IFE course syllabus Course I Belgium: A contemporary European culture The aim of this course is to allow students to discover all the complexity inherent in Belgian culture and literature. Though difficult, if not impossible, to define, Belgian literature offers a remarkable testimony to the efforts of the greatest writers of this country to place themselves in a position to fill a lack of identity, sometimes by differentiating themselves and sometimes by assimilating in the face of French literature. However, while the issue of identity will play an important role throughout this course, another, equally crucial one will also be addressed: the “social question” in Belgium. As a result, a large part of the course will revolve around the links between socialism and literature. Ultimately, this course will approach Belgian literature from different perspectives: . Historical, literary, comparative: it is impossible to grasp the main themes of Belgian culture of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries without knowing the different literary movements which succeeded one another in Belgium as in France, and without studying their respective influences. Political and ideological: although art for art’s sake has had a decisive impact on literature, it is important not to downplay the importance and influence of Socialism in the literary domain - particularly in Belgium. Interdisciplinary: we will see how the influence of the literary landscape is reflected in other artistic fields such as Belgian comics, songs and even cinema. Course Outline: The first intention of the course is to approach Belgian literature from a historical perspective. According to the sociological and historical analysis proposed by Benoît Denis and Jean-Marie Klinkenberg, Belgian literature has been divided into three main periods: the centrifugal, centripetal, and dialectical phases. Using this division, we will look at the following: 1. The centrifugal period - from 1830 to 1914 . Historical context specific to a young, independent Belgium; The key importance of Johann Gottfried Herder (German romantic philosopher); The “Century of Nationalisms”. The “coruscant style” (also called “flaming macaque”): the origin of the style and its pejorative name given by the group La Jeune Belgique. From the “Nordic myth” to the “Belgian soul”: a first draft of Belgian identity . Definition and analysis of the main literary movements of the period (both in Belgium and in France) - Henri Moke & the importance of the historical novel for Romanticism in Belgium; Victor Hugo & Alfred de Musset for Romanticism in France. - Camille Lemonnier, Georges Eekhoud, Theodore Hannon & Paul Heusy for Naturalism in Belgium; Emile Zola for France. - Georges Rodenbach, Max Elskamp, Maurice Maeterlinck and Jean de Bosschère for Symbolism in Belgium; Mallarmé & Paul Verlaine as an emblematic case of a literary feud (Symbolism stricto sensu for the former, Decadentism for the latter) . Importance of Charles de Coster, Camille Lemonnier and Maurice Maeterlinck in the development of a Belgian national literature. 2. The centripetal period - from 1914 to 1970 . Importance of the Great War in Europe and in Belgium: repercussions on culture and literary production in Belgium and France + phenomenon of overpoliticization in Europe with the rise of extremes. Recentering of Belgian literary production on the French language because of the nascent Flemish issue which lead to the first political demands in the north of the country. Development of “magical realism” (groupe du lundi + importance of Franz Hellens) as a new Belgian identity. Definitions and analyses of the movements of the period: - Robert Vivier, Jean Tousseul & Martial Lekeux for the war novel in Belgium; Henri Barbusse for the war novel in France. - Constant Malva, Pierre Hubermont & Albert Ayguesparse for proletarian literature in Belgium; Henry Poulaille for proletarian literature in France. - André Baillon and the particular case of Neel Doff and Madeleine Bourdouxhe (a sociological study of the position of women in working class milieux) for populist literature in Belgium. - Paul Nougé, René Magritte & Achile Chavée, Louis Scutenaire for Brussels and Hennuyer Surrealism in Belgium; André Breton, Louis Aragon and Robert Desnos for Surrealism in France. 3. The dialectical period - from 1970 to the present . Historical context: institutional reforms of the Belgian State and their repercussions on the Belgian identity. Notion of “belgitude” and the publication of “La Belgique malgé tout” (1970). Manifestation of the lack of identity in literature (Jean Muno), song (Jacques Brel); Development of the sense of self- deprecation as a sense of Belgian humor (François Pirette, comic strip “Le Chat”). Case study: Patrick Roegiers or contempt for the avatars of Belgian culture. Study of the author’s literary entryism through a commentary on his work “L’Autre Simenon” and the study of his media posture on the set of the French program “On est pas couché” (12 September 2015). 4. Activities and visits: . Screenings of Belgian films at the IFE center . Visits to cities such as Bruxelles, Liège and Namur: an opportunity to discover certain major cities of French-speaking Belgium, whose cultural and historical heritage offer insight into the south of the country . Visit to the Royal Museum of Fine Arts in Brussels - Old Masters section Bibliography Various sources on Belgian Literature . Aron (Paul), Les écrivains belges et le socialisme (1880 - 1913). Bruxelles, Éditions Labor, 1997. Aron (Paul), La littérature prolétarienne. Bruxelles, Éditions Labor, 2006. Aron (Paul) & Bertrand (Jean-Pierre), Anthologie du surréalisme belge. Bruxelles, Éditions Labor, 2015. Baronian (Jean-Baptiste), La littérature fantastique belge. Bruxelles, Académie Royale de Belgique, 2014. (sous la dir. de) Berg (Christian) & Halen (Pierre), Littératures belges de langue française, histoire et perspectives (1830-2000). Bruxelles, Le Cri édition, 2000. Charlier (Gustave) & Hanse (Joseph), Histoire illustrée des lettres françaises de Belgique. Bruxelles, La Renaissance du livre, 1958. Denis (Benoît) & Klinkenberg (Jean-Marie), La littérature belge, précis d’histoire sociale. Bruxelles, Éditions Labor, 2005. LysØE (Éric), La Belgique de l’étrange (1945-2000). Bruxelles, Éditions Luc Pire, 2010. Luc (Anne-Françoise), Le naturalisme belge. Bruxelles, Éditions Labor, 1990. Magritte (René), Les mots et les images. Bruxelles, Éditio ns Labor, 1994. Paque (Jeannine), Le symbolisme belge. Bruxelles, Éditions Labor, 1989. Quaghebeur (Marc), Balises pour l’histoire des lettres belges. Bruxelles, Éditions Labor, 1998. Quaghebeur (Marc), Anthologie de la littérature française de Belgique, entre réel et surréel. Bruxelles, Éditions Racine, 2006. toussaint (Françoise), Le surréalisme belge. Bruxelles, Éditions Labor, 1986. Online Sources . Association of Belgian Authors: http://www.ecrivainsbelges.be/ . Promotion des lettres (Communauté française): http://www.promotiondeslettres.cfwb.be/ . Site de Robert Paul : http://artsrtlettres.ning.com/profiles/blogs/histoire-de-la-litterature.