FREN 700 PROSEMINAR

This course is designed to introduce fundamental concepts of literary theory and criticism. We will concentrate on twentieth-century critical and theoretical methods, placing them in the context of earlier approaches to literature from Aristotle and Horace in the classical tradition to Boileau, Sainte-Beuve, Brunetière, Lanson, Proust. The bulk of the semester will be spent reading a sampling of 20th-century theoretical texts from marxist, formalist, psychoanalytic, gender studies, deconstructive, and post-colonial perspectives. Each student will be responsible for an oral presentation on a specific text (c.15 minutes), as well as a final paper (c.20 pages).

3:30-6:00 W Ms. Ladenson

  FREN 704 - THEORIES AND METHODS OF LANGUAGE TEACHING (1)

An introduction to pedagogical approaches currently practiced in second-language courses at the university level. Students will examine critically the theories behind various methodologies, and the relation of these theories to their own teaching experie nce. Assignments include readings, exercises, and case studies on the teaching of French; development and critique of pedagogical materials; peer observation and analysis; and drafts of materials for an eventual teaching portfolio.

1:00-1:50 W - Ms. Krueger

  FREN 401/501 ADVANCED COMPOSITION

This intensive " hands-on " course will deal with problems of essay writing in French with an emphasis on literary analysis. It will be comprised of weekly short critical papers, intensive grammar review, exercises in translation from French to English and English to French, and writing of pastiches. The use of ToolKit will be required for peer editing and share-writing.

2:00-3:15 MW Mr. Simon

  FREN 510/810 MEDIEVAL LITERATURE IN MODERN FRENCH I

In the middle of the twelfth century, the precursor of modern French (romans) quite suddenly took precedence over Latin as the written language of courtly culture, and thus French literature was born. Why did this shift occur then? What topics did authors consider appropriate for expression in the vernacular? How did they justify their endeavors? What patterns did they set for the French literary tradition? This course will investigate issues of authority, truth, genre and language in representative literary works (hagiography, chanson de geste, romance, drama and lyric) composed before the mid-thirteenth century. In the course of discussing secondary readings and of preparing the assignments (an oral presentation and a seminar paper), we will consider matters of professional development.

3:30-6:30 W Ms. Ogden

  FREN 510L OLD FRENCH

Introduction to reading Old French, with consideration of its main dialects (Ile-de-France, Picard, Anglo-Norman). May be taken in conjunction with FREN 510 or independently. Weekly reading exercises and a final open-book exam. Prerequisite: good reading knowledge of modern French. Taught in English.

501L is a one-credit course.

3:30-4:30 M Ms. Ogden

  FREN 540/840 DIDEROT ET L'ATELIER DU ROMAN

Sujet et orientation du cours :

C'est d'abord la passion jamais démentie de Diderot pour les arts et pour le débat sur les questions d'esthétique en général, qui définit sa place singulière dans les Lumières. Fondateur de la critique d'art, théoricien du théâtre, il a été animé par une perpétuelle joie des formes et par un goût de la fiction qui est le principe même de son œuvre. On étudiera comment l'aventure encyclopédique, la lettre d'amour, la réflexion sur le théâtre et sur la peinture ont été autant de laboratoires pour sa production romanesque si singulière (dialogues, anti-romans etc).

Livres au programme :

    Les Bijoux indiscrets
    Les Contes
    Le Neveu de Rameau
    Jacques le fataliste
    La Religieuse

3:30-6:00 M Mr. Bonnet

  FREN 452/550 BAUDELAIRE AND MODERNITY

In this course, we will read a selection of works by Charles Baudelaire and examine what makes his writings "modern." Through the "figure" of Baudelaire, we will investigate several key notions of poetic modernity of nineteenth-century French poetry: theories of language, time and space of writing, failure, fragmentation, absence, memory, death...etc. Close analyses of works by Baudelaire combined with careful readings of critical and theoretical works by thinkers of modernity will allow us to explore what constitutes the specificity of the language and experience of poetry in one of the most celebrated and influential poets of French literature.

3:30-6:00 R Ms. Lyu

  FREN 571/871 INTRODUCTION TO NEW WORLD FRANCOPHONE LITERATURES

This course will be taught at the M.A. level--with appropriate modifications for Ph.D. candidates who enroll-as a historical, social, and aesthetic introduction to the literatures of Haïti and Québec as well as the Antilles Françaises. The textbook will be Corzani, Hoffmann, and Piccione, Littératures francophones, vol. 2, Les Amériques (Belin Sup, 1998). Additional full-length texts will supplement the textbook. All majors genres will be represented in the course. M.A. candidates will take a final exam and write a short research paper, as well as present several oral reports. Ph.D. candidates will prepare a more substantial research paper in lieu of the final exam.

3:30-6:00 M Mr. Arnold

  FREN 580/880 LA LÉGENDE NAPOLÉONIENNE: LITTÉRATURE ET CINÉMA

Sujet et orientation du cours :

On confrontera les points de vue de deux écrivains majeurs (Stendhal et Chateaubriand) tout en évoquant les analyses, plus résolument critiques, de Benjamin Constant et de Mme de Staël. En ce qui concerne la fiction, Balzac a été retenu parce qu'il est le seul écrivain, en France, auquel Napoléon ait inspiré des ouvrages importants.

Parallèlement à ces analyses littéraires, on étudiera la légende de Napoléon au cinéma en commençant par le chef d'œuvre d'Abel Gance, remanié tout au cours du Xxe siècle. L'étude des différentes versions de ce film permet de mesurer toute la richesse d'un mythe auquel le cinéaste identifie le Septième Art, un art "souple, précis, violent, rieur, puissant".

Livres au programme :

    Stendhal, La Vie de Napoléon
    Benjamin Constant, Écrits politiques
    Chateaubriand, Mémoires d'outre-tombe
    Balzac :
            Le médecin de campagne
            Le colonel Chabert

Films qui seront visionnés :

Abel Gance : Napoléon, Austerlitz
Sacha Guitry : Napoléon, Désirée Clary, Le diable boîteux
Adaptations du Colonel Chabert (Le Hénaff, Angélo) etc

12:30-13:45 TR Mr. Bonnet

  FREN 880/HIEU 750 READINGS ON MODERN FRANCE

This course will cover, as comprehensively as we can, the recent historiography of France since the late eighteenth century. Gender, collective memory, national identity, state development, colony-metropole inter-face, and visual culture are some of the themes that drive the recent literature.

1:00-3:30 W Mr. Berlanstein

Home  Back  Top