Undergraduate Course Offerings - Fall 2006

University of Virginia
Department of French Language and Literature

Departmental Writing Requirements :

The following writing requirements apply to courses in which the authorized enrollments do not exceed 20 (French 331 and 332) or 25 (literature and civilization courses numbered higher than French 332):

• FREN 331 and 332: 10-15 pages, typically divided among 4 to 5 papers. Peer editing introduced during class and practiced outside.
• 300-level literature and civilization courses: 10-15 pages, typically divided among 2 to 4 papers. Relatively less sophisticated content than at the 400-level. Peer editing outside of class may be offered to students as an option (or requirement).
• 400-level literature and civilization courses: 15-20 pages, typically divided among 2 to 4 papers. Relatively more sophisticated content than at the 300-level. Peer editing outside of class may be offered to students as an option (or requirement).
• In all courses the quality of written French (that is, accurate use of grammar and vocabulary) is an important factor in grading. Command of the language affects how understandable, persuasive, and impressive writing is. As students move from 300- to 400- level courses they will be expected to show greater sophistication in sentence structure, grammar, and use of idioms.

   FREN 331 INTENSIVE GRAMMAR AND COMPOSITION

Prerequisite: Exemption from FREN 201 & 202; or a score of 3 on the AP French language exam; or a score of at least 660 on the SAT. Required as preparation for all subsequent courses except FREN 333 and FREN 339.

This course offers an intensive review of grammar rules and their application to oral and written communication. Short readings in French will provide a context for discussion, writing, and grammar practice. Students will be graded on short quizzes, dictations, compositions, a mid-term, and a final exam. The course is conducted in French.

            0900-0950 MWF        Ms. Sapir                     BRN 334
            1000-1050 MWF        Ms. Sapir                     BRN 334
            1100-1150 MWF        Instructor TBA CAB B031
            1100-1215 TR             Ms. Levine                   BRN 334
            1200-1345 TR             Ms. Skrainka                CAB B026
            1400-1515 TR             Instructor TBA CAB B031

   FREN 332 THE WRITING AND READING OF TEXTS

Prerequisite: French 331. This course is a prerequisite for all undergraduate courses on a higher level except French 333 and French 339.

Ce cours est une introduction à la lecture critique et à l'analyse de textes. Il est à la fois un atelier d'écriture intensive, car le travail de lecture attentive sera accompagné de courts essais de deux à trois pages visant à interpréter les textes. Pour cela, on devra acquérir un minimum de vocabulaire technique spécifique à chaque genre littéraire (qu'il s'agisse de textes de prose, de poésie ou de théâtre) et un lexique analytique générique. Bien entendu, la qualité du français écrit et parlé sera une composante importante de l'évaluation du travail : il convient donc de continuer de prendre la grammaire très au sérieux.

            0900-0950 MWF        Ms. Sato                      WIL 215
            1000-1050 MWF        Ms. Sato                      RAN 212
            1200-1250 MWF        Ms. Bargach                 CAB 426
            1300-1350 MWF        Ms. Bargach                 CAB B028
            0930-1045 TR             Ms. Barnett                  CAB 426
            1400-1515 MW          Ms. Lyu                       CAB B028
            1400-1515 TR             Ms. Skrainka                CAB B031

   FREN 334 ADVANCED ORAL & WRITTEN EXPRESSION IN FRENCH

Prerequisite: Students must have completed French 331 and French 332 or their equivalent. Counts for major/minor credit.

An intensive course designed to improve more advanced students' oral and written language skills. Assignments include discussion on topics of current interest, presentations, translations, and compositions. All materials are French- or Francophone-related. The course focuses on language development in a Francophone cultural context, so students can get familiar with French and Francophone cultures and comfortable in expressing their viewpoints in French. Of course, consistent attendance and active participation are essential.

1100-1150 MWF        Instructor TBA CAB 235
1400-1450 MWF        Instructor TBA CAB 236
1100-1215 TR             Instructor TBA Classroom TBA
1400-1515 TR             Instructor TBA CAB B030

   FREN 339 FRENCH PHONETICS

French 339 is an introductory course in French phonetics, intended to present basic concepts in phonetic theory and to teach students techniques for improving their own pronunciation. It includes an examination of the physical characteristics of individual French sounds, the relationship between these sounds and their written representations, the rules governing the pronunciation of “standard French”, the most salient phonological features of selected regional varieties (e.g. le français méridional), and much more. Taught in French.

            1400-1515 MW          Ms. Saunders               CAB 330
            1530-1645 MW          Ms. Saunders               CAB 330

   FREN 342 LITERATURE OF THE 17TH & 18TH CENTURIES: “God, the King, and the Father”

The paternal figure, whether good or evil, dominated the realms of religion, government, and the family in the 17th and 18th centuries. In response to his undeniable power, some writers of this period praised his ability to impose law and order, while other writers imagined scenarios in which one had to rebel against him. La Fontaine, in some of his fables; Corneille, in his tragedy Le Cid; and Beaumarchais, in his comedy Le Mariage de Figaro, show some of the moral conflicts that a king or a father can cause when he chooses to abuse his power. Descartes, Voltaire, and Diderot use logic to prove or disprove the existence of God and to discuss what role he should play in our lives, if he does exist. Later 18th-century texts consider the possibility of rejecting or symbolically outgrowing the father figure, perhaps paving the way for the ultimate parricide, the execution of the king during the French Revolution.

1400-1515 TR             Ms. Tsien                     CAB 241

   FREN 343 - LITERATURE OF THE 19TH AND 20TH CENTURIES

A survey of representative prose works considered in light of their historical and cultural contexts, this course will explore modern (and postmodern) literature's take on the deceptive power of appearances. From a case of mistaken identity and a reflection on the art of forgery, to portraits of characters seduced by fantasies and those struggling to come to terms with the illusory nature of being in the world, the narratives that we will read navigate the hazy boundary that separates the real from the imaginary, interrogate the tenuous relationship between seeing and believing, and ultimately suggest that the distinction between truth and lies is perhaps less clearly defined than we might think.

Readings to include novels, novellas, and short stories by Balzac, Flaubert, Maupassant, Sartre, Robbe-Grillet, and Perec. Three short papers, an oral presentation, and a final exam. Course taught in French.

            1100-1215 TR             Mr. Blatt                      CAB 241

   FREN 344 – TOPICS IN FRENCH CINEMA

Description Pending.

1230-1345 TR             Ms. Levine                   CLM 322A

   FREN 345 TOPICS IN CULTURAL STUDIES:  Le Rire

This course is an examination of the role of laughter in French literature from the Middle Ages to the 20^th century.  The evolution of the comic tradition, its recurrent themes and techniques (stock characters, etc.), will be discussed with respect to those how have written about laughter (Bakhtin, Bergson, etc.) as well as representative works from each century.  Each will be viewed within its own social, political, or literary context.  Two papers, a mid-term and final exam.

                1200-1250 MWF    Ms. Sapir                     WIL 215

   FREN 347 LITTÉRATURE ET CULTURE MAROCAINES

La littérature francophone marocaine est à l’image du pays où elle trouve sa source: un carrefour d’influences et de cultures diverses. L’influence de la France qui a colonisé le Maroc de 1912 à 1956 n’efface en rien les racines africaines, arabo-musulmanes, berbères, andalouses et judéo-arabes que la littérature francophone marocaine traduit fort bien. Ce sont les mille facettes de cette mixité culturelle et ethnique que nous aborderons dans ce cours.

Les œuvres littéraires au programme sont d’abord celles écrites durant la période coloniale, ensuite nous étudierons des œuvres plus contemporaines qui reflètent les aspirations et les interrogations d’aujourd’hui.

Lectures : TBA

Travaux : Examen partiel, examen final, 5 essais de 2 à 3 pages et un projet de recherche par équipe.

            1000-1050 MWF        Ms. Bargach                 CAB 247

   FREN 350 HISTORY AND CIVILIZATION OF FRANCE: MIDDLE AGES TO REVOLUTION

Prerequisite: FREN 332.

The social, political, economic, philosophical, and artistic developments in France from the Middle Ages to the French Revolution.

1530-1645 MW          Ms. Debray                  CAB B028

   FREN 356 LE CAS SIMENON

Prerequesite: FREN 332

Belgian writer Georges Simenon, owes his fame to Maigret, the superintendent of the Préfecture de Police in Paris and the main character of his 76 mystery novels.  Perhaps less well known but equally important are Simenon's other non-detective novels. Although Simenon is clearly an exemplar of "middlebrow" culture, with his books for sale in train stations and airport bookshops, he has been admired by such "highbrow" writers as Gide, Colette, Céline, Cocteau, who have compared his productivity to that of Victor Hugo, his sense of social milieux to that of Balzac, and his ability to caricature to that of La Fontaine. In reading Simenon,  we will explore his ways of creating foggy sensations and atmospheres as well as vivid physical and psychological descriptions.  This course is an invitation au voyage. Students will learn much from Simenon's ways of using the local to illuminate the universal. Course taught in French.

                1100-1150 MWF    Ms. Zunz                      PV7 203

    FREN 402 RENAISSANCE TRAVELERS

Prerequisite :  A 300-level literature course (341, 342 or 343) is required ; at least one additional literature course is strongly recommended.

In the sixteenth century French adventurers set out for exotic ports in the New World and hallowed destinations in the Old.   For writers like Rabelais, Du Bellay and Montaigne, a journey to Rome was a required intellectual pilgrimage, while French captains took colonists to both North and South America, and emissaries of the French king sought alliances with Suleiman and the advancing Ottoman Empire.   The written accounts of those journeys inspired in turn stories of travels taken only in the imaginations of their authors.  We will consider what they reveal about events changing the culture and mentality of Europe: the printing revolution, the Protestant Reformation, and France’s efforts to expand its influence beyond its borders.  We will examine many of these works in the sixteenth-century editions available in our library’s Gordon Collection, and we will read them in the original sixteenth-century French.

The tentative reading list includes selections from :

Jacques Cartier (1491-1557), Relations (1534; 1535-6, 1541-2) ;

Joachim du Bellay (1522-1560), Les Antiquitez de Rome ; Les Regrets (1558) ;

François Rabelais (1483-1553), Le Quart Livre (1548, 1552) ;

André Thevet (1516?-1592), Cosmographie de Levant (1554) ; Les Singularités de la France Antarctique (1557) ;

Jean de Léry (1534-1611?), Histoire d'un voyage fait en la terre du Brésil (1578, 1580) ;

Michel de Montaigne (1533-92),  Essais (1580-95), « Des cannibales » (I : 31) ; « Des coches » (III : 6) ; « De la vanité » (III : 9) ; Journal de Voyage (1580-81) ;

Marc Lescarbot (1570?-1630?), Histoire de la Nouvelle-France (1609).

1100-1215 TR             Ms. McKinley              CAB 234

   FREN 403 SPECIAL TOPICS IN 18TH CENTURY: “French Literature, Founding Fathers”

The leaders of the American Revolution were avid readers of French literature. After all, Americans put into practice what French thinkers had been imagining in the abstract, and in turn they worked with the French to start their own revolution. This course will focus on the literature that influenced Benjamin Franklin, Alexander Hamilton, Thomas Jefferson, and other statesmen. We will focus on their choices of readings, how this literature affected their own writings, and how they differed in opinion with European authors on such matters as kingship, happiness, religion, and slavery.

The readings for this course will include works by Montesquieu, Diderot, Rousseau, and Raynal. We will also study foundational texts that were highly influential among both French and American writers, from the epistles of Saint Paul to the heroic tales of Plutarch. We will compare these works with essays, revolutionary documents, and other writings by the founders of the United States.

The grade for the course will be based on participation, one short paper (4-5 pages), one longer research paper (10 pages), and a final exam.

1530-1645 TR             Ms. Tsien                     Classroom TBA

   FREN 430 GRAMMAIRE ET STYLE

Prerequisite: B+ average in FREN 331 and 332.

Grammar review through the traditional method of grammatical analysis; includes free composition.

            1100-1150 MWF        Ms. Debray                  CAB 236
            1300-1350 MWF        Ms. Debray                  CAB 318

   FREN 443 AFRICA IN CINEMA

Prerequisite: FREN 332 and FREN 344 or another 300-level literature course in French.

This course is a study of the representation of Africa in American, Western European and African films. It deals with the representations of African cultures by filmmakers from different cultural backgrounds and studies the ways in which their perspectives on Africa are often informed by their own social and ideological positions as well as the demands of exoticism. It also examines the constructions of the African as the “other” and the kinds of responses such constructions have elicited from Africa’s filmmakers. These filmic Ainventions@ are analyzed through a selection of French, British, American, and African films by such directors as John Huston, S. Pollack, J-J Annaud, M. Radford,  Ngangura  Mweze, Jean-Pierre Bekolo, Souleymane Cisse, Gaston Kabore, Amadou Seck, Dani Kouyate, Brian Tilley,  Jean-Marie Teno on a variety of subjects relative to the image of Africa in cinema. The final grade will be based on one mid-semester paper (select a film by an African filmmaker and provide a sequential reconstruction of the story based on the methods of P. S. Vieyra and of F.Boughédir), a final paper (7-10 pages), an oral presentation and contributions to discussions. Each oral presentation should contribute to the mid-semester paper and to the final research paper. The final paper should be analytical, well documented and written in clear, grammatical French using correct film terminology supplied with this description. 

Required

Catherine Ruelle & Clément Tapsoba, ed.- Afrique 50-Singularités d’un cinéma pluriel, Paris: L’Harmattan.

Recommended (Specific selections will be announced weekly.)

Ferid Boughedir -Le cinéma africain de A a Z

Olivier Bartlet-

Kenneth W. Harrow - Matatu- With Open Eyes: Women and African Cinema 

Gardies, André - Cinéma d’Afrique Noire Francophone : l’espace-miroir.

Vieyra, P. S. - Le cinéma africain

                     - Sembène Ousmane, cinéaste

Ukadike, F. N. - Black African Cinema

Research in African Literatures - Special Issue: African Cinema. Vol. 26, No.3, Fall 1995.

Diawara, Manthia - African Cinema

Alexie Tcheuyap. De l'écrit à l'écran. Les réécritures filmiques du roman africain francophone. Ottawa, Presses de l'Université d'Ottawa, Collection Transferts Culturels, 2005, 230p

            1230-1645 TR             Mr. Dramé                   CAB 241

   FREN 452 TOPICS IN FRENCH POETRY: Poetry as Practice of Life

Prerequisite: At least two French literature or culture courses beyond 332.

We will explore in what way poetry, as heightened awareness of what words mean and what they can do, invites us to live as we read - intensely and openly - for the sake of deeper meaning and experience.

1530-1800 W              Ms. Lyu                       CAB 426

   FREN 483 LITERARY IDEAS

Theory, controversies, methods of reading, manifestos, and polemics concerning how to write, how to evaluate, and how to read literature have flourished in France through the centuries. This course studies texts written primarily by literary authors (generally texts urging certain ways of writing plays, lyric poetry, novels, and so forth) and texts written primarily by critics (promoting certain evaluations and ways of reading literary and dramatic texts).  Neither a survey nor a typology of texts about literary ideas, this course will simply propose a careful reading and discussion of diverse writings concerning ways of thinking and arguing about literature.  Readings will include selections from such writers as Du Bellay, Corneille, Valincour, Boileau, Perrault, Hugo, Stendhal, Baudelaire, Taine, Valéry, Girard, Fanon, Barthes, Jakobson, Lacan, and Lyotard.

Three papers and a final exam.

0930-1045 TR             Mr. Lyons                    HAL 123