Learning Methods: teaching year in which lecture-style classes combine with seminars. All students are expected to attend the Academic Skills for Students of Modern Languages seminars. The independent study element of the class consists of reading the set texts in advance of the beginning of each block, reviewing reading in the light of the guide questions detailed on the block handout and researching, planning and writing coursework assignments.
Details of teaching Reading lists; seminar preparation instructions; course-work assignments; powerpoint resources on Moodle: presentations from the classes; images used for class discussion and suggested for further individual study.
Essential Reading (to be bought and sections to be read as directed in advance of each block) Key Bibliography: Fozza, Jean-Claude, Garat, Anne-Marie, Parfait, Françoise, Petite Fabrique de l’image (Paris: Magnard, 2003) [ISBN 2-210-42274-4]. Jean, Georges, Signs, Symbols and Ciphers: Decoding the Message (London: Thames & Hudson, New Horizons Series) Recommended Further Reading Berger, John, Ways of Seeing (London: Penguin, 1972) [ISBN 0-14-021631-6]. Jean, Georges, Langage de signes, l’écriture et son double (Paris: Gallimard, 1989. Collection Découvertes, number 67. [ISBN 2-07-0530841] Joly, Martine, Introduction à l’analyse de l’image (Paris: Nathan, 1993. Collection Image 128, number 44) [ISBN 2-09-190634-8]
Formative Assessment All coursework assignments will be marked and returned with detailed feedback on Relevance, & Feedback: Structure and Argument, Critical Thought and Evaluation, Style and Presentation. Informal feedback will be given on students’ participation and moodle tests.
Summative Assessment: Exam (50%) 2 hours: students must answer a commentary question (*from a choice of two) and another question from a list of between 4 and 6 Coursework (40%) 10% essay 1 (1,200-1,500 words) 30% essay 2 (1,200-1,500 words) 10% Moodle tests and student participation in class discussions Deadlines: Deadlines: as published on Moodle and in the course outline
HEROES AND ANTI-HEROES IN Course Value: Course Title: THEIR SOCIAL AND CULTURAL 0.5
CONTEXT Course JACS Code: Course Code: FR1106 R120
Availability: Status: Term 1 and Term 2 Optional
Pre-requisites: Co-requisites: Co-ordinator: Dr Adam Watt Course Staff: Dr Hannah Thompson, Dr Ruth Harvey, Dr Joseph Harris, Dr Adam Watt The aims of this course are to allow students to: Aims: • Gain an introduction to a variety of key moments in the development of French society through their representation in narrative texts • Analyse the roles played by historical events and different social and cultural norms in literary texts 27 • Become familiar with ways in which writers invite various types of thoughts and emotions from their readers • Further develop independent study skills by reading primary texts and developing personal responses to them in advance of lectures and seminars • Further develop analytical skills and critical approaches to literary texts • Further develop planning, research and academic writing skills. After the prescribed reading, and completion of the course, and of the hand-in assignments, Learning Outcomes: students are expected to be able to: • Identify and assess the devices employed in the literary construction of the ‘hero’ / ‘heroine’ • Demonstrate a knowledge of the social and cultural contexts influencing the literary representations of the ‘hero’ • Critically and analytically discuss primary and secondary material in class • Demonstrate independent research skills by drawing on the university library and other suitable resources to find information relevant to the aims of the course. • Combine techniques of textual analysis and personal judgment to form clearly expressed critical examinations of literary works which exhibit a combination of critical reading, independent thought, and a capacity to construct an accurately referenced argument in appropriate scholarly form. This course examines images of French society through a selection of key literary texts and Course Content: concentrates on how questions of social change, social mobility, success and failure, ambition and honour, oppression and alienation have been portrayed through study of well-known hero- and heroine-figures who symbolise certain attitudes and values. It will explore how the idea of a ‘hero’ is defined in cultural and literary terms and how this concept is turned on its head in the ‘anti-hero’ who questions prevailing ideals, prejudices and accepted codes of behaviour. The contact element of the course will consist of one hour of classroom presence per week over the Teaching & Learning Methods: teaching year in which lectures alternate with seminars. All students are expected to attend the Academic Skills for Students of Modern Languages seminars. The independent study element of the class consists of reading the set texts in advance of the beginning of each block, reviewing reading in the light of the guide questions detailed on the block handout and researching, planning and writing coursework assignments.
Details of teaching Course outline, bibliography, weekly seminar and lecture summaries, Moodle quizzes. resources on Moodle: Essential Reading (to be bought and read in advance of each block) Key Bibliography: 1) Marie de France, Lais (Livre de Poche; Lettres Gothiques, 1990) (ISBN 2253052715) 2) Corneille, Le Cid (Paris: Larousse, Petits Classiques, 1999) (ISBN: 978-2038716207) 3) Emile Zola, Thérèse Raquin (Paris : Garnier-Flammarion, 2008) ISBN 978-2081217782) 4) Camus, L’Etranger (Routledge 1998) (ISBN 0415025869)
ELCS students only: 1) Marie de France, The Lais of Marie de France, (Penguin Classics, 1999), ISBN 9780140447590 2) Le Cid in Pierre Corneille, The Cid/Cinna/The Theatrical Illusion, trans. John Cairncross (Penguin Classics, 2005) 3) Emile Zola, Thérèse Raquin (Penguin Classics, 2004) ISBN 978-0140449440) 4) Camus, The Outsider (Penguin Classics, 2000), ISBN 0141182504
Recommended Further Reading A New History of French Literature, ed. D. Hollier (Harvard UP 1994) S. Kay, T. Cave, M. Bowie, A Short History of French Literature (OUP, 2003) J. Lough. Writer and Public in France. From the Middle Ages to the Present Day (Oxford, 1978) R. Mettam, D. Johnson, French History and Society. The Wars of religion to the Fifth Republic, (Methuen, 1974) T. Zeldin, France 1849-1945 (OUP, 1973-77) Paul Cobley, Narrative, New Critical Idiom (London, 2001) P. Nurse, The Art of Criticism: Essays in French Literary Analysis (Edinburgh, 1969) Cohen, Steven and Linda M. Shires, Telling Stories. A Theoretical Analysis of Narrative Fiction (London and New York: Routledge, 1993) [808.3 COH] S. Rimmon Kenan, Narrative Fiction (London, 1983) All coursework assignments will be marked and returned with detailed feedback on Relevance, Formative Assessment & Feedback: Structure and Argument, Critical Thought and Evaluation, Style and Presentation. Correct answers will be available for each pre-block MOODLE test once the test period is closed.
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Summative Assessment: Exam (50%) (2hours 15mins including 15 minutes of reading time) Students will sit a 2 hour examination comprising a critical commentary on a passage from one of the set texts and one of five essay questions referring to the other texts studied. Coursework (40%) Students will complete two assignments: one commentary and one essay, each 1,200-1,500 words. Assignment one (10%), Assignment Two (30%) Moodle Test (10%): Students will sit 3 readings tests on blocks 2, 3, and 4 which will ascertain how well they know the texts. Deadlines: See course schedule/MOODLE.
LANGUAGE, COMMUNICATION AND Course Value: Course Title: Half unit SOCIETY Course Code: FR1107 Course JACS Code: R1000 Availability: All year Status: Optional
Pre-requisites: None Co-requisites: None Co-ordinator: Dr M Vincent Course Staff: Dr J Harris, Dr M Vincent, Dr A Watt The aims of this course are to allow students to: Aims: • Explore the ways in which the French language varies according to the situation of communication and the types of discourse employed • Present and apply theories of communication (e.g. those of Jakobson, Saussure and Barthes) in the analysis of a variety of oral and written sources • Further develop independent study skills by reading primary texts and developing personal responses to them in advance of lectures and seminars • Further develop analytical skills and critical approaches to literary texts • Further develop planning, research and academic writing skills. After the prescribed reading, and completion of the course, and of the hand-in assignments, Learning Outcomes: students are expected to be able to: • Describe key elements of theories of language and communication as proposed by Jakobson, Saussure and Barthes • Apply these theories to examples of written and oral communication, comparing the ways in which the French language is used in differing social and/or cultural contexts • Produce commentaries analysing the use of language in a particular text, with reference, as appropriate, to lexical innovation, poetic technique (rhyme, rhythm, phonetic patterning etc), sociolinguistic issues etc • Suggest ways in which the identity of sender and receiver, or the context in which a message is produced, may affect the manner in which that message is encoded in language • Give examples of the ways in which innovation in language use may reflect or contribute towards processes of social and/or cultural change • Critically and analytically discuss primary and secondary material in class • Demonstrate independent research skills by drawing on the university library and other suitable resources to find information relevant to the aims of the course • Combine techniques of textual analysis and personal judgment to form clearly expressed critical examinations of literary works which exhibit a combination of critical reading, independent thought, and a capacity to construct an accurately referenced argument in appropriate scholarly form. Questions answered by the course will include: What is communication? How do various forms of Course Content: language relate to their social context? Where do new words come from? Who creates them? How do the principles and characteristics of communication apply to oral French, French chanson or new vocabulary? Following an introductory block on communication as a system, students will learn to apply general principles and more specific ones to three of the following areas of study: • The language of poetry • La chanson française • Language and gender • Reducing speech to writing.
29 The contact element of the course will consist of one hour of classroom presence per week over the Teaching & Learning Methods: teaching year in which lectures alternate with seminars. All students are expected to attend the Academic Skills for Students of Modern Languages seminars. The independent study element of the class consists of reading the set texts in advance of the beginning of each block, reviewing reading in the light of the guide questions detailed on the block handout and researching, planning and writing coursework assignments.
Details of teaching Block descriptions, handouts, assignments. See also Key Bibliography below. resources on Moodle:
Marina Yaguello, Les mots et les femmes. Essai d’approche sociolinguistique de la condition Key Bibliography: féminine (1978) (Paris : Payot, 2002). (To be bought) Poetry anthology (available via Moodle) Chanson anthology and CD (to be distributed in class)
Formative Assessment All coursework assignments will be marked and returned with detailed feedback on relevance, & Feedback: structure and argument, critical thought and evaluation, style and presentation.
Summative Assessment: Exam 50% (two hours) Students will sit a two-hour exam. Section A offers a choice of an essay or a commentary. Section B offers a choice of five essay questions one of which must be answered with reference to at least two of the blocks studied. Coursework 40% essay or commentary 1 10% (1,200-1,500 words) essay or commentary 2 30% (1,200-1,500 words) Essay plan 10% Deadlines: see MOODLE/course schedule
Landmarks: Reading The Classics of Course Value: Course Title: Half-unit French Literature Course JACS Code: Course Code: FR1108 R120
Availability: Status: Both Optional
Pre-requisites: None Co-requisites: None Co-ordinator: Professor John O’Brien Course Staff: Dr Tim Chesters, Dr Áine Larkin , Professor John O’Brien The aims of this course are to allow students to: Aims: • Promote a capacity for literary appreciation through the study of particular devices and effects • Identify and reflect on the textual strategies used in three different genres (prose, verse, drama) • Further develop independent study skills by reading primary texts and developing personal responses to them in advance of lectures and seminars • Further develop analytical skills and critical approaches to literary texts • Further develop planning, research and academic writing skills. After the prescribed reading, and completion of the course, and of the hand-in assignments, Learning Outcomes: students are expected to be able to: • Identify specific literary devices in three genres • Critically and analytically discuss primary and secondary material in class • Demonstrate independent research skills by drawing on the university library and other suitable resources to find information relevant to the aims of the course. • Combine techniques of textual analysis and personal judgment to form clearly expressed critical examinations of literary works which exhibit a combination of critical reading, independent thought, and a capacity to construct an accurately referenced argument in appropriate scholarly form. The purpose of this course is to study three works that can be considered to have made a Course Content: fundamental difference to the way we read and think about French literature. One work is taken from each of the three genres of prose, drama and verse. Typical characteristics of these works include: the development of the novel and thought; discussions of psychological motivation; drama and the portrayal of passion and emotion; gender and the female viewpoint. The course will evaluate the characteristics and qualities of each work in itself, looking at its structure, themes,
30 ideas and literary language. Works to be studied typically include three of the following sample: Voltaire, Candide Baudelaire, ‘Spleen et Idéal’ (a selection) Racine, Phèdre S. de Beauvoir, Le Sang des autres Beckett, En attendant Godot and Fin de partie Césaire, Cahier d’un retour au pays natal Balzac, Le Père Goriot Villon, Poésies The contact element of the course will consist of one hour of classroom presence per week over the Teaching & Learning Methods: teaching year in which lectures alternate with seminars. All students are expected to attend the Academic Skills for Students of Modern Languages seminars. The independent study element of the class consists of reading the set texts in advance of the beginning of each block, reviewing reading in the light of the guide questions detailed on the block handout and researching, planning and writing coursework assignments.
Details of teaching Curriculum for each block. Topic for each session. Bibliographies for each author. Moodle Quizzes resources on Moodle: Essential Reading 2009-10 (to be bought and read in advance of each block) Key Bibliography: Racine, Phèdre Voltaire, Candide Baudelaire, ‘Spleen et Idéal’ (a selection)
Recommended Further Reading Bradby, Modern French Drama 1940-90, 2nd ed. (Cambridge, 1991) Broome and Chesters, The Appreciation of Modern French Poetry, 1850-1950 (Cambridge, 1976) Guicharnaud, Modern French Theatre from Giraudoux to Beckett (New Haven, 1967) Hawcroft, Rhetoric: Readings in French Literature (Oxford, 1991) Howarth and Walton, Explications: The Technique of French Literary Appreciation (Oxford, 1971) Jack, Francophone Literatures: An Introductory Survey (Oxford, 1996) Lentricchia and McLaughlin, Critical Terms for Literary Study (Chicago, 1995) Lewis, On Reading French Verse (Oxford, 1982) Nurse, The Art of Criticism: Essays in French Literary Analysis (Edinburgh, 1969) Stephens, A History of Women’s Writing in France (Cambridge, 2000) Unwin, The Cambridge Companion to the French Novel (Cambridge, 1997)
Formative Assessment All coursework assignments will be marked and returned with detailed feedback on Relevance, & Feedback: Structure and Argument, Critical Thought and Evaluation, Style and Presentation. Correct answers will be available for each Pre-block MOODLE test once the test period is closed.
Summative Assessment: Exam (50%) Students will sit a 2 hour examination comprising a critical commentary on a passage from one of the set texts and answer one of four essays questions referring to the other texts studied. Coursework (50%), as follows: Essay 1 10% 1200-1500 words Essay 2 30% 1200-1500 words Pre-block reading tests: 10%. Students will sit three pre-block tests on Moodle to demonstrate that they have read primary texts before each study block. Deadlines: as published on MOODLE and in the handbook
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Code: FR2001 Course Value: 0.5 Status: Compulsory PRATIQUE DE L'ÉCRIT: ANALYSER ET Title: Availability: Annual ARGUMENTER Prerequisites: FR1001 Recommended: Co-ordinator: Dr Emily Salines Course Staff Dr Áine Larkin, Professor John O’Brien, Dr Emily Salines, Professor James Williams, Lectrices To deepen students’ acquaintance with analytical techniques in French using texts of topical concern. Aims:
After completion of the course, the preparatory work and the hand-in assignments, students are expected to Learning Outcomes: be able to: • demonstrate and apply the linguistic and analytical skills required in the understanding of written target language (TL) material of a more demanding kind and in greater depth than in the Year I core-course (FR1001) • write concisely, accurately and effectively, paying particular attention to style and register as well as to specific methods of analysis • demonstrate a clear and confident grasp of problems in French grammar and explain them using appropriate terminology.
The course builds on techniques acquired in first-year language courses through a particular focus on Course techniques of analysis, writing and rewriting, in particular on learning to construct arguments and exposés Content: in authentic, accurate and appropriate French. Teaching & The course will be taught in weekly seminars throughout the teaching year. Seminars will be conducted in Learning French and will focus on the further development of reading and writing skills with emphasis on stylistic Methods analysis, grammar and essay writing techniques in French. The course will be based partly on articles from authentic French sources, worksheets and other materials, which will be available either as handouts or on MOODLE. Set work will be of two kinds: preparatory and 'hand-in'. Preparatory work for each weekly seminar will consist of individual study and revision of vocabulary, syntax and grammar as well as analytical and written tasks, thereby building on the foundation provided by the course. You are strongly encouraged to make full use of the grammar exercises on MOODLE. As in Year 1 you will have to complete a certain number of exercises on MOODLE to have access to the examination. There will be 7 in all. Extracts from a variety of sources provided as handouts and livrets and on Moodle. Key Bibliography: Jubb, M. and Annie Rouxeville, French Grammar in Context (London: Hodder Arnold, 2008). Morton, S., English Grammar for Students of French (London: Arnold, 2002) Offord, M, A Student Grammar of French (Cambridge: CUP, 2006) Ribière, M, and Thalia Marriott, Help Yourself to Advanced French Grammar (Edinburgh: Longman, 1998)
In-course Coursework Feedback:
Assessment: Exam 80% Coursework 20% Deadlines: as published on notice boards
32 Code: FR2002 Course Value: 0.5 Status: Core PRATIQUE DE L'ORAL: LA FRANCE Title: CONTEMPORAINE A TRAVERS SON Availability: Annual CINEMA Prerequisites: None Recommended: Co-ordinator: Dr Emily Salines Course Staff Lectrices To extend the analytical skills required in the understanding of spoken French developed in the first-year Aims: unit FR1002 To introduce students to contemporary French cultural and social issues through French cinema and to the understanding of the techniques of film analysis To increase confidence in students’ command of spoken French and to lead them towards more effective oral communication. After completion of the course and attendance at the required screenings, students are expected to be able Learning Outcomes: to: • Demonstrate their acquisition of the analytical skills required in the understanding of spoken French at a level superior to that achieved in the Year I core-course (FR1002C) • Discuss in accurate, authentic and appropriate French a range of contemporary French cultural and social issues as they are illustrated in one or more films • Demonstrate by active participation in discussion an understanding of the techniques of film analysis as applied to contemporary French cinema • Demonstrate an enhanced ability to communicate effectively and accurately in authentic spoken French .
Students will study four films: La Môme, La Fleur du mal, Entre les murs and Bienvenue chez les ch’tis. Course
Content: Teaching & Students are assigned to a small group meeting weekly and the course will be conducted in French by Learning French native speakers. The classes will take the form of seminars. Four films are studied, two in Term 1 Methods and two in Term 2. Each is screened twice in a Lecture Hall on a big screen before they are studied in class. It is essential that students attend these screenings at least once. A copy of each film is available on restricted loan at Founder's Library so that students can prepare presentations. All films are shown without subtitles. Work in class will focus on the different aspects of French culture presented in the films as well as on different social issues. Techniques of film analysis will be introduced through the study of extracts and of wider themes found in each of the studied films. As it is primarily a language course, great emphasis will be put on lexis and spoken French constructions as well as general accuracy of expression. Students are strongly encouraged to make full use of online resources in French (e.g. podcasts, television and radio programmes, etc.) so that they are exposed to the French language and culture as much as possible.
Not applicable Key Bibliography: In-course Coursework Feedback: Exam 50% Assessment: Coursework 50% Deadlines: as published on notice boards
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Code: FR2004 Course Value: 0.5 Status: Core (Single and Major French) Annual (Single and Major French Title: INTRODUCTION TO TRANSLATION Availability: only) Prerequisites: Recommended: FR1004 For Single and Major Students only Co-ordinator: Dr Tim Chesters, Term 1. Professor Eric Robertson, Term 2 Course Staff Dr Tim Chesters, Dr Áine Larkin, Professor Eric Robertson This course builds on the analytical framework established in FR1001 and Fr1004. It offers students the Aims: opportunity to enhance their understanding of the structures and nuances of both French and English, as well as
their competence in close reading, through the specific practice of translation. At the same time, it will identify
some of the key difficulties. After completion of the course, the prescribed reading and the assignments, students are expected to be able to Learning Outcomes: • demonstrate an extended command of the vocabulary and structures of written French, • identify, analyse and resolve grammatical and syntactical problems generated in the course of translating from French to English, and English to French • appreciate and explain the impact of cultural, as well as linguistic, difference on the process of translation • produce translations of a variety of texts and, in doing so, demonstrate a proper regard of tone, register, and style. • critically classify and appraise translations (including their own) in terms of appropriateness, effectiveness, accuracy and authenticity. The course comprises: Course analysis of the structures of French (compared with English) and focused grammar work, including a Content: • revision of past tenses and the passive/active voices. • close study of stylistic differences between English and French • an examination of key translation problems (collocation, conversion, transposition, convention, the unit of translation, conversion, faux amis, etc.) and techniques for dealing with these • concentrated practice of these techniques/ structures in the form of sentences and passages for translation • appraisal of approach, technique and practice in the form of commentary on translations Teaching & The course will be seminar-based. It will consist of progressive translation exercises from English into French, Learning and vice versa, together with stylistic, syntactic and grammatical exposés designed to alert students to Methods particular similarities and dissimilarities between the two languages. The tasks set will include the translation of isolated sentences, sentences drawn from a given context, and whole passages. These passages may be literary, journalistic or socio-cultural in nature. From time to time, students will be asked to provide short commentaries on the characteristics of the text set for translation, as well as the difficulties that this text might pose for the translator. Batchelor, R.E. & M.H. Offord Using French. A Guide to Contemporary Usage (Cambridge: Cambridge Key University Press, 1993) Bibliography: Morton, S., English Grammar for Students of French (London: Arnold,2002)
Vinay, J.P. & J. Darbelnet Stylistique comparée du francais et de l’anglais (Paris: Didier, 1977).
In-course Coursework Feedback:
Assessment: Exam 80% Coursework 20% Deadlines: as published on notice boards and in the course schedule distributed in week 1.
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Course Value: Course Title: Writing Romance and Desire 0.5
Course JACS Code: Course Code: FR2102 R120
Availability: Status: (Please state which Terms 1 and 2 Optional teaching terms) Pre-requisites: None Co-requisites: None Co-ordinator: Dr Hannah Thompson Course Staff: Dr Tim Chesters, Prof Ruth Harvey, Prof John O’Brien, Dr Hannah Thompson,
Aims: The course aims to enhance students’ critical abilities and experience through guided study of the expression of themes related to love and desire as fundamental elements of the French literary tradition. After completion of the course and the prescribed reading, students are expected to be able Learning Outcomes: • to build on the analytical skills acquired in Year 1 courses by applying them in greater depth to a more closely defined range of material and with a broader grasp of critical approaches • to demonstrate insight into the relationship between a text and its conditions of production and reception • to demonstrate enhanced critical awareness in relation to a perennially important and influential theme in the western literary canon • to demonstrate that they have further developed their ability to make appropriate use of both primary and secondary material in their critical analyses • to show that they have taken and developed a special interest in areas of this subject which might form the basis for further specialised study in final year. This course will focus on four texts dealing with love and desire taken from four periods; these will Course Content: be studied in the light of their common themes and the following core questions: • the persistent importance of the theme of passion and illicit desire to the Western literary canon (the constitution of a literary tradition); • variation in the literary responses to this theme in the light of prevailing moral climates, socio- economic structures and aesthetic considerations; • the variables of the language of love and its literary realisation; • formal innovation, subversion and parody; • the roles of the narrative voice; • the significance of spatial settings in the treatment of a 'private' matter in a 'public' literary form.
Teaching & Learning Teaching will be by alternating lecture and seminar, and the seminars within each block will be Methods: lead by the staff member responsible for the lectures. The lectures will cover socio-historic and literary background, and major formal concerns; the seminars will explore these and related issues in detail by means of discussion of important passages and/or secondary critical material. In addition to the primary texts for each block, students will be expected to read selected secondary material and to prepare for each seminar by means of private study of particular issues.
Details of teaching The preparatory reading required in advance of lectures and seminars, course outline and resources on Moodle: bibliography will all be posted on Moodle as will the four quizzes used to assess student knowledge of the texts. The four texts to be studied are: Key Bibliography: • Beroul’s Roman de Tristan in Tristan et Iseut: Les poèmes français, la saga norroise , ed. & trans. D Lacroix & P.Walter, Le Livre de Poche, “Lettres Gothiques” series. French version: ISBN 2 - 253 - 05085 – 7/Penguin classics: ISBN 0 - 14 - 044230 – 8 • Madame de Lafayette, La Princesse de Clèves (Flammarion) • Flaubert, Madame Bovary (Flammarion) (Oxford World Classics for ELCS students) • Prévost, Manon Lescaut (Flammarion) General Bibliography (relevant to all parts of this course): Catherine Belsey, Desire: Love Stories in Western Culture (Oxford: Blackwell, 1994) Part 1, chapters 1, 2, 3 and 4. [809.3354 BEL] Critical Terms for Literary Study, ed. Frank Lentricchia and T. McLaughlin, 2nd edition (Chicago & London, 1995) [801.95 CRI]
Formative Assessment Informal feedback will be given during seminars on work done in class. The detailed feedback & Feedback: given on the first piece of coursework will help with preparation for the second essay, and the feedback given on both essays will help with preparation for the exam.
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Summative Assessment: Exam (50%) 2 hours and fifteen minutes including fifteen minutes reading time. Students will be required to answer 2 questions: a compulsory critical commentary on a passage from one of the set texts and a comparative question on the other texts chosen from a selection of between 4 and 6. Coursework (50%): Critical Commentary (20%) 1,500-2000 words Essay (20%) 1,500-2,000 words MOODLE Reading Texts (4 x 2.5%) A multiple-choice quiz on each text Deadlines: as per the course schedule and MOODLE
Course Value: Course Title: FRENCH: THE LINGUIST'S VIEW 0.5
Course JACS Code: Course Code: FR2103 R1100
Availability: Status: Terms 1 and 2 Optional
Pre-requisites: None Co-requisites: None Co-ordinator: Dr M Vincent Course Staff: Professor Ruth Harvey, Dr Michèle Vincent The aims of this course are to: Aims: - further develop the analytical skills acquired in first-year courses - promote an understanding of sociolinguistic issues as they relate to the indigenous languages of France and their development After completion of the course and the prescribed reading, students are expected to be able to: Learning Outcomes: • analyse how and why French became the national language of France at the expense of the other indigenous languages of the country • evaluate the language-planning measures applied to the `minority’ languages of France and to French itself • assess different interpretations of the same linguistic data • contrast spoken and written French with particular reference to the expression of gender and number determine and explain some specific effects of coordination on speech French as a National Language Course Content: The first block will consider how and why the medieval dialect of one region rose to become the dominant language in what we recognise today as France and what has been the impact of French on the other indigenous languages of the country.
Preservation of languages and language-planning Block 2 will go on to examine language-planning measures as applied to the preservation of the `minority’ languages of France and, increasingly, to French itself in the face of the global rise of English.
Contrasting spoken and written French This part of the course will explore inflection in spoken and written French, showing the ambiguity in the spoken form and redundancy in the written form. This will involve contrasting the orthographic and phonetic or phonological representations of the inflections. It will examine the issues raised by traditional grammars and their tendency to base rules on the written form.
Coordination in speech: assimilation and vowel harmony This part of the course will analyse in depth the effects of connected speech on individual sounds (i.e. co-articulatory phenomena such as consonantal assimilation and vowel harmony) in standard French. Teaching consists of lectures alternating fortnightly with seminars throughout the teaching year. Teaching & Learning Methods: Groups of students are required to prepare written material to be presented and discussed in seminars.
Details of teaching Reading lists; preparation notes and instructions; coursework and presentation topics; handouts resources on Moodle: from lectures Dennis Ager, Identity, Insecurity and Image. France and Language (Clevedon, 1999) Key Bibliography: Dennis Ager, Sociolinguistics and Contemporary French (Cambridge, 1990)
Battye & Hintze, The French Language Today, London, Routledge, 1992
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Formative Assessment Principally via comments on student presentations and written feedback from coursework & Feedback: assignments.
Summative Assessment: Exam 50% (two hours): students answer two questions taken from two different sections Coursework 40% essay 1 20% (1,500-2,000 words) essay 2 20% (1,500-2,000 words) Moodle tests and/or student presentations 10% Deadlines: on MOODLE and in Student Handbook.
Culture and Ideology: France and la Course Value: Course Title: 0.5 Francophonie Course JACS Code: Course Code: FR2104 F120
Availability: Status: Terms 1 and 2 optional
Pre-requisites: None Co-requisites: None Co-ordinator: Professor Eric Robertson Course Staff: Dr Ruth Cruickshank, Professor John O’Brien, Professor Eric Robertson, Dr Adam Watt Through discussion of French and Francophone history and critical analysis of set texts, the Aims: course aims to: • introduce students to a range of issues which have helped shape modern French and Francophone cultural identity • develop an understanding of the workings of ideology in culture and society • develop the ability to critically analyse texts within a social and historical context • further develop students’ written presentation skills After completion of the course and the prescribed reading, students are expected to be able to: Learning Outcomes: • explain and discuss analytically a range of important issues which have figured in cultural and ideological debate in the French-speaking world • show awareness of the conceptual linkage between culture and ideology in political, philosophical and literary discourse • critically analyse texts in relation to ideological preoccupations • further develop their ability to use primary and secondary materials appropriately in critical analyses This course considers ways in which culture embodies ideological concerns. Ideology can be seen Course Content: as a potent system of concepts, myths, images and representations which, in any given society, affirm a hierarchy of values and seek to shape individual and collective perception and behaviour. Such a system of ideas is tied to an economic, political, ethnic or other grouping, expressing and valorising its interests. As such, ideology has certain basic functions: it rationalises a vision of the world and presents that view as universal; it seeks to eternalise historically particular and relative values; it mystifies by disguising the true nature of a situation, masking class interests; it seeks to achieve social stability; it mobilises individual and collective energies and directs these towards action. The workings of ideology are explored through study of key issues in French culture at different periods in its history: these include the language of tyranny in Renaissance France; the movement in the twentieth century from colonisation to decolonization; issues of immigration, working-class life and gender roles; and the aftermath of the second World War in French society.
Teaching & Learning The course is organised in four blocks taught by different members of staff; each dealing with a Methods: particular primary text (see reading below). It begins with an introductory session addressing general definitions of culture and ideology. Teaching is by alternating lecture and seminar. In addition to the primary texts for each block of study, students are expected to read selected secondary material and to prepare for each seminar through the private study of specific issues, as directed by the seminar tutor.
Details of teaching The course description, general reading list, schedule of classes, summaries of the four blocks and resources on Moodle: other information relating to the course are all available on the FR2104 Moodle page. Primary Reading Key Bibliography: La Boétie. Discours de la servitude volontaire.
Claire Etcherelli. Elise ou la vraie vie.
Jean-Paul Sartre. Les Séquestrés d’Altona.
Eugène Dabit. L’Hôtel du Nord.
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Selected Secondary Reading Dine Philip. Images of the Algerian War (Oxford, Clarendon 1994) 843.3 DIN Hargreaves, Alec. Immigration in Post-War France (London: Methuen, 1987) 301.32844 Said, Edward. Culture and Imperialism (London: Chatto and Windus, 1993) 801.95 SAI Williams, Raymond. Keywords: A Vocabulary of Culture and Society (Fontana, 1976) 300.3 WIL Feedback is provided through detailed comments on the set pieces of work which make up the Formative Assessment & Feedback: coursework element of the assessment, and on the four pre-block MOODLE tests. Informal feedback may be provided in individual tutorials and in staff office hours.
Summative Assessment: Coursework Two essays of 1,500-2,000 words, each worth 20% of the overall mark for the course Four pre-block MOODLE tests: worth a total of 10% of the overall mark for the course. Exam 2 hours 15 mins (including 10 ins reading time); worth 50 % of the overall mark for the course. Students must answer a compulsory critical commentary question and a second question, from a choice of 4-6. Deadlines: as published on MOODLE and in the course outline
STAGE AND SCREEN IN FRANCE Course Value: Course Title: 0.5
Course JACS Code: Course Code: FR2105 R120
Availability: Status: Terms 1 and 2 Optional
Pre-requisites: Co-requisites: Co-ordinator: Prof James Williams Course Staff: Dr Ruth Cruickshank, Dr Joe Harris, Prof John O’Brien, Dr Adam Watt, The aims of this course are to Aims: • introduce students to the specific technical and formal implications of the media of drama and film • enhance students’ critical knowledge and approaches with respect to these media • examine literary texts in the light of other adaptations and, in so doing, improve students’ awareness of the specificity of each form • examine the role of reception • improve analytical reading skills with respect to a variety of media. After completion of the course and the prescribed reading, students are expected to be able to Learning Outcomes: • build on the analytical acquired in first-year courses, applying them to a further range of material and with a broader grasp of critical approaches • demonstrate an understanding of the specific technical and formal implications of creating drama and film and of the critical approaches which these require • make appropriate and constructive comparisons between the ways in which different media treat the same themes and creative preoccupations and the implications of these differences for reception • demonstrate that they have further developed their ability to make appropriate use of both primary and secondary material in their critical analyses.
The course comprises four blocks taught by different members of staff. The content of the blocks Course Content: varies from year to year, but the emphasis is on selective thematic and stylistic analysis rather than on providing a broad historical overview. The following areas and questions are tackled in lectures and seminars: • Aristotelian and post-Aristotelian concepts of theatre: (dramatic unities; definitions of tragedy and comedy; applications, adaptations and subversions of these norms throughout the history of drama; constructing the (screen-)play: structure of the dramatic/cinematic text & reader's interaction with it). • Verbal and non-verbal forms of expression: (monologue; dialogue; intonation; delivery; natural and stylised forms of dramatic discourse; literal and symbolic levels of meaning; gesture; mime; physical action; lighting; decor; costume; mise en scène). • Treatment of time and space: (chronology and its subversion; simultaneity; 'real time' and dramatic time; unity/ diversity of setting; temporal and spatial disjuncture). • Drama and the mimetic tradition: (changing attitudes to verisimilitude; mimetic and abstract theatre; techniques of self-conscious drama). • Dramatic language and metalanguage: (authorial intervention; voiceover; complicity of
38 character(s) with audience/viewer; prologue; epilogue; interlude). • Intertextuality and the referential code. Teaching is by alternating lecture and seminar. The seminars explore in detail many of the Teaching & Learning Methods: formal and thematic issues raised by the lectures. In addition to the primary texts for each block, students are expected to read selected secondary material and to prepare for each seminar by means of private study of particular issues.
Details of teaching Bibliography, course outline, preparatory reading, MOODLE quizzes resources on Moodle: Texts (to be bought) Key Bibliography: Cocteau, Orphée: The Play and the Film (London: Bristol Classical Press, 1998) Rostand, Cyrano de Bergerac (many editions available eg. ISBN: 978-2290335284)
Marguerite Duras, Hiroshima mon amour (ISBN: 978-2070360093) Michel Houellebecq, Extension du domaine de la lutte (ISBN: 978-2290349526)
Recommended secondary reading Armes, Roy, Action and Image: Dramatic Structure in Cinema (Manchester: Manchester Univeristy Press, 1994) Andrew, Dudley, Concepts in Film Theory (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1984) Aston, Elaine & George Savona, Theatre as Sign System: A Semiotics of Text and Performance (London and New York: Routledge, 1995) Esslin, Martin, The Field of Drama (London: Methuen, 1987) Coursework; answers will be made available for each MOODLE Test shortly after its window for Formative Assessment & Feedback: completion closes.
Summative Assessment: Exam (50%) (2 hours 15 mins): Candidates must answer 2 questions. Coursework (40%) (One essay, one commentary, each 1,500-2,000 words) MOODLE Test (10%)4 tests each worth 2.5% on the four key texts Deadlines: as on course schedule and MOODLE.
Cinema in France: from Modernism to the Course Value: Course Title: 0.5 Postmodern Course JACS Code: Course Code: FR2106 R130
Availability: Status: Terms 1 and 2 Optional
Pre-requisites: None Co-requisites: None Co-ordinator: Prof James Williams Course Staff: Prof Colin Davis, Prof Eric Robertson, Prof James Williams Through discussion of developments in French cinema and critical analysis of key films, the course Aims: aims to: • enhance familiarity with the historical development of French cinema • develop an understanding of the discursive structures of film • develop the ability to critically analyse films within their artistic and historical contexts • further develop students’ written presentation skills After completion of the course and the prescribed reading, students are expected to be able to: Learning Outcomes: • understand key stages and issues in the evolution of the new medium of film • demonstrate an appreciation of the ways in which film has contributed to the cultural development of France • discuss film in a detailed and sophisticated way • analyse film in an appropriate critical style and register, and demonstrate some knowledge of film theory • further develop their ability to use primary and secondary materials appropriately in critical analyses This course examines key examples of French cinema from 1920 to the present day. In contrast to Course Content: mainstream cinema, which broadly supports and confirms the dominant artistic norms, the films studied have, at different historical moments and in various ways, attempted to break with tradition and to challenge the prevailing forms, structures and conventions of the genre. From this perspective the course will focus, in turn, on the distinct contributions of the avant-garde and surrealist films of the 1920s, war films of the 1930s and 1940s, the nouvelle vague which began in the late 1950s, and 39 its postmodern legacy which still prevails today.
Teaching & Learning The course is organised in four blocks taught by different members of staff, each dealing with a Methods: particular period in French cinema. Teaching is by alternating lecture and seminar. Students will be expected to view all set films in advance.. Short extracts from films may sometimes be used in class for close analysis. Additionally, students are expected to read selected secondary material and to prepare for each seminar through the private study of specific issues, as directed by the seminar tutor.
Details of teaching Course outline, preparatory reading and viewing for seminars and lectures, bibliography, sample resources on Moodle: exam paper and four moodle quizzes Crisp, Colin, The Classic French Cinema 1930–1960 (London: I. B. Tauris / Bloomington: Indiana Key Bibliography: University Press, 1997). Hayward, Susan, French National Cinema (London and New York: Routledge, 1993). Monaco, James, How to Read a Film: The Art, Technology, Language, History and Theory of Film and Media (Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press, 1981). Vanoye, Francis and Anne Goliot-Lété, Précis d’analyse filmique (Paris: Nathan, ‘Université’, 1992). To be bought : Powrie, Phil and Keith Reader, French Cinema: A Student’s Guide (London: Arnold, 2002).
Formative Assessment Informal feedback will be available during office hours on student performance in class. The written & Feedback: feedback on the first assignment will help with the preparation of the second assignment and the written feedback on both assignments will help with preparation for the exam. Feedback and answers on the moodle quizzes will be available shortly after the quiz has closed.
Summative Assessment: Exam (50%) 2 hours. Students will be required to answer 2 questions: a question from a choice of 4 on one of the topics studied and a comparative question, from a choice of between 4 and 6 on at least two further topics studied. Coursework (50%): Essay (20%) 1,500-2000 words Essay (20%) 1,500-2,000 words MOODLE Reading Texts (4 x 2.5%) A multiple-choice quiz on each set of films Deadlines: as per the course schedule and moodle
FR3001 Course Value: Half Unit Status: Core PR Code: PRATIQUE DE L’ÉCRIT: COMMUNIQUER Title: Availability: Annual ET CONVAINCRE Prerequisites: FR2001 Recommended: — Co-ordinator: Dr Emily Salines Course Staff Dr Emily Salines, Lectrices The course aims to: Aims: • Enhance students’ ability to analyse and compare written material from different sources in French; • Extend students’ competence in accurate discursive French; • Develop students’ critical knowledge of the francophone press.
After completing the course and the written assignments, students should be able to: Learning
Outcomes: • Synthesise, compare and analyse documents from authentic French sources; • Produce specific communicative exercises in creative writing on a given subject.
The course content will be based on the teaching of comparative synthesis, the analysis of two documents on Course Content: the same subject and will therefore enable students to acquire a highly transferable skill. The course will also be based on the teaching of creative writing on a given subject, thus introducing students to a variety of styles in written French. Teaching & The course will be taught in weekly seminars. These will be conducted largely in French and will focus on the Learning development of analytical and communicative skills in written French with emphasis on critical comparison of Methods press articles and communicative and creative writing. The course will be based on articles from authentic French sources, worksheets and other material, all of which will be supplied.
40 For reference: Aplin, Richard, A Dictionary of Contemporary France (Hodder & Stoughton, 1993) Key Albert, Pierre, La Presse Que sais-je? (Presses Universitaires de France, 1996) Bibliography: Hughes, Alex & Reader, Keith Encyclopedia of Contemporary French Culture (Routledge, 1998)
In-course Coursework Feedback:
Assessment: Exam 80% Coursework 20% Three devoirs to be done outside the class plus a devoir sur table in exam conditions. All marks count towards the final result. Deadlines: as displayed on noticeboards
Code: FR3002 Course Value: Half Unit Status: Core PRATIQUE DE L’ORAL: REFLEXIONS ET Title: Availability: Annual DEBATS Prerequisites: Recommended: FR2002 Co-ordinator: Dr Emily Salines Course Staff Dr Emily Salines, Lectrices
Aims: • To extend students’ analytical and oral presentation skills • To enhance students’ ability to interact in French with particular emphasis on formal spoken register • To develop awareness of cultural references of various kinds and to broaden knowledge of French culture and society.
Learning After completion of the course and regular language practice, students are expected to be able to Outcomes: • demonstrate enhanced analytical and oral presentation skills (by comparison with those developed in FR1002 and FR2002) especially in relation to the student’s own programme options • interact orally in authentic, accurate French of an appropriate register with an informed interlocutor, with particular emphasis on formal spoken registers • demonstrate an enhanced awareness of a broad range of cultural references and of significant features of French culture and society.
Seminars are devoted to the analysis and discussion of short passages in French of an intellectually demanding Course nature. These will include a wide range of literary, social and linguistic topics. Content: Teaching & Students are assigned to a small group meeting weekly and the course is conducted in French by French native Learning speakers. Students are also required to give short presentations on a text, on their Special Subject or a topic of Methods their choice on a regular basis as well as to participate actively in debates. They are strongly encouraged to make full use of online resources in French (e.g. podcasts, television and radio programmes, etc.) in order to be exposed to the French language and culture as much as possible. Not applicable Key Bibliography:
In-course Coursework Feedback:
Assessment: Exam 50% Coursework 50% Deadlines: as published on notice boards
Course Value: Course Title: ADVANCED TRANSLATING SKILLS 0.5
Course JACS Code: Course Code: FR3003 R1000
Availability: Core for single and Status: (Please state which Terms 1 and 2 major French teaching terms) Pre-requisites: n/a Co-requisites: FR1004; FR2004
41 Co-ordinator: Dr Ruth Cruickshank Course Staff: Dr Michèle Vincent Term 1, Dr Ruth Cruickshank Term 2 The course aims to build on skills and knowledge acquired in FR1004 and FR2004 by extending Aims: awareness of translation problems, both those specific to translation between French and English and those generic to material used in the course. Thus students become more aware of difficulties which face French/English translators and acquire an analytical grasp of the problems posed by particular of texts, subject matter and scenarios. A fundamental aim is to enable students to see translation as a ‘real- life skill’, approaching tasks with which a professional translator might be faced, understanding the requirements and parameters of the task and tailoring their approach to these requirements. Scrupulous concern for accuracy is fundamental to this course which also aims to develop critical and editorial skills. A further aim is to familiarise students with reference tools available to translators. After completion of the course, preparatory work and the hand-in assignments, students are Learning Outcomes: expected to be able to • demonstrate awareness of and ability to apply skills acquired in FR1003 and FR2003 • explain fundamental principles and procedures which underlie the process of translation and demonstrate awareness of some possible theoretical approaches to translation • explain and apply a variety of translation techniques and understand the ways in which they relate to varying genres and purposes • compare linguistic and expressive structures characteristic of French and English through close analytical reading of source and target texts • analyse critically both source and target texts with particular reference to features of lexis, syntax, style and register with a view to creating or appraising such features as appropriateness, authenticity, accuracy, coherence and equivalent effect • use research materials available to translators effectively. The course combines discussion of theoretical material derived from translation textbooks with Course Content: practical work to produce translations, devise and explain strategies, and offer annotations. Texts are selected from newspapers, magazines, web sites, government and NGO documents, literature and from such subject areas as politics, social questions, science, technology and medicine, æsthetics, literature and popular culture, always with an eye to the ‘realism’ of translating such material. Weekly seminars address linguistic, stylistic, socio-cultural and genre-related translation issues. Teaching & Learning Students produce translations of a variety of texts, but also compare translations and analyse Methods: procedures. Classes are centred around analysis and evaluation of translations and other work done at home, as well as group translation activities. Some work is done with IT support and students are encouraged to make use of on-line resources.
FR3003 Moodle site includes course handbook with pedagogical material, all texts for preparation Details of teaching in class and all assignments, together with useful web links. resources on Moodle:
Newmark, Peter, A Textbook of Translation (Phoenix ELT, 1995); Hervey Sándor & Ian Higgins, Key Bibliography: Thinking Translation (Routledge, 1992); Baker, Mona, In Other Words (Routledge, 1992); Aplin,
Richard, A Dictionary of Contemporary France (Hodder & Stoughton, 1993); Le Petit Robert 1.
Dictionnaire alphabétique et analogique de la langue française (Robert 1990); The Concise
Oxford English Dictionary (any edition); Collins-Robert French Dictionary (Collins, 2001)
Oxford-Hachette French Dictionary (OUP, 2001)
Eight hand-in exercises are set in the course of the year. These involve translation, analysis, Formative Assessment commentary and strategy tasks. Marks for the best 6/8 assignments (to include the mark of at least & Feedback: one DST) make up the 20% coursework mark.
Summative Assessment: Exam (80%) (2 hours 15 mins) Students will sit a 2 hour examination comprising one question of three parts passed on English-French translation and one question in three parts based on French- English translation Coursework (20 %) Students will complete eight assignments including x2 Devior sur table (50 mins under exam conditions in class). Marks for the best 6/8 assignments (to include the mark of at least one DST) make up the 20% coursework mark. Deadlines: As published on notice boards
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Course Value: Course Title: Advanced French Linguistics 0.5
Course JACS Code: Course Code: FR3101 R1100
Availability: Status: (Please state which Terms 1 and 2 Optional teaching terms) Pre-requisites: None Co-requisites: None Co-ordinator: Dr Michèle Vincent Course Staff: Dr Michèle Vincent
Aim: To analyse the influence and consequences of social factors on spoken and written French.
Learning Outcomes: After successful completion of the course and the prescribed reading, students are expected to be able to:
• Distinguish between a linguistic and a sociolinguistic analysis of data;
• Explore and describe the influence of specific social factors on spoken French;
• Analyse social, regional and situational varieties of French;
• Establish the specific features of a given variety;
• Argue the fundamental points for and against spelling reform;
• Summarise and evaluate the Tolérances grammaticales ou orthographiques and the Rectifications de l’orthographe This course will concentrate on two major aspects of the French language which are affected by Course Content: social context: • varieties of spoken French and • the writing system. The first part of the course will explore just how systematic divergence from the norm may be in the areas of phonetics, phonology, morphology, syntax and lexis depending upon a range of situational, social or regional variables.
The second part will explore French attitudes towards spelling reform, the ‘Rectifications’ and ‘Tolérances’, afonic and the role of the Académie.
Teaching & Learning The course will consist of one hour of classroom presence per week if running over two terms, and Methods: two hours per week if running over one term. Lecture-style presentations by the tutor will alternate with seminars enabling student participation.
Details of teaching Teaching schedule. resources on Moodle: Key documents including bibliography, sample exam paper and course outline.
Key Bibliography: Sanders, C (ed): French Today (Cambridge, CUP, 1993)
Battye, A, Hintze M-A & Rowlett, P: The French Language Today (London, Routledge, 2000)
Formative Assessment Feedback is provided in class and individually on exercises in linguistic analysis and topics for & Feedback: discussion. Tutorials are arranged before and after seminar presentations as well as in the planning stages of the long essay.
Summative Assessment: Coursework only: 80% Long essay (3,000 words) (in addition to the 20 teaching hrs students will receive 30 mins individual supervision) 20% Oral presentation (20 mins) with accompanying written material (hand-outs, bibliography, etc) that will be taken in, formally assessed, and returned with feedback. Deadlines: as published on MOODLE and in the course outline
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Course Value: Course Title: Arthurian Romance: Chrétien de Troyes 0.5
Course JACS Code: Course Code: FR3102 R120
Availability: Status: Terms 1 and 2 Optional
Pre-requisites: N/A Co-requisites: None Co-ordinator: Professor Ruth Harvey Course Staff: Professor Ruth Harvey The aims of this course are to Aims: • to examine the interrelated themes of knighthood, heroism, the aristocratic culture of courtliness and its implications; • to consider the ethical and aesthetic issues involved in the representation of chivalry and love in texts which, while chronologically remote from modern writing, are an integral part of the western literary tradition; • to enable students to become aware of a variety of critical approaches which may be taken with respect to such cultural production.
Learning Outcomes: After completion of the course and the prescribed reading, students are expected to be able to: • analyse and discuss selected Arthurian romances in relation to their courtly context; • account for the characteristic themes, preoccupations and ideology of such writing in terms of its production and reception; • demonstrate an awareness of current critical approaches and discourse concerning these works in formulating their own judgements on specific texts and issues; • express their judgements and analyses lucidly and in appropriate forms.
Course Content: The course will concentrate in depth on two closely connected Arthurian romances which deal at one and the same time with the development and with the subversion of a very influential vernacular literary form, the romance, and the poetic representation of contemporary aristocratic society. Core questions to be explored include: • Idealisation of chivalric heroism, of the lady and of social structures and codes against their socio-cultural background • The uses of irony and issues of patronage and audience reception • The relationship between chivalry and ‘courtly love’ • The development and treatment of Arthurian mythology
Teaching & Learning The course will consist largely of seminars, either one-hour weekly throughout the teaching year Methods: or two-hours weekly in Term 1 or Term 2. Lecture-style presentations by the course leader will combine with group discussions and student presentations. Seminars will focus on student participation and discussion and preparation will be required for each session. The texts will be analysed in detail and sessions will also be devoted to the main thematic issues.
Details of teaching Reading lists; preparation notes and instructions; coursework and presentation topics; handouts resources on Moodle: from lectures.
Key Bibliography: Primary texts: at least TWO of the romances of Chrétien de Troyes, typically:
Chrétien de Troyes, Le Chevalier au Lion ou ‘Yvain’, ed. and trans. D. Hult, Le livre de Poche “Lettres Gothiques” series (with a parallel translation into Modern French): Chrétien de Troyes, Le Chevalier de la Charette ou le Roman de ‘Lancelot’, ed. and trans. C. Mela, Le livre de Poche “Lettres Gothiques” series (with a parallel translation into Modern French) Secondary material: see attached Sample Bibliography.
Formative Assessment Via individual tutorials, comments on student presentations and written feedback from coursework & Feedback: assignments.
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Summative Assessment: Assessment across Terms 1 and 2 essay 1 30% 2,000-2,500 essay 2 60% 2,000-2,500 MOODLE tests 10%
Gender and Transgression in Early- Course Value: Course Title: 0.5 Modern French Literature Course JACS Code: Course Code: FR3109 R120
Availability: Status: (Please state which Term 1 Optional teaching terms) Pre-requisites: None Co-requisites: None Co-ordinator: Dr Joe Harris Course Staff: Dr Joe Harris The aims of this course are to: Aims: • examine a range of early-modern texts in their cultural context, with particular reference to gender • further develop students’ analytical skills and critical approaches to the literary text • develop students’ cultural awareness with specific reference to gender, sexuality and desire • consider the relationship between transgressive behaviour and dominant social norms of gender. After successful completion of this course, the prescribed reading and the hand-in assignments, Learning Outcomes: students are expected to be able to: • understand how transgressions in terms of sex and gender relate to wider issues of sexuality, power, psychology, society, taboos and literary genre. • explain how reflecting on marginal or non-standard forms of gender behaviour can both strengthen and challenge ideas of ‘normal’ gender roles. • demonstrate their ability to form critical judgments of literary works, based on carefully analysed textual features and thematic concerns. • demonstrate their ability to make appropriate use of both primary and secondary material in their critical analyses. • demonstrate independent research skills by drawing on the university library and other suitable resources to find information relevant to the aims of the course • combine techniques of textual analysis and personal judgment to form clearly expressed critical examinations of a variety of texts which exhibit a combination of critical reading, independent thought, and a capacity to construct an accurately referenced argument in appropriate scholarly form. While we might expect early-modern France to have rigidly fixed attitudes towards marriage, Course Content: gender roles and sexuality, the period as a whole showed both fascination and anxiety about characters who challenged norms of accepted gender behaviour. In this course we’ll focus on a range of texts written between the Renaissance and the early eighteenth century, all of which present characters who defy social expectations, whether by consciously adopting the attributes of the opposite sex or by failing to live up to the expectations of their own. As we shall see, gender transgression can take on a variety of forms in a period in which it was considered scandalously unfeminine just for a woman to speak openly of her own desires. Yet does ‘unfeminine’ necessarily translate as ‘masculine’? How does gender identity relate to such issues as biological sex, patriarchal power, social freedom, female sexual agency, homosexuality? Although these texts treat transgression in a range of ways – sympathetically, critically, comically, tragically – the period’s fascination with marginal and transgressive forms of gender betrays throughout a deep unease about the validity of its own sexual norms and standards. The course consists of twenty hours’ formal teaching, with either one or two hours of classes per Teaching & Learning week depending on whether the course is taught over one term or two. Lecture-style presentations Methods: by the course leader are interspersed with group discussions and student presentations. Seminars focus on student participation and discussion, and preparation is required for each session. The texts are analysed in detail and sessions will also be devoted to the main thematic issues. The FR3109 MOODLE pages provide information about course structure, essay questions and Details of teaching deadlines, course handouts, bibliographies, an online editable glossary and external links to resources on Moodle: relevant websites (including early-modern French dictionaries).
45 Louise Labé, Sonnets, in Oeuvres complètes, (Paris: Garnier-Flammarion, 1986) Key Bibliography: Isaac de Benserade, Iphis et Iante (Vijon : Lampsaque 2000) Pierre Corneille, Horace, any edition Molière, Les Femmes savantes, any edition abbé de Choisy, Mémoires de l’abbé de Choisy habillé en femme and ‘Histoire de la Marquise- Marquis de Banneville’ (Toulouse: Ombres, 1995) Summative Assessment: Coursework 100% 80% Long essay (3,000 words) (in addition to the 20 teaching hrs students will receive 30 mins individual supervision) 20% Oral presentation (20 mins) with accompanying written material (hand-outs, bibliography, etc) that will be taken in, formally assessed, and returned with feedback. Deadlines: as per MOODLE and course schedule
Redefining the Erotic in Contemporary Course Value: Course Title: 0.5 French Literature and Film Course JACS Code: Course Code: FR3110 R120
Availability: Status: (Please state which Terms 1 and 2 Optional teaching terms) Pre-requisites: None Co-requisites: None Co-ordinator: Prof James Williams Course Staff: Prof James Williams The aims of this course are to: Aims: • examine key 20th/21st C texts and films in their social, cultural and theoretical context • further develop analytical skills and critical approaches to the literary text/film • develop cultural awareness with specific reference to desire and sexuality in literature and film • develop an appreciation of the themes of sex, gender and identity spectatorship in relation to contemporary France’s cultural production. After completion of the course, the prescribed reading and the hand-in assignments, students are Learning Outcomes: expected to be able to: • demonstrate their awareness of and ability to use techniques of textual analysis applied to creative writing and film in French. • demonstrate their ability to form critical judgments of literary works and films, based on carefully analysed textual features and thematic concerns. • demonstrate that they have developed an ability to make appropriate use of both primary and secondary material in their critical analyses. • Explain the role and function of sexuality and desire in contemporary France’s cultural production. • Analyse the relationship between issues of sex, gender, textuality and film spectatorship. Since the rise of the feminist and gay movements in France in the early 1970s, many new writers Course Content: and filmmakers have sought to address the changing erotic relations between the sexes. This has led them to explore the links between gender, sexuality and textuality, particularly from the double perspective of the narrator and reader/spectator. This course will examine key works by some of the most exciting contemporary French writers and filmmakers. It will include formal analysis of literary and cinematographic style, an engagement with important theoretical work on gender, psychoanalysis and film spectatorship, as well as a general discussion of social and political themes such as AIDS, pornography and censorship. The course aims ultimately to determine whether, as some critics are now arguing, French literature and cinema have entered the era of the ‘post-erotic’. Combining the study of films, literary texts and other contemporary media, the course provides exciting intersections with other final year half units. It furthers understanding of some of the key issues of concern affecting life in France from the end of the Second World War to the present day, complementing the perspectives explored in Ethics and Violence: Murder, Suicide and Genocide in Literature and Film; Image, Identity and Consumer Culture in Post-war Fiction and Film; and The Passion of Place: Desire and Identity in Modern Paris. Analysis of the relationship between cinematic and literary expression, identity politics, socio-economics and historical events intersects with the questions addressed in Text and Image in France: from Cubism to the Present; and Fictions of History and Narrative, Film and Event in Early Modern France. Representations of desire and its role in constituting identities complement perspectives opened up in Image, Identity and Consumer Culture in Post-war Fiction and Film; The Libertines: Narratives of experience in Early Modern France; and Desire and Transgression in Early-Modern French Literature.
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Teaching & Learning The course will consist largely of seminars, either one-hour weekly throughout the teaching year or Methods: two-hours weekly in Term 1 or Term 2. Lecture-style presentations by the course leader will alternate with group discussions and student presentations. Seminars will focus on student participation and discussion and preparation will be required for each session. The texts will be analysed in detail and sessions will also be devoted to the main thematic issues. Oral presentations will not normally be held in the first few weeks of term. This is to ensure that students will not be unduly disadvantaged if they choose to deliver a presentation early in the course.
Details of teaching Course outline, handouts and bibliography resources on Moodle: Texts and films to be studied may include the following: Key Bibliography: Texts: M. Duras, La maladie de la mort; H. Guibert, A l’ami qui ne m’a pas sauvé la vie; M. Houellebecq, Les particules élémentaires. Films: J. Balasko, Gazon Maudit ; C. Collard, Les nuits fauves; C. Denis, Beau Travail/L’Intrus; V. Despentes, Baise-moi; S. Lifshitz, Wild Side.
Formative Assessment Via individual tutorials, comments on student presentations and written feedback from coursework & Feedback: assignments.
Terms 1 and 2 assessment Summative Assessment:
Exam (%) n/a Coursework (100%): 20% Oral presentation (20 mins) with accompanying written material (hand-outs, bibliography, etc) that will be taken in, formally assessed, and returned with feedback.80% Long essay (3,000 words) (in addition to the 20 teaching hrs students will receive up to 30 mins individual supervision)
Deadlines: as per course schedule and MOODLE
Fictions of History: Narrative, Film and Course Value: Course Title: 0.5 Event in Early Modern France Course JACS Code: Course Code: FR3111 R120
Availability: Status: Terms 1 and 2 Optional
Pre-requisites: None Co-requisites: None Co-ordinator: Professor John O’Brien Course Staff: Professor John O’Brien The aims of this course are to: Aims: • examine the relationship between Early Modern literature and the events that constitute its contextual specificity • further develop analytical skills and critical approaches to the history/literary text/film • develop cultural awareness with specific reference to Early Modern France in literature and film • develop an appreciation of the themes of history, literature and film in relation to Early Modern France’s cultural production After completion of the course, the prescribed reading and the hand-in assignments, students are Learning Outcomes: expected to : • demonstrate their ability to evaluate critically various models of historical understanding. • demonstrate their ability to evaluate the relationship between history and narrative, based on carefully analysed textual features and thematic concerns. • demonstrate that they have developed an ability to make appropriate use of both primary and secondary material in their critical analyses. • address the central problem of the Other in an age of discovery and transition The purpose of this course is to introduce Final Year students to the kinds of critical reflection that Course Content: have revolutionised our understanding of what it means to write history in the early modern period. Critical thinkers ranging from Certeau and Veyne in France to Greenblatt and Davis in America have challenged the notion of the objectivity of historical writing and shown how history is created by the narrative that tells it. History is a story; narration produces event. This course centres on three historical moments from the period 1430-1630 of significance for our understanding of how
47 documents were used to shape events, rather than merely to reflect them. The selection of three incidents will be from a range including the French explorations in the New World, cases of witchcraft and possession, and Wars of Religion. The common thread linking all these instances is an encounter with the Other seen as a threat to civil, political, cultural or religious order and stability. In each case, contemporary historical documents from the early modern period are set side by side with a present-day film of the event and with selected critical writing about it in order to study several narrations and interpretations of the same topic. The course provides exciting intersections with other final year half units, in particular those exploring the early-modern period: Desire and Transgression in Early-Modern French Literature, and The Libertines: Narratives of Experience in Early Modern France, as well as, more generally, those exploring the inter-workings of society, power, knowledge and history, such as Ethics and Violence: Murder, Suicide and Genocide in Literature and Film
Teaching & Learning The course will consist largely of seminars, either one-hour weekly throughout the teaching year or Methods: two-hours weekly in Term 1 or Term 2. Lecture-style presentations by the course leader will alternate with group discussions and student presentations. Seminars will focus on student participation and discussion and preparation will be required for each session. The texts will be analysed in detail and sessions will also be devoted to the main thematic issues. Oral presentations will not normally be held in the first few weeks of term. This is to ensure that students will not be unduly disadvantaged if they choose to deliver a presentation early in the course.
Details of teaching Curriculum for each block resources on Moodle: Topic for each session Bibliographies for each author and topic Montaigne, ‘Des coches’ and ‘Des cannibales’ Key Bibliography: Las Casas, La destruction des Indes
Thevet, Les singularitez de la France antarctique
Léry, Histoire d’un voyage faict en la terre du Brésil
Le Sueur, Histoire d’un faux & supposé mary
D’Aubigné, Les feux and Les fers from Les Tragiques Surin, Triomphe de l’amour divin sur les puissances de l’enfer
Formative Assessment Via individual tutorials, comments on student presentations and written feedback from coursework & Feedback: assignments.
Summative Assessment: Exam N/A Coursework 100% 80% Long essay (3,000 words) (in addition to the 20 teaching hrs students will receive 30 mins individual supervision) 20% Oral presentation (20 mins) with accompanying written material (hand-outs, bibliography, etc) that will be taken in, formally assessed, and returned with feedback. Deadlines: Oral presentation. Date to be agreed between student and tutor in advance.
Image, Identity and Consumer Culture in Course Value: Course Title: 0.5 Post-war Fiction and Film Course JACS Code: Course Code: FR3112 R130
Optional. Availability: Term 2 Status: Available to ELCS
and BATVF Pre-requisites: None Co-requisites: None Co-ordinator: Dr Ruth Cruickshank Course Staff: Dr Ruth Cruickshank
Aims: The aims of this course are to • examine the relationship between a range of post-1945 literary texts and films and their historical, cultural and critical context • develop cultural and critical awareness of the influence of the mass media and the market on innovations in literature and cinema in post-war France • develop an appreciation of the role of film and fiction in the politics of gender and sexual, racial and individual identity • further develop analytical skills and critical approaches to the literary text and to film, 48 discussing their relationship with other contemporary forms of cultural production
Learning Outcomes: After completion of the course, the prescribed reading and the hand-in assignments, students are expected to be able to • identify and interpret the links between developments in post-war French society and different forms of cultural production • analyse different literary and filmic techniques and their relationship with the images and discourses of consumer culture • explain how and why writers and filmmakers have contributed to the development of post-war French identity politics • show familiarity with the methods of independent research and prove the ability to make appropriate use of both primary and secondary material in their critical analyses • demonstrate their ability to combine techniques of textual analysis and personal judgement to form clearly expressed critical examinations of literary works and films in writing, in group discussions and in oral presentations
Since 1945, radical changes precipitated by the development of consumer culture in France have Course Content: created new images of the self that intersect with questions of gender, race, sexuality and exclusion. This course investigates the exciting ways in which post-war French literature and cinema both reflect and influence the impact of the mass media and global market forces on ways of constructing and expressing identity. Weekly seminars examine how some of the most original writers and filmmakers of the last six decades have explored new ways of understanding identity by representing, appropriating or exploiting the techniques of advertising, animation, Hollywood, crime fiction, television and journalism. Situating these innovations in their historical, cultural and critical context, the aim is to assess how contrasting novels and films engage with identity politics by drawing on the images and discourses of consumer culture. Combining the study of films, literary texts and other contemporary media, the course It furthers understanding of some of the key issues of concern affecting life in France from the end of the Second World War to the present day.
Teaching & Learning If running ‘Term 1 or Term 2 only two hours of seminar weekly; if running across Term 1 and Methods: Term 2 one hour weekly (20 Hours total). Teaching and learning are organised through staff-led discussion and student presentations. Issues raised will be explored in detail via group discussions and student presentations. Complementary perspectives will be introduced through other contemporary documents from advertising and print media to critical commentary. Preparation will be required for each session by viewing the required films, reading the primary texts and preparing selected secondary material. All students are required to make a presentation and to participate actively in group discussions.
Details of teaching All course handouts and further links/resources available on MOODLE. resources on Moodle:
Key Bibliography: Set text to be bought
Georges Perec, Les Choses (Paris: Juliard, 1965)/Things, trans. by David Bellos (London: Havill
Press, 1999) Didier Daeninckx, Meurtres pour mémoire (Paris Gallimard. 1984)/ Murder in Memoriam, trans by Liz Heron (London, Serpent's Tail,2005) Marie Darrieussecq, Truismes (Paris: Gallimard, 1998)/Pig tales, trans. by Linda Coverdale 2003) Set films Jacques Tati, Jour de fête (1949) DVD VO/subtitled Jean-Luc Godard, Masculin/Féminin (1966) DVD VO/subtitled Sylvain Chomet, Les Triplettes de Belleville (2003) DVD VO/subtitled It is strongly recommended that students read the texts/see the films before the start of the academic session. NB English translations for ELCS/BATVF students only Recommended reading Jill Forbes and Michael Kelly: French Cultural Studies: An Introduction (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1995) Jean Fourastié, Les Trente Glorieuses ou la révolution invisible de 1946 à 1975 (Paris: Fayard, 1979) Robert Gildea, France since 1945 (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2002) Susan Hayward, French National Cinema (Routledge, 2005 – 2nd edition) Alex Hughes and Keith Reader, Encylopedia of Contemporary French Culture (London: Routledge, 1998) Raymond Kuhn, The Media in France (London: Routledge, 1995) James McMillan, Modern France (Paris: Oxford University Press, 2003) Kristin Ross, Fast Cars, Clean Bodies: Decolonization and the Reordering of French Culture
49 (Cambridge MA and London: MIT Press, 1995) Phil Powrie and Keith Reader, French Cinema: A Student’s Guide (London: Arnold, 2002)
Formative Assessment Each student may have ten minutes’ individual discussion in preparation for the presentation, and & Feedback: will receive formal written feedback after it. Students may also arrange 30 minutes’ individual supervision in preparation for the writing of their long essay. Coursework (100%) 20% Oral presentation (15 minutes + 5 minutes of questions) with Summative Assessment: accompanying written material (hand-outs, bibliography, etc) that will be taken in, formally assessed, and returned with feedback. 80% Long essay (3,000 words)
Deadlines: Oral presentation. Date to be agreed between student and tutor in advance
Long essay deadline to be announced on MOODLE and in the course outline.
Text and Image in France: from Cubism Course Value: Course Title: 0.5 to the Present Course JACS Code: Course Code: FR3113 R130
Availability: Status: (Please state which Terms 1 and 2 optional teaching terms) Pre-requisites: None Co-requisites: None Co-ordinator: Professor Eric Robertson Course Staff: Professor Eric Robertson The aims of this course are to: Aims: • equip students with the necessary critical skills to engage in interdisciplinary analysis; • familiarize students with concepts of modern comparative aesthetic theory; • study select examples of textual and visual forms of expression from the early twentieth century to the present day, paying particular attention to the various collaborative and multi-disciplinary innovations that characterised the avant-garde in France in this period; • develop an understanding of the critical processes involved in interpreting texts and images. After completion of the course, the prescribed reading and the hand-in assignments, students are Learning Outcomes: expected to be able to: • demonstrate their awareness of and ability to use techniques of textual and visual analysis and to apply these to the figures studied. • demonstrate their ability to form critical judgments of literary works and visual images, and to show an awareness of relevant critical theories. • demonstrate an ability to make appropriate use of both primary and secondary material in their critical analyses. • Analyse the relationship between textual and visual modes of representation in the work of the figures examined. The course explores the relationship between textual and visual forms of expression from the early Course Content: twentieth century to the early twenty-first. The course will focus on textual/ visual relations from a variety of critical perspectives and through a range of chronologically discrete sources. All the key texts will be examined in parallel with the artworks that inspired them, and these primary sources will be considered in their wider socio-cultural and aesthetic contexts. The course will typically explore a selection of the following: • Hybrid textual / visual works such as the ‘premier livre simultané’ of Blaise Cendrars and Sonia Delaunay, the visual poetry of Apollinaire, and Henri Michaux’s works composed of signs; • The art criticism of creative writers and poets; • Illustrated livres d’artiste; philosophically-charged writings inspired by artists, such as Foucault’s and Deleuze’s essays on post-war artist Gérard Fromanger, and Barthes’s notes on photography. The course will consist of one weekly hour throughout terms 1 and 2 or 2 hours in either Term 1 or Teaching & Learning Methods: Term 2. After one or two introductory lecture-style presentations by the course leader, the course will be based on group discussions and student presentations. Seminars will focus on student participation and discussion and preparation will be required for each session. The texts and artworks will be analysed in detail and sessions will also be devoted to wider theoretical issues of interpreting visual and textual media.
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Details of teaching The course description, general reading list, schedule of classes, slides discussed in class, links to resources on Moodle: art museum websites, and other information relating to the course are all available on the FR3113 Moodle page.
Guillaume Apollinaire, Calligrammes. Poèmes de la paix et de la guerre Key Bibliography: Jean Arp, Jours effeuillés [extracts on handout] Roland Barthes, La chambre claire: note sur la photographie Blaise Cendrars, Du Monde entier Gilles Deleuze and Michel Foucault, Gérard Fromanger: la peinture photogénique Henri Michaux, Face aux verrous Feedback is provided through detailed comments on the set pieces of work which make up the Formative Assessment & Feedback: formative element of the assessment.
Summative Assessment: One long essay of 3,000 words worth 80% of overall mark. (In additional to the 20 learning hours the student is entitled to 30 minutes of individual supervision) One essay of 1,500-2,000 words worth 20% of overall mark
Deadlines: as published on MOODLE and in the course outline
Ethics and Violence: Murder, Suicide and Course Value: Course Title: 0.5 Genocide in Literature and Film Course JACS Code: Course Code: FR3114 R120
Availability: Status: Terms 1 and 2 Optional
Pre-requisites: None Co-requisites: Co-ordinator: Professor Colin Davis Course Staff: Professor Colin Davis These are: Aims: • to examine the interrelated themes of murder, suicide and genocide in a range of French texts and films; • to consider the ethical and aesthetic issues involved in the representation of violence; • to study the political and historical contexts in which acts of violence are presented as morally justifiable; • to develop skills in literary and film analysis acquired on other courses. After completion of the course, students are expected to be able: Learning Outcomes: • to understand how and why writers and filmmakers have contributed to discussion of ethical, political and psychological aspects of violence; • to analyse different literary and filmic techniques used in texts and films about violence; • to explain the problems of representing violence in literature and on film, and to understand the options available to writers and filmmakers dealing with the subject; • to formulate well-informed critical judgments on specific texts and film and to compare techniques and standpoints adopted in contrasting texts and films; • to express their judgments and analyses lucidly and in appropriate form, both in oral and written contexts.
Course Content: Why do people kill? Can murder or suicide ever be justified? How can murder escalate in scale to the point that it turns into genocide? The course examines these questions by looking at how they have been dealt with in texts and films concerned with the ethical and political dilemmas of the twentieth century. Political and self-destructive uses of violence will be considered to see how far they can be explained and judged to be legitimate. The course concludes by studying some of the specific problems of understanding and representing the Holocaust.
Teaching & Learning If taught over one term the course will consist of a weekly two-hour seminar. If taught over two Methods: terms it will consist of a weekly hour-long seminar. Teaching and learning will be organised through staff-led discussion and student presentations. Each week students will be expected to undertake private study to prepare for the seminar, and they will be required to make a presentation to the seminar group during the course.
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Details of teaching In development. resources on Moodle: Texts and films to be studied will include some of the following: Key Bibliography: Primary Texts: Albert Camus, L’Etranger, Les Justes, La Chute Jean-Paul Sartre, Les Mains sales Elie Wiesel, La Nuit, L’Aube Films: Le Crime de Monsieur Lange (dir. Jean Renoir) La Bête humaine (dir. Jean Renoir) Le Feu follet (dir. Louis Malle) Etat de siège (dir. Costa Gavras) Nuit et brouillard (dir. Alain Resnais) Shoah (dir. Claude Lanzmann)
Formative Assessment Feedback is provided through detailed comments on the set pieces of work which make up the & Feedback: coursework element of the assessment.
Summative Assessment: If running in one term (2 hours per week over 10 weeks): Coursework: 80% Long essay (3,000 words) (in addition to the 20 teaching hrs students will receive 30 mins individual supervision) 20% Oral presentation (20 mins) with accompanying written material (hand-outs, bibliography, etc) that will be taken in, formally assessed, and returned with feedback. If running in two terms (1 hour per week over 20 weeks): Coursework: Essay 1 (30%). 2000-2500 words Essay 2 (60%). 2000-2500 words Oral presentation (10%)
Course Value: Course Title: Proust’s A la recherche du temps perdu. 0.5
Course JACS Code: Course Code: FR3115 R120
Availability: Status: (Please state which Term 2 Optional teaching terms) Pre-requisites: None Co-requisites: None Co-ordinator: Dr Adam Watt Course Staff: Dr Adam Watt Through reading, discussion and critical analysis of set texts, the course aims to: Aims: • introduce students to a complex and highly influential work of literature • develop students’ understanding of the movements of the novel and the inter-relations of its component volumes • develop students’ sense of the formal concerns of the novel, its rich and wide-ranging thematic concerns, and how together these give Proust a privileged place in literary history After completion of the course and the prescribed reading, students are expected to be able to: Learning Outcomes: • discuss analytically the structure and development of Proust’s novel • demonstrate familiarity with the central thematic preoccupations of the novel • analyse, through close reading and commentary, characteristic features of Proust’s writing • demonstrate an awareness of Proust’s narrative innovations • assess critically the sorts of philosophical-intellectual dilemmas explored by Proust’s narrator.
Course Content: After reading ‘Combray’, the opening section of A la recherche you will study the second and fifth volumes in their entirety and the final two thirds of the last volume. In ‘Combray’ and A l’ombre des jeunes filles we get acquainted with Proust’s narrator and the individuals and forces that shape his childhood and youth: habit, art, illness, love, and desire will all be analysed in detail. In studying La Prisonnière and Le Temps retrouvé you will address questions of passion, jealousy, obsession and neurosis as well as mortality and the functions of art; you will also assess some of the structural issues of Proust’s novel. Lectures will outline all of A la recherche and aspects of its socio-historical and intellectual context. Lectures and seminars will focus on the grand movements, themes and structures of Proust’s novel, as well as on the intricate business of detail at the level of
52 the individual sentence or phrase.
Teaching & Learning The course will consist of one weekly hour throughout the teaching year. Lecture-style Methods: presentations by the course leader will alternate with seminars. These will focus on student participation and the discussion of specified passages/sections of text. Reading and preparation will be required for each session. Sessions will be devoted to thematic, conceptual and technical issues as well as to producing (and debating) critical commentaries on passages from the novel.
Details of teaching Course outline, bibliography, preparatory reading for seminars resources on Moodle: The recommended text is the one-volume ‘Quarto’ edition, A la recherche du temps perdu (Paris: Key Bibliography: Gallimard, 1999), which contains the complete text and allows you easily to refer to all of the
novel’s volumes.
Primary Reading
‘Combray’ (the first part of Du côté de chez Swann) (pp. 13-153)
A l’ombre des jeunes filles en fleurs (pp. 347-744) La Prisonnière (pp. 1607-1915) Le Temps retrouvé (from p. 2253) For ELCS students the recommended edition is the translation by C.K. Scott Moncrieff & Terence Kilmartin, revised by D.J. Enright, published in 6 volumes by Vintage; the prescribed reading is the first part of volume 1 (Swann’s Way), all of volume 2 (Within a Budding Grove), the first half of volume 5 (The Captive) and the latter part of volume 6 (Time Regained).
Selected Secondary Reading Bales, Richard, ed., The Cambridge Companion to Proust (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2001) Bowie, Malcolm, Proust Among the Stars (London: HarperCollins, 1998) May, Derwent, Proust (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1983) Cocking, J.M., Proust (London: Bowes and Bowes, 1956) Wassenaar, Ingrid, Marcel Proust: A Beginner’s Guide (London: Hodder and Stoughton, 2000).
Formative Assessment Feedback will be provided informally and via detailed comments on the shorter piece of & Feedback: coursework (the critical commentary).
Summative Assessment: Coursework (100%) Critical commentary (20%), 1,500-2,000 words. Long essay (80%) 3,000 words. (in addition to 20 hours teaching, students will be entitled to 30mins individual supervision) Deadlines: As per course schedule/MOODLE.
Portraits of the Libertine: Course Value: Course Title: 0.5 From Montaigne to Sade Course JACS Code: Course Code: FR3116 R120
Availability: Status: (Please state which Term 1 Optional teaching terms) Pre-requisites: None Co-requisites: Co-ordinator: Dr Timothy Chesters Course Staff: Dr Timothy Chesters
Aims: • to explore the concept of libertinage in French literature and thought from 1592-1789 • to examine ways in which that concept is exploited, challenged, and refined in five literary texts After completion of the course, students are expected to be able: Learning Outcomes: • to explain how the figure of the libertine emerged from a particular set of social, cultural, religious and political conditions • to describe the distinctive features of the libertine, and of libertine writing • to describe the changing face of the libertine over a two hundred year period
53 The libertine has become a recognisable hero (or should that be anti-hero?) of Western culture, and Course Content: nowhere more so than in France. He is often associated with moral and sexual licentiousness, and thought to betoken the decadence of the ancien régime. But where did this figure come from? When did he emerge? And what does he really reveal about the culture and society that spawned him? Through a careful reading of a number of the most notorious texts in the French language, this course charts the rise and fall of the libertine. The course will consist of a weekly two-hour seminar throughout the term. Teaching and learning Teaching & Learning Methods: will be organised through staff-led discussion. Each week students will be expected to undertake private study to prepare for the seminar.
Details of teaching The course will have its own dedicated site on Moodle, where students will be able to access resources on Moodle: course materials, quizzes (for revision), weblinks, glossaries, etc. Montaigne, ‘De l’experience’ in Essais, Book III Key Bibliography: Sorel, Francion (extracts) Molière, Dom Juan Laclos, Les Liaisons dangereuses Sade, Les Crimes de l’amour
Formative Assessment Feedback will be provided informally and via detailed comments on the shorter piece of & Feedback: coursework.
Summative Assessment: Coursework (100%) Short Essay (20%), 1,500-2,000 words. Long essay (80%) 3,000 words. (in addition to 20 hours teaching, students will be entitled to 30minutes individual supervision)
Deadlines: As per course schedule/MOODLE.
The Passion of Place: Desire and Identity Course Value: Course Title: 0.5 in Modern Paris Course JACS Code: Course Code: FR 3117 R120
Availability: Status: Optional for French (Please state which Terms 1 and 2 and ELCS students teaching terms) Pre-requisites: None Co-requisites: None Co-ordinator: Dr Hannah Thompson Course Staff: Dr Hannah Thompson The aims of this course are to: Aims: • examine key 19th and 20th century texts and films in their cultural and geographical context • further develop analytical skills and critical approaches to the literary text/film • develop cultural awareness with specific reference to the city of Paris in literature and film • develop an appreciation of the themes of sex, gender and racial identity in relation to modern France’s cultural production. After completion of the course, the prescribed reading and the hand-in assignments, students are Learning Outcomes: expected to be able to • demonstrate their awareness of and ability to use techniques of textual analysis applied to creative writing and film in French. • demonstrate their ability to form critical judgments of literary works, based on carefully analysed textual features and thematic concerns. • demonstrate that they have developed an ability to make appropriate use of both primary and secondary material in their critical analyses. • explain the role and function of the city of Paris in France’s cultural production • analyse the relationship between issues of sex, gender and racial identity and the environment in which these issues exist. In this course we focus on a range of texts and films produced in France between 1869 and 1996. Course Content: All the texts and films are set in Paris and present a particularly interesting and important vision of physical, cultural and social aspects of the capital. We will look at the ways in which the presence of Paris influences the text’s or film’s plot, themes, structure and style and characters. The texts and films under discussion also all focus on the central protagonists’ search to determine and engage with aspects of their own identity and this search is frequently inseparable from the city in which it occurs. This course will question why the quest to define one’s identity is so bound up with the place one lives and will look at the relationship between the internal and the external, the 54 personal and the public which is mapped out in each of these texts and films.
Teaching & Learning The course will consist of weekly hour-long seminars in both terms. Presentations by the course Methods: leader will alternate with group discussions and student presentations. Seminars will focus on student participation and discussion and preparation will be required for each session. The texts and films will be analysed in detail and sessions will also be devoted to the main thematic issues as well as to the preparation and planning of the hand-in assignments.
Details of teaching Students will be expected to prepare in advance for seminars using the guided reading published on resources on Moodle: Moodle. Handouts and powerpoint presentations from seminars will also be available as well as reading lists and web resources.
Set texts: (to be bought in the recommended edition): Key Bibliography: Emile Zola, La Curée (Folio Classique) ISBN 2070411419
ELCS students only: Emile Zola, The Kill (Oxford World’s Classics) ISBN 0192804642
Gustave Flaubert, L’Education sentimentale (GF Flammarion) ISBN 2080711032
ELCS students only: Gustave Flaubert, A Sentimental Education: The Story of a Young Man (Oxford World’s Classics) ISBN 978-0199540310 Simone de Beauvoir, L’Invitée (Folio) ISBN 2070367681 ELCS students only: Simone de Beauvoir, She Came to Stay (Harper) ISBN 0007204647 Leos Carax, Les Amants du Pont-Neuf (DVD/Video) Eric Rohmer, Un conte d’hiver / A Winter’s Tale (DVD/Video) Cédric Klapisch, Chacun cherche son chat / When the Cat’s Away (DVD/Video)
Formative Assessment Feedback on class discussions and presentations will be given informally. The detailed written & Feedback: feedback given on the first coursework assignment will help with the preparation of the second. Individual tutorials will be arranged to give feedback and suggestions on the preparation of the long essay.
Summative Assessment: Coursework (100%) Short Essay (1,500-2000 words) Long Essay (3,000 words)
Deadlines: as per course schedule and MOODLE.
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PERIOD OF RESIDENCE ABROAD (PRA)
Introduction The year abroad is a fully integral part of all BA degrees involving French as a principal subject (Single, Major, Joint, European Studies with main French), and one on which your academic progression depends. Exemption from it is not normally granted as it is the penultimate year of the BA course, it is absolutely crucial that your year abroad be spent in a way which prepares you as thoroughly as possible for the final year of your course. This means, most obviously, speaking as much French as you can, by integrating as fully as possible into a francophone environment. This is not always easy, especially in the first month or two, but it does produce dramatic results. Just as important, however, for obtaining a good degree result, is practising your written French. One frequent complaint of final-year students is that their mastery of Parisian verlan or their authentic lyonnais accent has done nothing to improve their performance in written French or their essay writing. One factor which distinguishes the excellent student is the ability to recognise and use French in the appropriate register according to circumstance, and this applies equally to the written and the spoken language. You would be well advised to read as much and as widely as you can, and to make a note of new words and expressions as you encounter them. In addition to its considerable benefits to your language skills, the experience of living in a French- speaking country is of immense value in terms of your broader intellectual or professional as well as personal development. Almost without exception, students consider the year abroad to be one of the most enjoyable and rewarding times of their lives. And, however hackneyed it may be to say so, it is none the less true that the more you put into it, the more you will get out of it. French are able to offer advice on the different ways in which you may wish to spend your year abroad (Assistant in a school, studying at a university, etc.). We cannot, however, dictate to you where you should choose to go, or what you should do, as these will depend on your interests, character and career aims. For this reason, it is essential that you familiarise yourself as fully as possible with the different possibilities open to you, and that you make a reasoned, informed choice. If you are interested in working as a teacher after you graduate, or if financial considerations are important to you, then an Assistantship would offer you useful teaching experience, as well as a regular income during your Year Abroad. If, on the other hand, you wish to experience life at a French university, or in another work environment, then this may influence your choice. It is important to be aware, however, that your living costs abroad may be significantly higher than in Britain, especially if you decide to live in Paris. PRA information can be found at: http://www.rhul.ac.uk/modern-languages/Students/SMLLC- Handbooks.html and http://moodle.rhul.ac.uk/
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Join the best society on campus!
This year’s French Society want to make this year the greatest ever, and for that we need your help! Whether you get enthusiastic about all aspects of French life or just want to make as many friends as possible on your course, we’re the society for you. As part of the French Society you can: come to our socials on campus, go to events in London, watch French films, party with other European societies, go to French restaurants, wine taste, meet lots of people with similar interests, go to France… and it only costs £5 to join for a whole year of fun! If you’d like to get involved join at Fresher’s Fair and even if you’re not sure, come and meet us anyway! Email any questions to us directly on [email protected] we’ll see you at French Society events soon!
57 FRENCH RESOURCES
French offers a comprehensive range of learning resources for your benefit which you are encouraged to use extensively in your own study and leisure time throughout the academic year.
Our resources are located in two different buildings on campus.
Resources available in the International Building
• access to a language laboratory, room 007, with 19 places.
• CALL laboratory, room 006, with 20 PCs.
These facilities will be open at times as advertised.
The Language Laboratory, room 007 The Language Laboratory seats 19 students and is used solely for seminar-teaching in the FR1002 Pratique de l’oral course. You will be using it on a self-access basis to prepare for your end of year examination. An induction session with your seminar tutor will be provided at the beginning of term, as well as a mock examination at the end of term 1 and another at the end of term 2.
The CALL Laboratory, room 006 The Computer-Assisted Language Learning Laboratory seats 20 students. It is a self-access learning resource which you are strongly recommended to use for at least one hour a week. However, for first and second year students, use of the CALL Laboratory will be compulsory and will be fully integrated into the language syllabus. Full details will be given to students by their Pratique de l’écrit seminar tutors at the beginning of term.
The PCs available are loaded with various French grammar software programmes. You can access any of them to work on any language point you wish to revise and/or improve as well as to complete the compulsory part of your CALL work (Question Designer Grammar Tests). There will be an induction session organised in the CALL laboratory at the beginning of the year.
Resources available in Founder’s Library
Weekly magazines Founder’s library holds four major French weekly current affairs magazines: Le Point, Le Nouvel Observateur, L’Evénement, L’Express. You are strongly encouraged to consult these regularly alongside the daily newspapers available in Café Jules in the International Building. Doing so will enable you to keep up-to-date with current social, political and economic concerns in France and in Francophone countries.
DVDs, videos and audio-tapes are also kept and centralised in Founder’s Library.
Journals specialising in language studies See the Library’s brief guide to French resources which you will be given at the beginning of the year.
In particular, you may find it useful to consult the following:
Le Français aujourd’hui Le Français dans Le Monde
58 WEB SITES
Here are just a few of the many useful sites you might visit: http://www.thepaperboy.com Gives access to extracts from a huge range of newspapers worldwide http://www.iol.org.uk The Institute of Linguists web site. Useful for information on translation courses and qualifications. http://yourdictionary.com Unbelievably useful for access to a large range of specialist on-line dictionaries, e.g. technical dictionaries, dictionaries of computing terms, dictionaries of quotations (including French, Spanish, Italian, Occitan, German, Latin). http://[email protected] Grant & Cutler’s website. Can be used for checking book availability and for ordering. http://www.fnac.fr FNAC’s website. Can be used to check book availability, locate FNAC shops and order on-line. http://www.literarytranslation.com Interesting British council site with some interactive pages. Click on an extract from an Astérix strip and see it translated instantly! http://lai.com/lai/companion.html ‘The translator’s companion’: contains a variety of information about translation and some online dictionaries (including technical and commercial ones). http://quotidien.nouvelobs.com The website of Le Nouvel Observateur. Very frequently updated. As well as current articles, includes dossiers on a selection of recent questions and controversies. http://www.liberation.com Self-explanatory. Similar to Nouvel Observateur site. http://www.lemonde.fr Le Monde site, with links to other publications such as Le Monde de l’Education. http://europa.eu.int/scadplus Has factsheets on EU policies, structure of Commission, Parliament, etc. http://www.courrierinternational.com Useful current affairs magazine with links to other journals, etc. (notably The Economist). Articles published in both French and English. http://www.academie-francaise.fr/ official site of the famous Académie francaise.
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USING FRENCH (AND OTHER) ACCENTS AND SPECIAL CHARACTERS IN WORD
Rather than using the Insert / Symbol system which is slow even when you’re used to it, try the following:
é CTRL + ‘ (the apostrophe on the @ key), then e
à CTRL + ` (the ` on the key with ¬), then a
è CTRL + ` (the ` on the key with ¬), then e
ù CTRL + ` (the ` on the key with ¬), then u
ç CTRL + , then c
â CTRL + SHIFT + ^, then a (and the same procedure with ê, î, ô, û)
ä CTRL + SHIFT + : then a (and the same procedure with ë, ï, ö, ü)
œ CTRL + SHIFT + & then o (as in œil and sœur)
æ CTRL + SHIFT + & then a
Alternatively, in a word-processing programme or in other applications where the above system won’t work (e.g. e-mail, Excel, PowerPoint), you can use the ALT + number pad system (hold down ALT and type a number on the right-hand number keypad). The character appears when you release ALT). Here are the codes: 7 Ç 128 ì 141 ü 129 Ä 142 é 130 É 144 â 131 æ 145 ä 132 Æ 146 à 133 ô 147 ç 135 ö 148 ê 136 ò 149 ë 137 û 150 è 138 ù 151 ï 139 Ö 153 î 140 Ü 154 ¡ 173 ¿ 168
So, for example, to get French é, hold down Alt and type 130 on the right-hand number keypad. Let go of Alt and é should appear.
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