Graduate Course Offerings - Fall 2007

University of Virginia

Department of French Language & Literature

FREN 510L - Old French

Introduction to reading Old French, with consideration of its main dialects (Ile-de-France, Picard, Anglo-Norman) and paleographical issues.  May be taken in conjunction with FREN 512/810 or independently.  Weekly reading exercises, a transcription and translation exercise, and a final open-book exam.  Prerequisite: good reading knowledge of modern French, Latin or another romance language.  Taught in English.

FREN 512/810 - Medieval Literature in Modern French

Medieval Saints' Lives

How does one both please and teach?  For medieval writers of saints' Lives, delighting the audience served the vital purpose of saving souls.   Reading Lives written between 880 and the late thirteenth century, we will investigate the ways in which medieval hagiographers engaged with a variety of literary, social, and philosophical problems that fascinated contemporary audiences.  Requirements for the course include active participation, a textual commentary midterm, an oral presentation and a seminar paper.

FREN 520/820 - Literature of the Sixteenth Century: Poetry

Sixteenth Century: Poetic Recreations of the Ancients

Long before Du Bellay’s Defense et Illustration, sixteenth century poets looked to the Ancients for inspiration and models.   They followed the rule of imitatio in many different ways as they strove to articulate their own – French – poetic voices.   We will read the poets they read (Ovid, above all, but also some Virgil and Horace in Latin/French editions) and appreciate the transformations they made through their creative imitations.   We will see how Metamorphoses was not only a favorite source but also an inspiring principle for Marot, Sceve, Labé, Du Bellay, Ronsard and others.   Students planning to take this course could prepare by reading any editions of Ovid’s Metamorphoses and Virgil’s Aeneid this summer.   Castiglione’s The Book of the Courtier (I like the Charles Singleton translation) will also be a central point of reference.  Some response writing, a mid-semester writing assignment and a final paper will be assigned.

FREN 540/840 - Literature of the Eighteenth Century

FREN 545/893 - Topics in Cultural Studies

FREN 560/860 - Literature of the Twentiety Century

Contemporary Fiction, or “Is French Literature Burning?” 

As certain critics would have it, French literature today is in crisis.  In his incendiary rant La littérature sans estomac (2002), for example, Pierre Jourde laments the lack of aesthetic standards in the production of contemporary French fiction, claiming instead that the market has been overrun by mediocrity.  Similarly, Jean-Philippe Domecq recently created a stir when he attacked a certain cadre of literary critics who, he claims, do nothing but elevate the vast array of livres de divertissement to the status of “high art.”  And in a recent article for the New York Times, Alan Riding ponders the curious state of “French” literature in 2006, a year in which not only were the winners of four of the country’s most esteemed literary prizes awarded to “foreign” authors (American Jonathan Littel, to cite one example, won both the Prix Goncourt and the Prix de l’Académie française for Les Bienveillants), but one of the most popular novels of the year (in France as well as in the US) was actually written in the 1940s by a Russian-born émigré who would later disappear in the camps (Irène Nemirovsky, Suite française).  All of which seems to beg the question, as Riding asks: “Is French literature burning?”

Rather than propose a definitive answer to such a problematic and expressly provocative question, this survey of some of the most acclaimed (and, in a few cases, scandalous!) prose works from the 1980s, 1990s, and 2000s invites students to judge for themselves.  Topics and fields of study to include: biographical fiction and the roman de filiation; minimalist forms and the nouvelle école de minuit (a.k.a. the nouveau nouveau roman); sex and gender in new women’s writing; postmodern pastiche; post-exoticism and post-apocalyptic fiction; the return to figuration, realism, and the social; the influence of the image, visual culture, and new media; the néo-polar and the legacy of the past.  The course will also introduce students to a number of essential and readily available resources for scholars (and enthusiasts) of contemporary French literature, including the major journals, anthologies, radio programs, websites, and blogs.

Required work to include an oral presentation, occasional short response papers, and one longer research paper.

Readings may include, but are not limited to, works by Toussaint, Echenoz, Bon, Ernaux, Bernheim, Modiano, Daeninckx, Viel, Volodine, Houellebecq, Gavarry, Salvayre, Michon, and Carrère.

FREN 700 - Proseminar

An examination of various literary theories and practices from antiquity to the 20th-century.

FREN 704 - Theories and Methods of Language Teaching

METHODS OF SCHOLARSHIP AND TEACHING

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 experience. 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.
 
Required for all GTAs teaching French at UVa for the first time. Restricted to Graduate Teaching Assistants in French. Please register for CR/NC grade option, three credits. If you have already taken a similar course contact Cheryl Krueger about registering for paritial credit. Exchange Assistant(e)s please register as "Audit."