Fall 2019 Graduate Courses
Graduate Courses - Fall 2019
Advanced undergraduate students who have earned a B+ (or higher) in at least one 4000-level course may enroll in graduate level courses with instructor permission.
FREN 5510/8510 - Topics in Medieval Literature: Poetry in Motion: The Composition, Circulation and Reception of Verse in the Late Middle Ages
Founded on the notion that art is neither produced in a vacuum nor received by passive participants, this course will consider the ways in which the circulation of writings transforms their form, function, and meaning. Key topics to be addressed include 1) multi-authorship (both collaborative and competitive), 2) multi-modal compositions that combine text/image/music, 3) delivery and messaging (whether as performed works or material artifacts), 4) textual appropriation through rewriting and translation. Primary works will be from the “long fourteenth century” and will include Jean de Meun’s continuation of the Roman de la Rose, the Ovide moralisé, the poetry and music of Guillaume de Machaut, Christine de Pizan’s Cent ballades d’amant et de dame, and Charles d’Orléans’ French and English poetry.
R 3:30 PM – 6:00 PM (McGrady)
FREN 5520/8510 – Topics in 16th Century Literature: Masculine/Feminine: Gender, Sexuality, and Self in French Renaissance Literature
This course will examine texts from a variety of genres in which men and women of the sixteenth century write about themselves and each other, constructing similarities and differences, expressing love or hatred, admiration or rivalry, perplexity or a claim to know. What ideas of the body, sex, and gendered roles informed their thinking? In a period marked by new humanist models of learning, the perennial querelle des femmes, and the outbreak of civil war, sexual, social, political, and religious categories are at once circumscribed and fluid; the stakes of writing are high; the exploration of the self and the other in history is an undertaking at once urgent, tentative, and contested.
W 3:30 PM – 6:00 PM (Ferguson)
FREN 5585/8585 – Topics in Civilization/Cultural Studies LE SIÉCLE DES INTELLECTUELS (1898-2018)
« Intellectuel » was coined as a substantive in 1898, in the context of the Dreyfus Affair. Since then, it has remained a key notion in French social, political, and literary life. Used as a rallying cry or an insult, the word was born polemical, and never ceased to stir up controversy. In many occasions, French intellectuels proved able to considerably influence the course of national, and sometimes international, events. In that sense, telling their stories is one of the best possible introductions to French cultural, artistic and political life in the past one hundred years. Is it still the case, or is the « soft power » of French intellectuels already a thing of the past ?
Those questions, and many others, will be addressed in this seminar.
We will follow three major paths :
1) we will contextualize the intellectuels' rise and reign, in relation with specific political events (Dreyfus Affair, antifascism, protests against colonization and colonial wars, Mai 68, etc.), but also in relation with the development of new literary genres (roman «idéologique», roman à thèse, polemical essays, «engagés» novels or theater, «littérature de témoignage»), and new forms of interventions in the public sphere (manifeste, pétition, lettre ouverte, collective or anonymous writing, films-tracts, political graffiti, etc.)
2) we will take a fresh look at the disputes among, or about, French intellectuels, and we will revisit the notions around which authors such as Zola, Péguy, Sartre or Camus quarreled (art vs. ideology, «mystique» vs. politics, engagement vs. mauvaise foi, political partisanship vs. ethical critique, etc.) ;
3) finally, we will try to assess the status of les intellectuels today. Although anti-intellectualism is in no way a novelty, it has been boosted in recent times by a new wave of populism. Is the French intellectuel(le) an endangered species ? From Houllebecq's novels to the Gilets jaunes' street demonstrations, he or she is, in any case, the target of many attacks.
We will work mostly on short excerpts from various sources, political, sociological, historical, but most of all literary and philosophical — among the latter : Zola, Barrès, Péguy, Gide, Breton, Alain, Beauvoir, Sartre, Camus, Blanchot, Barthes, Foucault, Kristeva, Lyotard, Lévy, Houllebecq.
Special guest : Prof. Martin Rueff (University of Geneva), an eminent literary critic and a poet, also an editor of Michel Foucault, will come to UVA this Fall at the invitation of the French Department, and has agreed to speak in our seminar.
Taught in French
T 3:30 PM – 6:00 PM (Roger)
FREN 7040 – Theories & Methods of Language 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 those theories to their own teaching experience and goals. Assignments include readings and case studies on the teaching of French, development and critique of pedagogical materials, peer observation and analysis, and a portfolio project for collecting, sharing, and reflecting on teaching methods.
Required for all GTAs teaching French at UVa for the first time. Restricted to Graduate Teaching Assistants in French. 3 credits. Students will register for the graded (letter grade) option in the SIS. Graduate exchange instructors will take the course as auditors.
TR 2:00 PM – 3:15 PM (James)
FREN 7500 - Topics in Theory and Criticism: Literary Theory: Classic Thoughts, Modern Texts, Contemporary Debates
This course serves as an introduction to theoretical texts we encounter most frequently in the discourses of literary criticism. Our aim is to gain a deeper understanding of how literature has been thought and debated as well as how literary criticism has been practiced over time.
In the first part of the course, we will read key texts of the critical tradition from antiquity to the early twentieth century. In the second part of the course, we will survey the major theoretical movements of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries such as formalism/ structuralism/ deconstruction, reader response theory, psychoanalysis, feminism/ gender studies/ queer theory, eco-criticism/ animal studies. (Due to time constraints, we will not cover post-colonial theory and its variations in the francophone context, given that several seminars in the department treat the subject.)
M 3:30 PM – 6:00 PM (Lyu)
Fall 2019 Undergraduate Courses
The following writing requirements apply to courses in which the authorized enrollments do not exceed 20 (French 3031 and 3032) or 25 (literature and civilization courses beyond French 3032): FREN 3031 and 3032: 10-15 pages, typically divided among 4 to 5 papers. Peer editing is introduced during class and may be practiced outside. 3000-level literature and civilization courses: 10-15 pages, typically divided among 2 to 4 papers. The content is relatively less sophisticated than at the 4000-level. Peer editing outside of class may be offered to students as an option or it may be required. 4000-level literature and civilization courses: 15-20 pages, typically divided among 2 to 4 papers. The content is relatively more sophisticated than at the 3000-level. Peer editing outside of class may be offered to students as an option or it may be required. In all courses, the quality of students' written French (that is, the degree to which their use of grammar and vocabulary is correct and appropriate) affects the grades they receive on their papers, since it affects how comprehensible, persuasive, and impressive their writing is. As students move from 3000- to 4000- level courses, they are expected to show greater sophistication in sentence structure, grammar, and use of idioms.
French Translation Courses
FRTR 2510 Topics in Medieval Literature: Lives of the Saints
Murderers, prostitutes, Trans people, kings, rebellious children… all saints? Modern depictions of holy people often foreground their subjects' virtues and gloss over their complexities, but, historically, stories about saints highlight more than just heroic courage in the face of impossible odds: the stories (hagiography) also focus on sin and redemption and on staunch resistance to contemporary norms. Gender bending, marvelous journeys to heaven and hell, spectacular sins and helpful animals are just a few of the exciting elements authors have used to draw their audiences in. For more sophisticated readers and listeners, they frequently offer edgy commentaries on the hot topics of their day (e.g., virginity vs. marriage) and on eternal issues (e.g., the conflicting goals of parents and children). Focusing on one of the highpoints of hagiographic writing—Christian France in the Middle Ages—but drawing on a range of Lives, from the earliest times to the modern era and from different religious traditions, we will investigate what saints’ Lives can tell us about their culture’s theological concerns, secular interests, conceptions of history and fiction, and the quest of both ecclesiastics and lay people to fulfill their spiritual and their terrestrial responsibilities.
All readings will be in English translation and discussion will be in English. This course may not be taken as part of the requirements for the major or minor in French.
MW 2:00 PM – 3:15 PM (Ogden)
CREO 1010-001 - Elementary Creole I
Development of basic oral expression, listening and reading comprehension, and writing. Pre-requisite: No previous formal instruction of French or Creole is required.
TBA - Dramé
CREO 2010-001 - Intermediate Creole I
Develops the skills of listening, speaking, reading, and writing in Creole.
Enrollment Requirement: Must have completed CREO 1020.
Pre-requisite: Two previous semesters of Elementary Creole (I and II).
TBA - Dramé
Advanced Courses in French
FREN 3030 – Phonetics: The Sounds of French
FREN 3030 is an introductory course in French phonetics. It provides basic concepts in articulatory phonetics and phonological theory, and offers students techniques for improving their own pronunciation. The course will cover the physical characteristics of individual French sounds; the relationship between these sounds and their written representation (orthography); the rules governing the pronunciation of "standard French"; the most salient phonological features of selected French varieties; phonetic differences between French and English sounds; and to some extent, ‘la musique du français’, i.e., prosodic phenomena (le rythme, l’accent, l’intonation, la syllabation). Practical exercises in 'ear-training' (the perception of sounds) and 'phonetic transcription' (using IPA) are also essential components of this dynamic course.
Pre-requisite: FREN 2020 (or equivalent). Course taught in French; counts for major/minor credit in French and Linguistics
MWF 11:00 AM – 11:50 AM (Saunders)
FREN 3031 –Finding Your Voice in French
This course offers an opportunity for students to explore and develop their own “voice” in written and spoken French. Through reading and viewing a variety of cultural artifacts in French, and completing a series of individual and collaborative creative projects, students will have a chance to develop their own potential for self-expression. They will develop greater confidence in their communicative skills, command of grammar, and ability to revise and edit their own work. The course is conducted entirely in French.
Pre-requisite: Completion of FREN 2020 or 2320; exemption from FREN 2020 by the UVA (F-Cape) Placement Test; a score of 3 on the AP French Language Exam; or a score of at least 660 on the SAT exam.
Advice: FREN 3031 is a major and minor requirement and a pre-requisite for most other courses in French. Try to take FREN 3031 as soon as you are eligible --first year, first semester if possible.
MWF 11:00 AM – 11:50 AM (Zunz)
TR 9:30 AM – 10:45 AM (Staff)
TR 2:00 PM – 3:15 PM (Staff)
MW 3:30 PM – 4:45 PM (Geer)
FREN 3032 – Image, Text, Culture
In this course, students will discover and engage critically with a broad sampling of French and Francophone cultural production representing a variety of periods, genres, approaches, and media. Students will learn how to become more sensitive observers of French and Francophone culture, attuned to the nuances of content and form. They will read, watch, write about, and discuss a range of works that may include poetry, painting, prose, music, theater, films, graphic novels, photographs, essays, and historical documents. They will also make significant progress in their oral and written comprehension and communication in French. The course is conducted entirely in French.
Pre-requisite: French 3031.
Advice: FREN 3032 is a major and minor requirement and a pre-requisite for most other courses in French. Try to take FREN 3032 as soon as you are eligible--first year, first semester if possible.
TR 11:00 AM – 12:15 PM (Staff)
TR 12:30 PM – 1:45 PM (McGrady)
MW 2:00 PM – 3:15 PM (Lyu)
FREN 3036 - Introduction to Translation
Comment dit-on… ? Que veut dire… ? This course will provide a practical and theoretical introduction to methods of translation. We will translate literary and non-literary texts such as news articles, ads, songs, essays, poems, and short stories from French to English and from English to French. Classes will be in the form of workshops as we take on the role of the translator and collaborate on translation projects using different practices and methods of translation, all while undertaking a comparative review of French (and English!) grammar and analyzing various cultural topics.
**Students who have already taken FREN 4035 “Tools and Techniques of Translation” may not enroll in this course.
Pre-requisite: FREN 2020 or FREN 2320 or equivalent placement
FREN 3041 – The French-Speaking World I: Origins:
Globalization. Love and friendship. Encounters with other cultures and peoples. Separation of Church and State. Bourgeois values. Law and justice. Where did these features of modern life come from and—more importantly—what other forms might they have taken or might they still evolve into? It is said that history is written by the victors, but historical documents—literature, histories, prayer books, etc.—retain the evidence of alternate values as well as hints of (temporarily?) abandoned futures. Can we escape our preconceptions of the past and uncover, in the documents, different histories? Histories that offer alternative ways of thinking about modern institutions, assumptions, and inequities and about the stories that give them authority?
Readings in the course will be in modern French translation, with occasional discussions of the original medieval and middle French if students are interested in the history of the language. We’ll begin with the earliest narrative in French (ca. 880 C.E.) and continue up to about 1600, looking both at classic texts and little-known treasures. Reading and writing assignments will be appropriate both for students coming directly from FREN 3032 and for more advanced students who want to hone their close reading and analytical/persuasive writing skills in French.
Pre-requisite: FREN 3032
MWF 10:00 AM – 10:50 AM (Ogden)
FREN 3043-001 - The French-Speaking World III: Great Books in French
Rather than focus on any single theme, movement, motif, or overarching problematic, this seminar will examine a few of the most admired and influential novels in the history of modern and contemporary French literature. Special attention will be paid to the potential uses (but also, as some would put it, to the ultimate uselessness) of literature. How might reading fiction inform our understanding of the world and our place in it, if at all? Texts may include, but are certainly not limited to: Honoré de Balzac’s tale of a young law student’s drive to make it in the big city (Le Père Goriot, 1835); Gustave Flaubert’s portrait of the original desperate housewife (Madame Bovary, 1856); Alain Robbe-Grillet’s scandalously puzzling La Jalousie (1957); and/or Georges Perec's critique of consumer society in the 1960s. We will end our semester with an "extremely contemporary" novel, or two, published within the last decade or two.
Required work may include: active participation in class discussion, regular response papers (1-2 pages), an oral presentation, and 2 longer papers (4-5 pages). Course conducted entirely in French.
Pre-requisite: FREN 3032
TR 9:30 AM – 10:45 AM (Blatt)
FREN 3051 - Histoire et civilisation de la France contemporaine
Beginning with a study of the French Revolution, this course focuses on the cultural and historical influences that have shaped Modern France. We will explore the relationship between culture and political power, the changing role of government, and how ordinary men and women experienced social change. Readings will be drawn from primary documents, memoirs and secondary historical texts. Visual elements will be incorporated in this course as well as selected films.
Readings in this course will be done in both French and English. All lectures, discussions and writing will be done exclusively in French
Pre-requisite: FREN 3032
TR 9:30 AM – 10:45 AM (Horne)
FREN 3509 - Topics in French Linguistics: Introduction to phonological variation in French (NEW COURSE)
Language variation is not an exceptional phenomenon in living languages; it is fundamental and permanent. This introductory course considers selected aspects of variation in French at the phonological level. It will focus on inter-speaker variation (variation between speakers, i.e., according to geographical and social characteristics) as well as intra-speaker variation (variation within the same speaker, i.e., according to register, or style). The course will attempt to answer questions such as the following: What aspects of the pronunciation of French vary (vowels, consonants, liaison, /ə/ . . .) and why? What do the phonological systems of different varieties of French have in common? How can one [or can one] identify the geographical region of France from which one comes just by listening to his/her pronunciation? How do non-linguists (as opposed to linguists) perceive variation in French? Why do some non-Parisian French speakers perceive their own variety of French as inferior?
In addition to providing students with useful knowledge to support their future studies in French, linguistics, communication, cognitive sciences, global studies, and the like, this course offers students the opportunity to practice their oral French, improve their listening skills and engage actively in a number of individual and group projects (involving ‘authentic’ French).
Course taught entirely in French, though some reading assignments are in English
Pre-requisites: FREN 3030 (phonetics) or comparable course
MWF 12:00 PM – 12:50 PM (Saunders)
FREN 3570 – Topics in Francophone African
This course will explore aspects of African literatures and cultures. It will focus on selected issues of special resonance in contemporary African life; oral literature and its impact on all other art forms; key issues in French colonial policy and its legacy in Africa: language, politics, and education. The course will examine the image of the postcolonial state and society as found in contemporary arts, paintings, sculpture, music, and cinema. Selections from painters and sculptors like Cheri Samba (Zaire), Iba NDiaye, O. Sow (Senegal), Werewere Liking (Cameroun), including such popular icons as Mamy Wata
and forms such as Souwere glass painting; from musicians like Youssou Ndour (Senegal), Cheb Khaled (Algeria), Seigneur Rochereau, Tshala Muana (Zaire), Salif Keita (Mali), and Cesaria Evora (Cape Verde); from Mande, Peul, and Kabyle oral literature in French translation; from filmmakers D.D. Mambety, Moussa Sene Absa, and Ngangura Mweze. The final grade will be based on contributions to discussions, a mid-term, and 2 papers.
Pre-requisite: FREN 3032
TR 12:30 PM – 1:45 PM (Dramé)
FREN 3585-001 - Topics in Cultural Studies: France and the US (1919-2019)
The French-American relationship can be described as intense, passionate, and highly paradoxical. While the two countries like to think of themselves as old-time friends and allies, they often behave as rivals, not to say adversaries. While they share common (democratic) values, they often disagree on how to interpret those values, or how to act in accordance with them. As observed by an influential French statesman as early as the 1920s, periods of good will and camaraderie between France and the U.S. were always short-lived, and quickly followed by bitterness and tensions.
An aggravating factor in that strained relationship was, in the aftermath of WWI, the imbalance created by the war between a victorious, but weakened France, and the U.S.
Conflicts of interest — diplomatic, economical or otherwise— always played an important part in that rampant bellicosity. However, the great divide runs deeper. The most strident differences between the two countries are cultural, while at the same time (again paradoxically), each country feels, on many grounds, culturally attracted by the other. Such is the charade that we will explore together, through texts, images, songs, and films.
Our approach will be twofold :
1) CONTEXT : we will analyze the French-American relationship in terms of international relations, starting with the post-WWI crisis over the League of Nations, the treaties and the war debts, down to the (at best) tepid relationship between Presidents Trump and Macron;
2) REPRESENTATIONS : we will explore the major areas of ideological or cultural conflict, from religion to work ethics or néfaste food (a French pun on American fast-food). Identifying stereotypes on both sides of the Atlantic, will help us to delineate the imaginary portraits of «les Yankees», as seen by «the Frogs» —and vice versa. We will also explore the major objects of mutual fascination between the two cultures.
Pre-requisite: FREN 3031 and FREN 3032 (or equivalent placement)
Taught in French
PLEASE NOTE THE UNUSUAL FORMAT AND SCHEDULE
MW 3:30 PM – 5:15 PM (Roger)
FREN 4031-001 - Grammar and Style
Penser en français, parler en français correct, et écrire avec style, tels sont les objectifs de ce cours. Pour ce faire, nous reverrons les règles de base de la grammaire française à partir de textes variés choisis pour leur élégance et leur intérêt. Nous paierons tout spécialement attention au choix des mots, à leur fonction, aux expressions nouvellement apprises par les étudiants, ce qui nous permettra de relever les particularités grammaticales et stylistiques de la langue française. Lecture des documents dans Collab, exercices de formation de phrases, présentations orales, trois essais de 500 mots, deux compositions de 1000 mots, deux interrogations et un examen en fin de semestre, tels sont les exercices de ce cours.
Taught in French.
Pre-requisites: FREN 3031, FREN 3032 and at least one FREN course numbered 3040 or higher. Restricted to third and fourth year students.
MWF 12:00PM - 12:50PM Zunz
FREN 4580 – Advanced Topics in Literature: The Extreme Contemporary, or What the French are Reading Today
This course is designed as a survey of contemporary French literature. One might even call it an introduction to what has come to be known as “extremely contemporary” French literature (l’extrême contemporain), which is to say books that have been published within the last few years. After an initial consideration of some of the major trends to have emerged on the French literary scene since the turn of the twenty-first century, students will read, discuss, and write about a selection of texts (fictions, non-fictions, and works that fall somewhere in between) that have been hailed by critics and readers alike. While the course focuses on what kinds of books the French are reading today, we will also consider how they read, how they talk about what they are reading, and how they inform themselves further about what to read next by consulting a number of essential and readily available resources for enthusiasts of contemporary French writing, like magazines, radio programs, websites, blogs, book reviews, and television programs (indeed, the French have a long tradition of producing quality “book tv”). Works by writers such as Jean Rolin, Jean Echenoz, Maylis de Kerangal, Vincent Almendros, Gael Faye, Leila Slimani, and Michel Houellebecq may find their way onto the syllabus. We will also endeavor to schedule a few opportunities for students to discuss their readings (over skype) with the writers themselves.
Requirements include regular reading and active participation in class discussion, an oral presentation on a particular aspect of the contemporary literary scene, a series of short commentaries and book reviews, and a final paper.
Pre-requisites: FREN 3032 and at least one other course above FREN 3040. Course conducted in French.
TR 12:30 PM – 1:45 PM (Blatt)
FREN 4585 - The History of Paris
This course will explore the history of Paris from the French Revolution to the present. The principal theater of the Revolution, Paris became over the course of the 19th-century not only the central focus of French intellectual, political, and artistic life, but also the model of a 19th-century European city.
Through a broad variety of written and visual texts, we will study the topography, architecture, politics and daily life of nineteenth, twentieth, and twenty-first century Paris as well as the development of the imagined city in art and literature. We will also consider how the traces of the past are inscribed on the modern urban landscape.
Pre-requisite: FREN 3032 plus one additional 3000-level course in French. (N.B. Students who have previously taken FREN 3652: Modern Paris may not enroll for FREN credit in this course.)
TR 11:00 AM – 12:15 PM (Horne)
FREN 4585-002 - Adv Topics Cultural Studies: Portraits
An exploration of human portraits in France from prehistoric cave art to the selfie. Students will examine a variety of genres and media including paintings, drawings, film, photography, autobiography, autofiction, poetry, essays, and journals. We will focus in particular on narrative believability (in text and image), on the e creation of self-image and public persona, and on the mediated self. Coursework includes a final autobiographical, autofictional, or biographical audio-visual project.
Pre-requisite: FREN 3031 and 3032 (or equivalent) and one literature or culture course at the 3000 level.
MW 2:00 PM – 3:15 PM (Krueger)
FREN 4743 - Africa in Cinema
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 inventions 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 Cissé, Gaston Kaboré, Amadou Seck, Dani Kouyaté, Brian Tilley, Jean-Marie Teno, A. Sissako on a variety of subjects relative to the image of Africa in cinema. Attendance is mandatory. The final grade will be based on one oral presentation (20%) and a short paper (20%), contributions to discussions in class (10% of final grade), and a Final Research Paper (50%).
Pre-requisite: FREN 3032 and FREN 3584 or another 3000-level literature, culture, or film course in French.
TR 3:30 PM – 4:45 PM Dramé,Kandioura
Graduate Courses
Advanced undergraduate students who have earned a B+ (or higher) in at least one 4000-level course may enroll in graduate level courses with instructor permission.
FREN 5510/8510 - Topics in Medieval Literature: Poetry in Motion: The Composition, Circulation and Reception of Verse in the Late Middle Ages
Founded on the notion that art is neither produced in a vacuum nor received by passive participants, this course will consider the ways in which the circulation of writings transforms their form, function, and meaning. Key topics to be addressed include 1) multi-authorship (both collaborative and competitive), 2) multi-modal compositions that combine text/image/music, 3) delivery and messaging (whether as performed works or material artifacts), 4) textual appropriation through rewriting and translation. Primary works will be from the “long fourteenth century” and will include Jean de Meun’s continuation of the Roman de la Rose, the Ovide moralisé, the poetry and music of Guillaume de Machaut, Christine de Pizan’s Cent ballades d’amant et de dame, and Charles d’Orléans’ French and English poetry.
R 3:30 PM – 6:00 PM (McGrady)
FREN 5520/8510 – Topics in 16th Century Literature: Masculine/Feminine: Gender, Sexuality, and Self in French Renaissance Literature
This course will examine texts from a variety of genres in which men and women of the sixteenth century write about themselves and each other, constructing similarities and differences, expressing love or hatred, admiration or rivalry, perplexity or a claim to know. What ideas of the body, sex, and gendered roles informed their thinking? In a period marked by new humanist models of learning, the perennial querelle des femmes, and the outbreak of civil war, sexual, social, political, and religious categories are at once circumscribed and fluid; the stakes of writing are high; the exploration of the self and the other in history is an undertaking at once urgent, tentative, and contested.
W 3:30 PM – 6:00 PM (Ferguson)
FREN 5585/8585 – Topics in Civilization/Cultural Studies LE SIÉCLE DES INTELLECTUELS (1898-2018)
« Intellectuel » was coined as a substantive in 1898, in the context of the Dreyfus Affair. Since then, it has remained a key notion in French social, political, and literary life. Used as a rallying cry or an insult, the word was born polemical, and never ceased to stir up controversy. In many occasions, French intellectuels proved able to considerably influence the course of national, and sometimes international, events. In that sense, telling their stories is one of the best possible introductions to French cultural, artistic and political life in the past one hundred years. Is it still the case, or is the « soft power » of French intellectuels already a thing of the past ?
Those questions, and many others, will be addressed in this seminar.
We will follow three major paths :
1) we will contextualize the intellectuels' rise and reign, in relation with specific political events (Dreyfus Affair, antifascism, protests against colonization and colonial wars, Mai 68, etc.), but also in relation with the development of new literary genres (roman «idéologique», roman à thèse, polemical essays, «engagés» novels or theater, «littérature de témoignage»), and new forms of interventions in the public sphere (manifeste, pétition, lettre ouverte, collective or anonymous writing, films-tracts, political graffiti, etc.)
2) we will take a fresh look at the disputes among, or about, French intellectuels, and we will revisit the notions around which authors such as Zola, Péguy, Sartre or Camus quarreled (art vs. ideology, «mystique» vs. politics, engagement vs. mauvaise foi, political partisanship vs. ethical critique, etc.) ;
3) finally, we will try to assess the status of les intellectuels today. Although anti-intellectualism is in no way a novelty, it has been boosted in recent times by a new wave of populism. Is the French intellectuel(le) an endangered species ? From Houllebecq's novels to the Gilets jaunes' street demonstrations, he or she is, in any case, the target of many attacks.
We will work mostly on short excerpts from various sources, political, sociological, historical, but most of all literary and philosophical — among the latter : Zola, Barrès, Péguy, Gide, Breton, Alain, Beauvoir, Sartre, Camus, Blanchot, Barthes, Foucault, Kristeva, Lyotard, Lévy, Houllebecq.
Special guest : Prof. Martin Rueff (University of Geneva), an eminent literary critic and a poet, also an editor of Michel Foucault, will come to UVA this Fall at the invitation of the French Department, and has agreed to speak in our seminar.
Taught in French
T 3:30 PM – 6:00 PM (Roger)
FREN 7040 – Theories & Methods of Language 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 those theories to their own teaching experience and goals. Assignments include readings and case studies on the teaching of French, development and critique of pedagogical materials, peer observation and analysis, and a portfolio project for collecting, sharing, and reflecting on teaching methods.
Required for all GTAs teaching French at UVa for the first time. Restricted to Graduate Teaching Assistants in French. 3 credits. Students will register for the graded (letter grade) option in the SIS. Graduate exchange instructors will take the course as auditors.
TR 2:00 PM – 3:15 PM (James)
FREN 7500 - Topics in Theory and Criticism: Literary Theory: Classic Thoughts, Modern Texts, Contemporary Debates
This course serves as an introduction to theoretical texts we encounter most frequently in the discourses of literary criticism. Our aim is to gain a deeper understanding of how literature has been thought and debated as well as how literary criticism has been practiced over time.
In the first part of the course, we will read key texts of the critical tradition from antiquity to the early twentieth century. In the second part of the course, we will survey the major theoretical movements of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries such as formalism/ structuralism/ deconstruction, reader response theory, psychoanalysis, feminism/ gender studies/ queer theory, eco-criticism/ animal studies. (Due to time constraints, we will not cover post-colonial theory and its variations in the francophone context, given that several seminars in the department treat the subject.)
M 3:30 PM – 6:00 PM (Lyu)
Spring 2020 Graduate Courses
5000-Level Graduate Courses
Advanced undergraduate students may enroll in graduate level courses with instructor permission.
FREN 5530/8530 Topics in Seventeenth-Century French Literature –– Baroque Culture
There are many ways of framing French culture in the period from the last quarter of the sixteenth century to the first quarter of the eighteenth century. Sometimes called the “long seventeenth century,” or simply “early modernity,” this period reveals different aspects when considered in conjunction with the “Baroque,” a term about which French literary studies have exceptionally ambivalent. Yet the term “Baroque” contextualizes the French experience within the European and the colonial culture of absolutism, of the Counter-Reformation, of heliocentrism and other disruptive scientific advances, and of growing controversies about Modernity (e.g. the Quarrel of the Ancients and the Moderns). In this seminar we will consider the hypothesis that the “Baroque” can be fruitfully understood not simply as a style but as a set of solutions to a crisis of organization in knowledge, belief, and politics.
W 3:30 pm – 6:00 pm (Lyons)
FREN 5560/8560 Topics in Nineteenth-Century Literature –– Girls of the Nineteenth Century
In his 1884 novel Chérie, Edmond de Goncourt refers to his protagonist as “no longer a little girl, and not yet a woman.” This in-between state serves as a general identifier of the jeune fille (literally young girl), a protagonist of countless nineteenth-century French novels and a target buyer for nineteenth-century manuals of beauty and etiquette. Yet the idea of the jeune fille is more complex and culturally dependent than a general biological time-frame would suggest. In a 1907 article, critic Remy de Goncourt explained that while jeunes filles have existed for a long time, the question of the jeune fille becomes particularly complicated at the turn of the century. One could argue, of course, that writers like Gourmont contributed to this precarious status through their analyses and fictional representations of young women. Gourmont, like others, further defines the jeune fille as both marriageable and wanting to marry, characteristics that distinguish the jeune fille from what she may become if she strays from her wholesome destiny: a vieille fille (old maid); a fille-mère (a pejorative term for single mother); or a fille publique (streetwalker).
In this course we will explore the constructs of the nineteenth-century jeune fille and her fallen sisters in poetry and prose fiction by writers such as Bernardin de Saint-Pierre, Honoré de Balzac, Delphine de Girardin, Marceline Desbordes-Valmore, Guy de Maupassant, J.-K. Huysmans, Emile Zola, Julia Daudet, Edmond de Goncourt, and Rachilde, and in essays and self-help books of the era.
Open to graduate students with reading knowledge of French
Course conducted in French and English (depending on students’ background)
Written work in French (for most French MA and Ph.D. students), or English
Primary readings in French; some secondary readings in English
T 3:30 pm – 6:00 pm (Krueger)
FREN 5585/8585 Topics in Civ/Cultural Studies –– Global France: History, Education, Empire
This course has several related ambitions. First, to prepare students to think about France through a global lens and to familiarize them with important theoretical approaches--derived from history, anthropology, sociology and literature--to such an expansive object of study. In order to understand how scholars use theory, we will examine theoretical texts in tandem with scholarly works that exemplify them.
Then, to give focus to the broad objectives outlined above, our study will be anchored by three intersecting concerns: the writing of history, both national and global; the role of education, including schools, books, and reading; and the construction and deconstruction of empire.
This course will hopefully allow graduate students to fill any gaps they may have in their own understanding of modern French history and to think more deeply about how that history intersects with their own research and teaching agendas, particularly because they may one day be expected to teach an undergraduate course on French history and culture. Since students will enter this course with varying backgrounds and interests, I will want to meet with each student very early in the spring semester, or even now, during the fall semester. Please contact me to set up an appointment.
This course will be taught in French and occasionally in English. Seminar participants are expected to read, write, and discuss readings in both languages.
R 3:30 pm – 6:00 pm (Horne)
Spring 2020 Undergraduate Courses
The following writing requirements apply to courses in which the authorized enrollments do not exceed 20 (French 3031 and 3032) or 25 (literature and civilization courses beyond French 3032): FREN 3031 and 3032: 10-15 pages, typically divided among 4 to 5 papers. Peer editing is introduced during class and may be practiced outside. 3000-level literature and civilization courses: 10-15 pages, typically divided among 2 to 4 papers. The content is relatively less sophisticated than at the 4000-level. Peer editing outside of class may be offered to students as an option or it may be required. 4000-level literature and civilization courses: 15-20 pages, typically divided among 2 to 4 papers. The content is relatively more sophisticated than at the 3000-level. Peer editing outside of class may be offered to students as an option or it may be required. In all courses, the quality of students' written French (that is, the degree to which their use of grammar and vocabulary is correct and appropriate) affects the grades they receive on their papers, since it affects how comprehensible, persuasive, and impressive their writing is. As students move from 3000- to 4000- level courses, they are expected to show greater sophistication in sentence structure, grammar, and use of idioms.
French in Translation Course
FRTR 2580 Topics in French and Francophone Culture –– The Women in Islam, the right to History
This course is an attempt to understand the complexity of feminism and Islam in France and its former colonies. We will discuss important texts by pioneers of Arab feminism such as Fatima Mernissi’s Beyond the Veil and Nawal al Sa’dawi’s The Hidden Face of Eve. We will analyze how sexuality, feminism, and politics are closely related in Arab feminist discourse and how its roots are deeply grounded in French literature and culture. At the same time, we will address the question of the emergence of a singular experience of feminism in Islam. Indeed, Feminism, as a philosophical approach and as a practice, is no longer a Western discourse. Each historical, sociological, and cultural situation produces a specific feminist discourse. We will describe the specificity of Women in Islam and its dialogue with European and American Feminism throughout the history of the 20th century.
Course conducted entirely in English
No knowledge of French required
TR 3:30 pm – 4:45 pm (Boutaghou)
FRTR 3584 Topics in French Cinema –– Masterpieces of French Cinema
An introduction to great works of French cinema, from the earliest short films of the Lumière Brothers and George Meliès, to feature-length works by Jean Vigo, Jean Renoir, Jean-Luc Godard, François Truffaut, Agnès Varda, Mathieu Kassovitz, Michael Haneke, Céline Sciamma and others. Students will study various film genres, movements, and trends (poetic realism, the new wave, cinema of the banlieue) in relation to larger social, cultural, and aesthetic contexts. They will also spend time paying close attention to film form. Required work includes a series of short papers and film reviews, a more substantial critical essay, regular contribution to group discussion, and the production, in small teams, of a short film inspired by one or more works on the syllabus. All films are in French with English subtitles.
Course conducted entirely in English
No knowledge of French required
MW 3:30 PM – 4:45 PM (Blatt)
FRTR 3814/WGS 3814 Gender/Sexuality/Identity in Premodern France
If you imagine the Middle Ages as a far-off land occupied by only “knights in shining armor and damsels in distress,” think again. This course will open your eyes to controversial figures of early society, including werewolves and monstrous women, knights in distress and women in shining armor, all of whom openly challenged social norms. Their adventures – recorded in fiction, scientific works, legal cases, sermons, and conduct books –became the testing ground to explore questions that continue to preoccupy us today: What is the relationship between nature and nurture in shaping identity? What role should gender play in defining social and intimate roles? Can the law regulate sexuality and desire?
Course taught in English.
Can be used to fulfill second writing requirement
MW 2:00 pm – 3:15 pm (McGrady)
Advanced Courses in French
FREN 3030 Phonetics: The Sounds of French
FREN 3030 is an introductory course in French phonetics. It provides basic concepts in articulatory phonetics and phonological theory, and offers students techniques for improving their own pronunciation. The course will cover the physical characteristics of individual French sounds, the relationship between French sounds and their written representation (orthography), the rules governing the pronunciation of "standard French", the most salient phonological features of selected French varieties, phonetic differences between French and English sounds, and ‘la musique du français’, i.e., prosodic phenomena (le rythme, l’accent, l’intonation, la syllabation). Practical exercises in 'ear-training' (the perception of sounds) and 'phonetic transcription' (using IPA) are also essential components of this dynamic course. Taught in French.
Counts for major/minor credit in French and in Linguistics. Prerequisite: FREN 2020 (or equivalent).
Taught in French
Counts for major/minor credit in French and in Linguistics
TR 9:30 am – 10:45 am (Saunders)
TR 12:30 pm – 1:45 pm (Saunders)
FREN 3031 Finding Your Voice in French
This course offers an opportunity for students to explore and develop their own “voice” in written and spoken French. Through reading and viewing a variety of cultural artifacts in French, and completing a series of individual and collaborative creative projects, students will have a chance to develop their own potential for self-expression. They will develop greater confidence in their communicative skills, command of grammar, and ability to revise and edit their own work. The course is conducted entirely in French.
Prerequisite: Completion of FREN 2020 or 2320; exemption from FREN 2020 by the UVA (F-Cape) Placement Test; a score of 3 on the AP French Language Exam; or a score of at least 660 on the SAT exam. FREN 3031 is a prerequisite for nearly all undergraduate French courses at a higher level.
TR 9:30 am – 10:45 am (Lombart)
MWF 10:00 am – 10:50 am (James)
MWF 11:00 am – 11:50 am (James)
TR 2:00 pm – 3:15 pm (Krueger)
FREN 3032 Text, Image, Culture
In this course, students will discover and engage critically with a broad sampling of French and Francophone cultural production representing a variety of periods, genres, approaches, and media. Students will learn how to become more sensitive observers of French and Francophone culture, attuned to the nuances of content and form. They will read, watch, write about, and
discuss a range of works that may include poetry, painting, prose, music, theater, films, graphic novels, photographs, essays, and historical documents. They will also make significant progress in their oral and written comprehension and communication in French. The course is conducted entirely in French.
Prerequisite: FREN 3031. FREN 3032 is a prerequisite for nearly all French undergraduate courses on a higher level.
TR 9:30 am – 10:45 am (Ogden)
TR 11:00 am – 12:15 pm (Lombart)
MW 2:00 pm – 3:15 pm (Lyons)
MW 3:30 pm – 4:45 pm (McGrady)
FREN 3035 Business French
In this course, you will develop a linguistic and cultural skill set adapted to the contemporary francophone business world. You will learn the proper etiquette for oral and written professional communication, and you will use it, in order to accomplish a variety of business-specific tasks. You will explore the major industries of the francophone world, study their organization structure, and apply for a job. If you are looking for a career in the francophone world, start here.
Prerequisite: FREN 3031 and FREN 3032
TR 11:00 am -12:15 pm (Simotas)
FREN 3043 The French Speaking World III: Modernities –– Tradition et innovation: comment (se) transformer à travers le temps, l'espace et la culture?
Ce cours vous invite à réfléchir sur les questions essentielles qui se trouvent au cœur de toute entreprise humaine qui tente de créer une œuvre artistique et/ou intellectuelle: comment faire surgir le nouveau de l'ancien, l'originalité de l'imitation, le singulier du conformisme? Ainsi, nous explorerons la relation entre la tradition et l'innovation à travers les écrivains, les artistes et les penseurs modernes qui ont façonné leurs œuvres en dialogue explicit avec le passé et la voix des autres. Que pouvons-nous apprendre, par exemple, de l'écrivain franco-chinois Cheng qui, élu à l'Académie française, écrit en un français qui est traversé par la langue et la pensée chinoises?; ou de la philosophe belge Despret qui reprend la thèse cartésienne du 17ème siècle sur la supériorité des hommes sur les animaux et la resitue dans le contexte éthique, féministe et écologique de nos jours?; ou du musicien belgo-rwandais Stromae qui transpose en performance du 21ème siècle (vidéo/youtube et concert) la chanson de l'opéra de Bizet qui, à son tour, puise dans la nouvelle de Mérimée du 19ème siècle?
Prerequisite: FREN 3031 and FREN 3032
MW 2:00 pm – 3:15 pm (Lyu)
FREN 3050 History and Civilization of France: Middle Ages to Revolution
You love France and are intrigued by its long and rich history? This course offers you the opportunity to explore your interests and deepen your knowledge of the major events, political figures, and the artistic, cultural, and intellectual movements, prior to the Revolution, that have shaped France as we know it and whose legacy is seen and felt to this day. Setting the stage with a survey of prehistoric and Roman Gaul, we will focus on the thousand-year period known as the Middle Ages, followed by the Renaissance, the Classical Age, and the Enlightenment. Subjects will be discussed both in terms of their original historical context and their evolving significance, sometimes contested, to later and present generations. Films, visual images, and primary documents will supplement readings from secondary historical texts. Assignments will include group projects, in-class presentations, written papers, and quizzes.
Prerequisite: FREN 3031 and FREN 3032
TR 2:00 pm – 3:15 pm (Ferguson)
FREN 3570 Topics in Francophone African Studies –– African Literatures and Culture
This course will explore aspects of African literatures and cultures. It will focus on selected issues of special resonance in contemporary African life; oral literature and its impact on all other art forms; key issues in French colonial policy and its legacy in Africa: language, politics, and education. The course will examine the image of the postcolonial state and society as found in contemporary arts, paintings, sculpture, music, and cinema. Selections from painters and sculptors like Cheri Samba (Zaire), Iba NDiaye, Ousmane Sow (Senegal), Werewere Liking (Cameroun), including such popular icons as Mamy Wata and forms such as Souwere glass painting; from musicians like Youssou Ndour (Senegal), Cheb Khaled (Algeria), Seigneur Rochereau, Tshala Muana (Zaire), Salif Keita (Mali), and Cesaria Evora (Cape Verde); from
Mande, Peul, and Kabyle oral literature in French translation; from filmmakers D.D. Mambety, Moussa Sene Absa, and Ngangura Mweze. The final grade will be based on contributions to discussions, a mid-term, and 2 papers.
Prerequisite: FREN 3031 and FREN 3032
TR 3:30 pm – 4:45 pm (Dramé)
FREN 3585 Topics in Cultural Studies –– Women’s Work: Women, Literature, and Society
Simone de Beauvoir famously wrote that, “On ne naît pas femme: on le devient.” What does it mean to be a woman? How do women define, defy, and redefine their place in society? This course considers French and Francophone women’s works of literature and film through the examination of the domestic sphere and conventions that have traditionally defined women’s places and roles. We will study autobiographical and fictional accounts of women's lives, conventions, transgressions (of gender, sexuality, language, morality, norms), and debates on/about women, women’s space, the feminine, the domestic, and feminism. Course texts will include essays, films, short stories, and novels from a variety of time periods and French and Francophone cultures. Students will participate actively in class discussion, collaborate on a group research presentation, write short reaction papers, a midterm and a final paper. Course conducted in French.
Prerequisite: FREN 3032
MWF 11:00 am – 11:50 am (Hall)
FREN 4035 Tools and Techniques of Translation
« On ne s’improvise pas traducteur » selon les mots d’André Gide. En effet, on ne peut traduire que si l’on comprend un texte. Dans le cours « Tools and Techniques of Translation », les étudiants apprendront, à travers des textes variés, à découper une phrase en unités de traduction, à trouver le mot juste, à éviter les faux-amis, à reconnaitre les structures de la langue française, et découvriront les techniques de traduction nécessaires afin de rester fidèles à la langue de départ, l’anglais.
Prerequisites: B+ average in FREN 3031, 3032, and 4031 or instructor’s permission
MWF 12:00 pm – 12:50 (Zunz)
FREN 4560 Advanced Topics in Nineteenth-Century Literature –– Le Romantisme français: la quête du soi et la recherche du bonheur
Ce cours vous invite à explorer deux soucis majeurs de la jeune génération romantique en France au 19ème siècle: la quête du soi et la recherche du bonheur. A travers une lecture approfondie des textes (poèmes, nouvelle, roman, réflexions théoriques), nous examinerons l'idéal, la sensibilité, la mélancolie, et le goût de la révolte et de la passion dont s'imprègne l'état d'âme romantique pour interroger comment les héros et les héroïnes romantiques conçoivent le soi et poursuivent le bonheur. Quelle relation y a-t-il entre la quête du soi, d'un côté; et la recherche du bonheur, de l'autre? Y a-t-il harmonie ou opposition? Quel rôle le genre y joue-t-il? Quelle est la part de l'amour et de la mort? Tout au long du semestre, nous essayerons de dégager la signifiance de la double quête romantique française du 19ème siècle pour notre époque contemporaine qui est tout aussi préoccupée par le soi (ou son image) et le bonheur (ou le succès).
Prerequisite: Un cours sur la littérature, la culture, ou le cinéma français au-delà de FREN 3032 (ou l’accord du professeur).
MW 3 :30 pm – 4 :45 pm (Lyu)
FREN 4585 Advanced Topics Cultural Studies –– Getting Medieval on the Movies
Why isn’t Jamie Foxx cast as Robin Hood, or Zoe Saldana as Lancelot, or Michelle Yeoh as Merlin? When we’re dealing in myths, why do some ideas of “historical realism” seem to matter... and how sure are we that we know what medieval European society really looked like? When we imagine the world of over a thousand years ago, why do 1950s (or even 21st-century) race and gender dynamics so often structure it? Why does it matter how we retell important myths in popular culture anyway?
Writers and artists of the Middle Ages often didn’t share our worries about historical accuracy in representation and gave us the lasting legacies of a white Jesus and a pink-cheeked Virgin Mary—even if regional alternatives in fact existed with various degrees of cultural (in)sensitivity. What legacies are we passing down to future generations in our retellings of stories about Robin Hood, the Holy Grail, and Lancelot’s illicit love for Guenevere? Who benefits from perpetuating a singular image of the Middle Ages? Is there a future for different ways of using these stories, as in the work of French rapper Black M or American artist S. Ross Browne?
This class will look at such stories as told in medieval French texts (in modern French translation) and modern stage and screen adaptations, such as the 2012 musical Robin des Bois and classics like Rohmer’s 1964 Perceval. For cultural contrast, we’ll also examine a few Anglo adaptations (like Monty Python and the Holy Grail / Spamalot, Black Knight, and the 2018 Robin Hood). There will be an optional field trip to see the 2020 release of the live-action Mulan in March. As a final project, students will make a short film based on a medieval legend. No previous study of film required.
Prerequisite: FREN 3032
TR 2:00 pm – 3:15 pm (Ogden)
FREN 4744 Occupation and After
While in 2014 the French spent a year commemorating the centenary of the start of the “Great War” (“la Der des Ders,” the so called “war to end all wars”), in the summer of 2015 the nation marked another important anniversary: namely, seventy years since the Liberation of Paris during World War II. The German occupation of France, which lasted from 1940 until 1945, was one of the most consequential periods in the nation’s history, one that left an indelible mark on the French national psyche that continues to rouse the country’s collective memory to this day. After an initial examination of the political and social conditions in France under the Nazi regime, this seminar proposes to explore the enduring legacy of those “Dark Years” by investigating how the complex (and traumatic) history of the Occupation has impacted French culture during the last half of the twentieth century and into the twenty first. Discussions will focus on a variety of documentary and artistic sources—novels and films, mostly, though we will also explore photographs and graphic novels—that attest to what historians refer to as contemporary France’s collective “obsession” with the past.
Readings and films may include (but are not limited to) work by Némirovsky, Vercors, Perec, Duras, Modiano, Salvayre, Daeninckx, Claudel, Sartre, Clouzot, Melville, Resnais, Ophüls, Berri, Malle, Chabrol, and Audiard. Course conducted in French.
Prerequisite: At least one 3000-level FREN course above 3032.
MW 2:00 pm – 3:15 pm (Blatt)
FREN 4811 Francophone African Literature
This course is an introduction to the Francophone literature of Africa, a survey with special emphasis on the post-World War II poets, novelists, and playwrights of Africa. The role of cultural and literary reviews (Légitime Défense, L'Etudiant noir, and Présence Africaine) in the historical and ideological development of this literature will be examined. Special reference will be made to Caribbean writers of the Negritude movement. Documentary videos on African history and cultures will be shown and important audio recordings will be played from time to time. Supplementary texts will be assigned occasionally. Students will be expected to present occasional response papers.
In addition to the required reading material, 2 essays (60%), regular class attendance, and contribution to discussions (10%), and a final exam (30%) constitute the course requirements.
Prerequisite: successful completion of at least one 3000-level course in literature or cultural studies beyond 3032.
TR 12:30 pm – 1:45 pm (Dramé)
FREN 4838 French Society and Civilization
French 4838 is designed to provide students with a background in social, cultural, political, and institutional aspects of contemporary French society in the context of recent history. We will examine the role of geography, history, education, and politics in shaping contemporary French attitudes, cultural practices, and institutions since the Second World War. We will also study important social questions facing contemporary France: changing family structures, the role of women, religion, immigration, and France’s place in the European Union. Course materials include readings from the French press and other published sources, films, music, and virtual media. The course strongly emphasizes oral participation and discussion, and students are expected to follow current events throughout the semester.
Prerequisite: successful completion of at least one 3000-level course in literature or cultural studies beyond 3032.
TR 11:00 am – 12:15 pm (Horne)
5000-Level Graduate Courses
Advanced undergraduate students may enroll in graduate level courses with instructor permission.
FREN 5530/8530 Topics in Seventeenth-Century French Literature –– Baroque Culture
There are many ways of framing French culture in the period from the last quarter of the sixteenth century to the first quarter of the eighteenth century. Sometimes called the “long seventeenth century,” or simply “early modernity,” this period reveals different aspects when considered in conjunction with the “Baroque,” a term about which French literary studies have exceptionally ambivalent. Yet the term “Baroque” contextualizes the French experience within the European and the colonial culture of absolutism, of the Counter-Reformation, of heliocentrism and other disruptive scientific advances, and of growing controversies about Modernity (e.g. the Quarrel of the Ancients and the Moderns). In this seminar we will consider the hypothesis that the “Baroque” can be fruitfully understood not simply as a style but as a set of solutions to a crisis of organization in knowledge, belief, and politics.
W 3:30 pm – 6:00 pm (Lyons)
FREN 5560/8560 Topics in Nineteenth-Century Literature –– Girls of the Nineteenth Century
In his 1884 novel Chérie, Edmond de Goncourt refers to his protagonist as “no longer a little girl, and not yet a woman.” This in-between state serves as a general identifier of the jeune fille (literally young girl), a protagonist of countless nineteenth-century French novels and a target buyer for nineteenth-century manuals of beauty and etiquette. Yet the idea of the jeune fille is more complex and culturally dependent than a general biological time-frame would suggest. In a 1907 article, critic Remy de Goncourt explained that while jeunes filles have existed for a long time, the question of the jeune fille becomes particularly complicated at the turn of the century. One could argue, of course, that writers like Gourmont contributed to this precarious status through their analyses and fictional representations of young women. Gourmont, like others, further defines the jeune fille as both marriageable and wanting to marry, characteristics that distinguish the jeune fille from what she may become if she strays from her wholesome destiny: a vieille fille (old maid); a fille-mère (a pejorative term for single mother); or a fille publique (streetwalker).
In this course we will explore the constructs of the nineteenth-century jeune fille and her fallen sisters in poetry and prose fiction by writers such as Bernardin de Saint-Pierre, Honoré de Balzac, Delphine de Girardin, Marceline Desbordes-Valmore, Guy de Maupassant, J.-K. Huysmans, Emile Zola, Julia Daudet, Edmond de Goncourt, and Rachilde, and in essays and self-help books of the era.
Open to graduate students with reading knowledge of French
Course conducted in French and English (depending on students’ background)
Written work in French (for most French MA and Ph.D. students), or English
Primary readings in French; some secondary readings in English
T 3:30 pm – 6:00 pm (Krueger)
FREN 5585/8585 Topics in Civ/Cultural Studies –– Global France: History, Education, Empire
This course has several related ambitions. First, to prepare students to think about France through a global lens and to familiarize them with important theoretical approaches--derived from history, anthropology, sociology and literature--to such an expansive object of study. In order to understand how scholars use theory, we will examine theoretical texts in tandem with scholarly works that exemplify them.
Then, to give focus to the broad objectives outlined above, our study will be anchored by three intersecting concerns: the writing of history, both national and global; the role of education, including schools, books, and reading; and the construction and deconstruction of empire.
This course will hopefully allow graduate students to fill any gaps they may have in their own understanding of modern French history and to think more deeply about how that history intersects with their own research and teaching agendas, particularly because they may one day be expected to teach an undergraduate course on French history and culture. Since students will enter this course with varying backgrounds and interests, I will want to meet with each student very early in the spring semester, or even now, during the fall semester. Please contact me to set up an appointment.
This course will be taught in French and occasionally in English. Seminar participants are expected to read, write, and discuss readings in both languages.
R 3:30 pm – 6:00 pm (Horne)
Summer 2020
The following writing requirements apply to courses in which the authorized enrollments do not exceed 20 (French 3031 and 3032) or 25 (literature and civilization courses beyond French 3032):
FREN 3031 and 3032: 10-15 pages, typically divided among 4 to 5 papers. Peer editing is introduced during class and practiced outside.
3000-level literature and civilization courses: 10-15 pages, typically divided among 2 to 4 papers. The content is relatively less sophisticated than at the 4000-level. Peer editing outside of class may be offered to students as an option or it may be required.
4000-level literature and civilization courses: 15-20 pages, typically divided among 2 to 4 papers. The content is relatively more sophisticated than at the 3000-level. Peer editing outside of class may be offered to students as an option or it may be required.
In all courses, the quality of students' written French (that is, the degree to which their use of grammar and vocabulary is correct and appropriate) affects the grades they receive on their papers, since it affects how comprehensible, persuasive, and impressive their writing is. As students move from 3000- to 4000- level courses, they are expected to show greater sophistication in sentence structure, grammar, and use of idioms.
Advanced Courses in French
FREN 3031 Finding Your Voice in French
This course offers an opportunity for students to explore and develop their own “voice” in written and spoken French. Through reading and viewing a variety of cultural artifacts in French, and completing a series of individual and collaborative creative projects, students will have a chance to develop their own potential for self-expression. They will develop greater confidence in their communicative skills, command of grammar, and ability to revise and edit their own work. The course is conducted entirely in French.
Pre-requisite: Completion of FREN 2020 or 2320; exemption from FREN 2020 by the UVA (F-Cape) Placement Test; a score of 3 on the AP French Language Exam; or a score of at least 660 on the SAT exam. FREN 3031 is a Pre-requisite for all undergraduate French courses at a higher level.
UVa Summer Session I: May 18, 2020 – June 12, 2020
MTWTF 10:30 am – 12:45 pm (Hall)
FREN 3034 Advanced Oral Expression in French - Live from Lyon, France!
A focus on speaking, listening, and pronunciation. Activities include guided conversation practice, discussion leading, and other oral activities related to authentic materials in French. Work may include quizzes, presentations, reports, interviews, exams , and projects.
Pre-requisite: FREN 3031 or concurrent enrollment in FREN 3031.
Not intended for students who are native speakers of French or whose secondary education was in French schools.
This course counts toward the major and minor in French.
UVA Summer Session I: June 15, 2020 – July 9, 2020
MTWTF 10:30 am - 12:45 pm (Rajaonarisoa)
UVA Summer Session II: July 13, 2020 – August 8, 2020
MTWTF 10:30 am - 12:45 pm (Rajaonarisoa)
FREN 3585 Topics in Cultural Studies— À la carte : La gastronomie et la France
UVA Summer Session 1, 2020
Gertrude Stein famously wrote, "[France] is a country where they talk about eating. Every country talks
about eating but in that country they talk about talking about eating." All of this “food talk” has long extended beyond casual conversation. France is the home of gastronomic writing, haute cuisine, and many culinary norms that define cooking and restaurants the world over. Perhaps more than any other nation, France is readily associated with food and gastronomy. The deep relationship that the French have with gastronomy dates to the Middle Ages and is now more important than ever; Luc Dubanchet, the founder of the French publication Omnivore, has suggested that “the food scene is the strongest cultural movement in France right now.” However, there are negative repercussions of this national focus on food. Food functions not only as a coalescing force, but also as a tool of critique and division. We will explore a number of questions including: What does food mean in France? What is the relationship between food, culture, and identity? How do the French harness cuisine as a political, social, and cultural tool? What is the legacy of France’s agricultural heritage and how does it shape national values? How does food connect France’s past, present, and future? Is French gastronomy merely a myth? How is citizenship forged and reinforced through what is on the plate?
Students can take this course topic at the 3585 or 4585 level. All coursework will be in French
This course counts toward the major and minor in French.
UVA Summer Session I: May 18 – June 13, 2020
MTWTF 1:00 pm – 3:15 pm (Holm)
FREN 3585 Topics in Cultural Studies— Francophone North Africa: Literature & Cinema
North Africa is a region where many civilizations and cultures have left their mark over the centuries. French colonization which began at the end of the 19th century is no exception. Even today, six decades after their independence, Tunisia, Algeria and Morocco keep an indelible trace of French influence both through language and culture. Throughout the semester, we will discover North African culture, from the 1950’s to the present day, through a range of materials including films, postcolonial literature, photography and contemporary feminist art. We will observe the emergence of these cultural products in their context and develop our sensitivity to the issues they address.
Pre-requisite: FREN 3032. All coursework in French.
This course counts toward the major and minor in French.
Please contact Sana Abdi (sa3gk@virginia.edu) if you have questions.
UVA Summer Session II: June 15 – July 11, 2020
MTWTF 1:00 pm – 3:15 pm (Abdi)
FREN 4585 Advanced Topics in Cultural Studies—À la carte : La gastronomie et la France
Gertrude Stein famously wrote, "[France] is a country where they talk about eating. Every country talks about eating but in that country they talk about talking about eating." All of this “food talk” has long extended beyond casual conversation. France is the home of gastronomic writing, haute cuisine, and many culinary norms that define cooking and restaurants the world over. Perhaps more than any other nation, France is readily associated with food and gastronomy. The deep relationship that the French have with gastronomy dates to the Middle Ages and is now more important than ever; Luc Dubanchet, the founder of the French publication Omnivore, has suggested that “the food scene is the strongest cultural movement in France right now.” However, there are negative repercussions of this national focus on food. Food functions not only as a coalescing force, but also as a tool of critique and division. We will explore a number of questions including: What does food mean in France? What is the relationship between food, culture, and identity? How do the French harness cuisine as a political, social, and cultural tool? What is the legacy of France’s agricultural heritage and how does it shape national values? How does food connect France’s past, present, and future? Is French gastronomy merely a myth? How is citizenship forged and reinforced through what is on the plate?
Students can take this course topic at the 3585 or 4585 level. All coursework will be in French
This course counts toward the major and minor in French.
UVA Summer Session I: May 18 – June 13, 2020
MTWTF 1:00 pm – 3:15 pm (Holm)
Fall 2020 Graduate Courses
Graduate Courses
Advanced undergraduate students who have earned a B+ (or higher) in at least one 4000-level course may enroll in graduate level courses with instructor permission.
FREN 5011 – Topics in Medieval Literature
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 5510/8510 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.
M 1:00 pm – 1:50 pm (Ogden)
FREN 5510/8510 – Topics in Medieval Literature: MEDIEVAL Saints’ Lives
African saints. Trans saints. Saints’ Lives as media. Saints in material culture and literature and history.
Recent academic enthusiasm for medieval saints’ Lives has begun to uncover the usefulness of this genre for gaining deeper understanding of both medieval and modern attitudes toward a variety of topics, from sexuality and sentiments to materiality and foreign cultures. Reading Lives written between 880 and the late thirteenth century, together with the work of some of the most engaging scholars in the field of hagiography studies, we will investigate a variety of issues that resonate with current interests in the broader fields of medieval and French studies. Readings include the Lives of St. Mary the Egyptian (a courtesan turned hermit), St. Catherine of Alexandria (known for her wisdom), St. Alexis (who abandoned his family), St. Louis IX (king of France), St. Euphrosyne (a woman who became a male monk), and St. Moses the Ethiopian (a brigand turned abbot).
MW 2:00 pm – 3:15 pm (Ogden)
FREN 5585.001/8585.001 – Topics in Civilization/Cultural Studies
This course will question nineteenth century archives in postcolonial francophone studies and their impact in writing cultural history. Colonialism destroyed cultural archives partly or completely. To understand the writing of cultural history in postcolonial contexts, it is urgent to have a better understanding of where the archives are and how we can explore them to write a decolonized cultural history.
W 3:30 pm – 6:00 pm (Boutaghou)
FREN 5585.002/8585.002 – Topics in Civilization/Cultural Studies
The history of Literature is inseparable from the manifold efforts to limit, control, and repress writings which were (are) deemed subversive, deviant, or immoral. For most writers, playing with, around, or against religious, political, and moral censorships has been a necessary part of their art and trade to avoid jail, exile —or worse. This is, however, only one side of the coin. Another, no less important aspect of literary censorship is self-censorship. By self-censorship, I am not referring solely to personal decisions leading writers to tune down their works (or keep them for themselves). I am also referring to the many limitations imposed upon writing by the literary milieu itself, and its institutions. While self-censorship most often derives from the writer's desire to protect him/herself from harmful “consequences”, limitations placed upon writing by literary societies or institutions take various forms, and reflect diverse intentions. Traditionally, studies about censorship have been disconnected from studies about the esthetical rules and regulations prevailing in literary societies, such as the statements and rulings issued by Académies; the règles defining a literary genre; the check put on literary activities by normative critique; not forgetting the ukases issued by avant-garde groups.
In this course, we will look at the two faces of the coin by 1) historically revisiting the judicial forms of censorship (arrests, trials, etc.), and their impact upon literature; 2) examining in which ways, and to what extent the gens de lettres themselves established and enforced limitations, or taboos.
Last, but not least, we will try to examine and assert the creative, productive consequences of censorship and its constraints, in terms of literary innovation. SCHEDULE AND DETAILS ON COLLAB
T 3:30 pm – 6:15 pm (Roger)
FREN 7040 – Theories & Methods of Language 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 those theories to their own teaching experience and goals. Assignments include readings and case studies on the teaching of French, development and critique of pedagogical materials, peer observation and analysis, and a portfolio project for collecting, sharing, and reflecting on teaching methods.
Required for all GTAs teaching French at UVa for the first time. Restricted to Graduate Teaching Assistants in French. 3 credits. Students will register for the graded (letter grade) option in the SIS. Graduate exchange instructors will take the course as auditors.
TR 2:00 PM – 3:15 PM (James)
Fall 2020 Undergraduate Courses
The following writing requirements apply to courses in which the authorized enrollments do not exceed 20 (French 3031 and 3032) or 25 (literature and civilization courses beyond French 3032):
FREN 3031 and 3032: 10-15 pages, typically divided among 4 to 5 papers. Peer editing is introduced during class and practiced outside.
3000-level literature and civilization courses: 10-15 pages, typically divided among 2 to 4 papers. The content is relatively less sophisticated than at the 4000-level. Peer editing outside of class may be offered to students as an option or it may be required.
4000-level literature and civilization courses: 15-20 pages, typically divided among 2 to 4 papers. The content is relatively more sophisticated than at the 3000-level. Peer editing outside of class may be offered to students as an option or it may be required.
In all courses, the quality of students' written French (that is, the degree to which their use of grammar and vocabulary is correct and appropriate) affects the grades they receive on their papers, since it affects how comprehensible, persuasive, and impressive their writing is. As students move from 3000- to 4000- level courses, they are expected to show greater sophistication in sentence structure, grammar, and use of idioms.
French Translation Courses
FRTR 3559 New Course French Cultural Topics - Race in the US, France, and the Francophone World
- Students and scholars from the US, France and the francophone world explore how race matters now in our lives, our studies, our scholarship
- An opportunity to look at race through a comparative geographic and historical lens
The acute need to eliminate racial injustices of all kinds and the urgency of building a more equitable and just society are on everyone’s mind. In response to our nation’s current civic moment, the Department of French is offering students this exciting new interdisciplinary course this fall only.
Together, students and scholars from the US, France and the Francophone world will explore how race matters in our lives, our studies, our scholarship. By examining race through a comparative geographic, contemporary, and historical lens, we will better understand how our different national experiences are interconnected but also how they diverge.
Guest speakers will address the interconnected legacies of slavery, racism and empire; questions of cultural memorialization; debates on statues and street naming in France, the US and in other places in the francophone world such as Senegal.
It is our hope that our discussions will help us better understand our role in imagining and enacting a more responsible and inclusive cultural landscape for our university, our city, our world.
(1 hour course - taught in English)
FR 12:00 pm - 1:15 pm (Lyons)
CREO 1010-001 – Elementary Creole I
Development of basic oral expression, listening and reading comprehension, and writing. Pre-requisite: No previous formal instruction of French or Creole is required.
MWF 3:05 pm – 4:05 pm Dramé
CREO 2010-001 – Intermediate Creole I
Develops the skills of listening, speaking, reading, and writing in Creole.
Enrollment Requirement: Must have completed CREO 1020.
Pre-requisite: Two previous semesters of Elementary Creole (I and II)
MWF 1:40 pm – 2:40 pm Dramé
Advanced Courses in French
FREN 3030 – Phonetics: The Sounds of French
FREN 3030 is an introductory course in French phonetics. It provides basic concepts in articulatory phonetics and phonological theory, and offers students techniques for improving their own pronunciation. The course will cover the physical characteristics of individual French sounds; the relationship between these sounds and their written representation (orthography); the rules governing the pronunciation of "standard French"; the most salient phonological features of selected French varieties; phonetic differences between French and English sounds; and to some extent, ‘la musique du français’, i.e., prosodic phenomena (le rythme, l’accent, l’intonation, la syllabation). Practical exercises in 'ear-training' (the perception of sounds) and 'phonetic transcription' (using IPA) are also essential components of this dynamic course.
Pre-requisite: FREN 2020 (or equivalent). Course taught in French; counts for major/minor credit in French and Linguistics
TR 11:00 am - 12:15 pm (Saunders)
TR 2:00 pm – 3:15 pm (Saunders
FREN 3031 – Finding Your Voice in French
This course offers an opportunity for students to explore and develop their own “voice” in written and spoken French. Through reading and viewing a variety of cultural artifacts in French, and completing a series of individual and collaborative creative projects, students will have a chance to develop their own potential for self-expression. They will develop greater confidence in their communicative skills, command of grammar, and ability to revise and edit their own work. The course is conducted entirely in French.
Pre-requisite: Completion of FREN 2020 or 2320; exemption from FREN 2020 by the UVA (F-Cape) Placement Test; a score of 3 on the AP French Language Exam; or a score of at least 660 on the SAT exam. FREN 3031 is a Pre-requisite for all undergraduate French courses at a higher level. FREN 3031 is required for the FREN major and minor.
MWF 10:00 am -10:50 am (Geer)
MWF 11:00 am – 12:15 pm( Staff)
TR 11:00 am – 12:15 pm (Staff)
TR 12:30 pm – 1:45 pm (Staff)
FREN 3032 – Image, Text, Culture
In this course, students will discover and engage critically with a broad sampling of French and Francophone cultural production representing a variety of periods, genres, approaches, and media. Students will learn how to become more sensitive observers of French and Francophone culture, attuned to the nuances of content and form. They will read, watch, write about, and discuss a range of works that may include poetry, painting, prose, music, theater, films, graphic novels, photographs, essays, and historical documents. They will also make significant progress in their oral and written comprehension and communication in French. The course is conducted entirely in French.
Pre-requisite: French 3031. FREN 3032 is a Pre-requisite for nearly all French undergraduate courses on a higher level.
TR 9:30 am – 10:45 am (Lyons)
TR 2:00 pm – 3:00 pm (Tsien)
MWF 1:00 pm – 1:50 pm (Hall)
TR 3:30 pm – 4:45 pm (Dramé)
FREN 3034 Advanced Oral Expression: Contemporary Culture in Conversation
This class will be centered on discussion about contemporary current events and practices in France. Using French online newspapers, magazines, radio, and television, this course will allow students to learn and reflect on issues that are of immediate concern to their francophone contemporaries. Topics to be discussed will be largely based on student-driven interests, but likely topics will include education, family life, business culture, immigration, the arts, and Franco-American relations. In addition to engaged involvement in class discussions, students will be graded based on in-class presentations (individual and group), an audio and/or video contribution to a class web-journal, and a final oral exam.
(Pre-requisite: FREN 3031 and either completion of FREN 3032 or concurrent enrollment in FREN 3032). This course is not intended for students who are native speakers of French or whose secondary education was in French schools.
MW 3:30 pm - 4:45 pm (McGrady)
FREN 3035 Business French
In this course, students will learn general knowledge about the business world in France and the French-speaking world, and specifically concepts on organizational structures, the primary positions within those businesses and major industries. They will also gain experience in business research, will hone their oral and written French for use in a professional-setting, will have a practice job interview, and will learn the practical aspects of living and working in French.
At the end of the semester, students will have the possibility to take the Diplôme de Français des Affaires (B1) for a fee charged by the Chambre de Commerce et de l’Industrie de Paris.
Pre-requisite: FREN 3031 and 3032
MW 3:30 pm - 4:45 pm (Staff)
FREN 3036 – Introduction to Translation
Comment dit-on… ? Que veut dire… ? This course will provide a practical and theoretical introduction to methods of translation. We will translate literary and non-literary texts such as news articles, ads, songs, essays, poems, and short stories from French to English and from English to French. Classes will be in the form of workshops as we take on the role of the translator and collaborate on translation projects using different practices and methods of translation, all while undertaking a comparative review of French (and English!) grammar and analyzing various cultural topics.
**Students who have already taken FREN 4035 “Tools and Techniques of Translation” may not enroll in this course.
Pre-requisite: FREN 2020 or FREN 2320 or equivalent placement
MWF 10:00 AM – 10:50 AM (Hall)
FREN 3041 – The French-Speaking World I: Origins
Globalization. Love and friendship. Encounters with other cultures and peoples. Separation of Church and State. Bourgeois values. Law and justice. Where did these features of modern life come from and—more importantly—what other forms might they have taken or might they still evolve into? It is said that history is written by the victors, but historical documents—literature, histories, prayer books, etc.—retain the evidence of alternate values as well as hints of (temporarily?) abandoned futures. Can we escape our preconceptions of the past and uncover, in the documents, different histories? Histories that offer alternative ways of thinking about modern institutions, assumptions, and inequities and about the stories that give them authority?
Readings in the course will be in modern French translation, with occasional discussions of the original medieval and middle French if students are interested in the history of the language. We’ll begin with the earliest narrative in French (ca. 880 C.E.) and continue up to about 1600, looking both at classic texts and little-known treasures. Reading and writing assignments will be appropriate both for students coming directly from FREN 3032 and for more advanced students who want to hone their close reading and analytical/persuasive writing skills in French.
Pre-requisite: FREN 3032
MWF 11:00 am – 12:15 pm(Ogden)
FREN 3042 – French-Speaking World II
During the Classical Era, Louis XIV built Versailles, France colonized Canada and the Caribbean, philosophers dared to challenge the Catholic Church, and in the end, the Revolution changed France forever. In view of this tumultuous historical background, this course will provide an overview of the writings of this era, from the canonical works of Corneille, Molière, Voltaire, and Diderot to lesser-known but significant works. We will pay particular attention to the idea of “nature” which radically changed meaning in this period.
Pre-requisite: FREN 3032
TR 12:30 pm – 1:45 pm (Lyons)
FREN 3043.001 –The French-Speaking World III: Modernities
Great Books
Rather than focus on any single theme, movement, motif, or overarching problematic, this seminar will examine a few of the most admired and influential novels in the history of modern French literature. Special attention will be paid to the potential uses (and to the ultimate uselessness) of literature. How might reading fiction inform our understanding of the world and our place in it? Texts may include, but are certainly not limited to, Balzac’s tale of a young law student’s drive to make it in the big city in Le Père Goriot; Flaubert’s portrait of the original desperate housewife in Madame Bovary; Robbe-Grillet’s scandalously puzzling La jalousie ; Georges Perec's critique of consumer society in the 1960s (Les Choses); and Jean-Philippe Toussaint's critical, and rather funny tale about TV (La television). We will likely end our semester with an "extremely contemporary" novel, or two, published at some point during the twenty-first century.
Required work to include: active participation in class discussion, weekly ruminations on the readings posted to a forum on Collab, an oral presentation, and two analytical essays. Course conducted entirely in French.
Pre-requisite: FREN 3032
TR 9:30 AM – 10:45 AM (Blatt)
FREN 3559 - New Course in French, and the Francophone World
- Students and scholars from the US, France and the francophone world explore how race matters now in our lives, our studies, our scholarship
- An opportunity to look at race through a comparative geographic and historical lens
The acute need to eliminate racial injustices of all kinds and the urgency of building a more equitable and just society are on everyone’s mind. In response to our nation’s current civic moment, the Department of French is offering students this exciting new interdisciplinary course this fall only.
Together, students and scholars from the US, France and the Francophone world will explore how race matters in our lives, our studies, our scholarship. By examining race through a comparative geographic, contemporary, and historical lens, we will better understand how our different national experiences are interconnected but also how they diverge.
Guest speakers will address the interconnected legacies of slavery, racism and empire; questions of cultural memorialization; debates on statues and street naming in France, the US and in other places in the francophone world such as Senegal.
It is our hope that our discussions will help us better understand our role in imagining and enacting a more responsible and inclusive cultural landscape for our university, our city, our world. (Available for French majors and minors. 1 hour course)
FR 12:00 PM - 1:15 PM (James)
FREN 3585 - Slave Narratives from the Francophone World (Antilles, Haïti, Mauritius)
The slave narrative is originally a type of literary genre involving the (written) autobiographical accounts of enslaved Africans in Great Britain and its colonies (the later United States, Canada, and Caribbean nations), from the end of 18th century to the early 1920s. The genre is still vivid through the “neo-slave narrative”, a modern fictional work set in the slavery era by contemporary authors (Toni Morrison, Edward P. Jones, Marie-Elena Jones, etc.).
This course will examine how Francophone writers deal with this Anglophone literary tradition to “think” the postcolonial situation and “shape” the postcolonial subject from the slave perspective in the Francophone contemporary World (Antilles, Haïti, Mauritius).
We will more particularly study: Maryse Condé, Moi, Tituba, sorcière… Noire de Salem (1988) [Guadeloupe]; Patrick Chamoiseau, L’esclave vieil homme et le molosse (1999) [Martinique]; Evelyne Trouillot, Rosalie l’infâme (2003) [Haïti]; and Natacha Appanah, Les rochers de poudre d’or (2006) [Île Maurice].
Requirements include: 1) regular reading and active participation in class discussion, 2) an oral presentation on a particular aspect of the Francophone contemporary slave narrative, 3) a series of short commentaries from the four novels, 4) and a final paper. Prerequisites: FREN 3032. Course conducted in French.
TR 3:30 pm - 4:45 pm (Lombart)
FREN 4410 – The Enlightenment
The Enlightenment, or Les Lumières, was one of the most important movements in Western intellectual history. Its proponents fought against superstition and a corrupt monarchy with notoriously witty essays and with fictions that seemed, on the surface, to be about sentimentality, sex, or exotic lands. In this course, we will consider how famous philosophes such as Montesquieu, Voltaire, and Jean-Jacques Rousseau brought France into a new era and inadvertently inspired the American and then the French Revolutions. We will examine how their writings treated issues such as: slavery, women's sexuality, blasphemy, the conflict between religion and science, and moral relativism among various countries. We will also focus on strategies used by the authors to hide their provocative ideas from government censors.
Pre-requisite: Any course above FREN 3032
TR 3:30 pm – 4:45 pm (Tsien)
FREN 4580 – Advanced Topics in Literature: The Extreme Contemporary, or What the French are Reading Now
This course is designed as a survey of contemporary French literature. One might even call it an introduction to what has come to be known as “extremely contemporary” French literature, which is to say books that have been published within the last few years. After an initial consideration of some of the major trends to have emerged on the French literary scene since the turn of the twenty-first century, students will read a selection of texts (fictions, non-fictions, and works that fall somewhere in between) that have been hailed by critics and readers alike. While the course focuses on what kinds of books the French are reading today, we will also consider how they read, how they talk about what they are reading, and how they inform themselves further about what to read next by consulting a number of essential and readily available resources for enthusiasts of contemporary French writing, like magazines, radio programs, websites, blogs, book reviews, and television programs (indeed, the French have a long tradition of producing quality Book TV). Works by writers such as Jean Rolin, Jean Echenoz, Maylis de Kerangal, Vincent Almendros, Gael Faye, Leila Slimani, Adeline Dieudonné, and Michel Houellebecq may find their way onto the syllabus. We will also endeavor to schedule a few opportunities for students to discuss their readings (over skype) with the writers themselves.
Requirements include regular reading and active participation in class discussion, an oral presentation on a particular aspect of the contemporary literary scene, a series of short commentaries and book reviews, and a final paper.
Pre-requisites: FREN 3032 and at least one other course above FREN 3040. Course conducted in French.
TR 11:00 am – 12:15 pm (Blatt)
FREN 4585.001 – Global Paris: the Complexity of Place
When Notre Dame burned, the world cried. When violent terrorist attacks brought Paris to its knees, the world watched helpless and aghast. In January 2015, merely days after the first attack, Parisians stunned us with their resilience, marching in the streets to defend their freedoms and way of life. Handmade signs proclaimed “We are not afraid!” and demonstrators raised pens and pencils skyward in a symbolic assertion of the power of free speech. In Charlottesville and across the United States, protestors did the same in a gesture of solidarity.
Mort pour rien. Dead for no reason. Today, in response to the senseless and racist killing of Georges Floyd, indignation echoes throughout France. French protestors brandish Black Lives Matter signs and cry out for racial justice, reigniting pent up fury over the 2016 killing of a black man, Adama Traoré, while in police custody in a suburb of Paris.
A crossroads for people from every imaginable background, Paris has always been a transnational city of immigrants, students, political exiles, formerly colonized peoples, artists, writers and people just trying to make a living. The principal theater of the French Revolution, it earned a reputation for insurrection and protest. The vibrant heart of artistic life and intellectual debate, Paris became the model of a19th-century city.
A global city, Paris is today so much more than the capital of France; it holds meaning the world over. A real city of grit and struggle, it is also symbolic of lofty and complex ideals.
How did Paris achieve such iconic status on the world stage? What myths and historical moments have defined it? Why did James Baldwin or Ernest Hemingway go there and what did they find? What might you hope to find there?
Together, we will explore maps, paintings and film that illustrate key features of the history, topography, architecture, and neighborhoods of Paris. We will discover the imagined city in art, literature and song. In particular, we will interrogate the “American dream” of Paris, Black Paris, its promises and mirages. By the end of this course, Paris will be a familiar place and you will have a good understanding of how the traces of the past remain inscribed on the modern urban landscape. You will be able “to read” the city, unlock its codes, and hopefully find personal enrichment there, even from a distance.
Prerequisite: FREN 3032 plus one additional course in French above FREN 3040.
MW 2:00 pm – 3:15 pm (Horne)
FREN 4585.002 – Adv Topics Cultural Studies: America and Americans in French Literature and Culture(18th-21st c.)
What is the French idea of un Américain, une Américaine? What notions, what feelings, what memories are associated in French minds with «l'Amérique», or «les USA»?
Since the name America was first used in 1507 on a map printed in Saint-Dié (a small town in Lorraine), there has been a French fascination for everything American. That fascination, however, has always been ambivalent. The “Sister Republics” soon became competing systems, and with the decline of French power and influence in the world, French people came to resent American “surpuissance”. We will explore this love-hate relationship, by placing it in historical perspective. We will focus on French (mis)representations of America and the US, from the 18th century to our days, with a special emphasis on the most recent period.
Readings will include selections from books by major French novelists, poets, philosophers, or sociologists (such as Buffon, Chateaubriand, Tocqueville, Baudelaire, Beauvoir, Sartre, Baudrillard, Quignard, etc.), as well as depictions of America and the Americans by lesser known travel-writers, journalists and observers. We will also use visual material, ranging from engravings and paintings to caricatures and movies —not forgetting Tintin's adventures in America.
Given in French. Students will be expected 1) to engage in discussions on the readings; 2) to give a 15-20 minutes oral presentation on a topic of their choice in relation to the course material and topics; 3) to write 2 short reaction papers, and a mid-term; 4) to define a research topic and write a final paper (10-15 pages), due at the end of the semester.
MW 3:30 pm – 5:15 pm (Roger)
FREN 4811 – Francophone Literature of Africa
Non-Western Perspectives.
This course is an introduction to the Francophone literature of Africa, a survey with special emphasis on the post-World War II poets, novelists, and playwrights of Africa. The role of cultural and literary reviews (Légitime Défense, L'Etudiant noir, and Présence Africaine) in the historical and ideological development of this literature will be examined. Special reference will be made to Caribbean writers of the Negritude movement. Documentary videos on African history and cultures will be shown and important audio recordings will be played from time to time. Supplementary texts will be assigned occasionally. Students will be expected to present occasional response papers.
FREN 3032 is a pre-requisite for all French undergraduate courses on a higher level.
TR 12:30 pm – 1:45 pm (Dramé)
Graduate Courses
Advanced undergraduate students who have earned a B+ (or higher) in at least one 4000-level course may enroll in graduate level courses with instructor permission.
FREN 5011 – 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 5510/8510 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.
M 1:00 pm – 1:50 pm (Ogden)
FREN 5510/8510 – Topics in Medieval Literature: MEDIEVAL Saints’ Lives
African saints. Trans saints. Saints’ Lives as media. Saints in material culture and literature and history.
Recent academic enthusiasm for medieval saints’ Lives has begun to uncover the usefulness of this genre for gaining deeper understanding of both medieval and modern attitudes toward a variety of topics, from sexuality and sentiments to materiality and foreign cultures. Reading Lives written between 880 and the late thirteenth century, together with the work of some of the most engaging scholars in the field of hagiography studies, we will investigate a variety of issues that resonate with current interests in the broader fields of medieval and French studies. Readings include the Lives of St. Mary the Egyptian (a courtesan turned hermit), St. Catherine of Alexandria (known for her wisdom), St. Alexis (who abandoned his family), St. Louis IX (king of France), St. Euphrosyne (a woman who became a male monk), and St. Moses the Ethiopian (a brigand turned abbot).
MW 2:00 pm – 3:15 pm (Ogden)
FREN 5585.001/8585.001 – Topics in Civilization/Cultural Studies
This course will question nineteenth century archives in postcolonial francophone studies and their impact in writing cultural history. Colonialism destroyed cultural archives partly or completely. To understand the writing of cultural history in postcolonial contexts, it is urgent to have a better understanding of where the archives are and how we can explore them to write a decolonized cultural history.
W 3:30 pm – 6:00 pm (Boutaghou)
FREN 5585.002/8585.002 – Topics in Civilization/Cultural Studies
The history of Literature is inseparable from the manifold efforts to limit, control, and repress writings which were (are) deemed subversive, deviant, or immoral. For most writers, playing with, around, or against religious, political, and moral censorships has been a necessary part of their art and trade to avoid jail, exile —or worse. This is, however, only one side of the coin. Another, no less important aspect of literary censorship is self-censorship. By self-censorship, I am not referring solely to personal decisions leading writers to tune down their works (or keep them for themselves). I am also referring to the many limitations imposed upon writing by the literary milieu itself, and its institutions. While self-censorship most often derives from the writer's desire to protect him/herself from harmful “consequences”, limitations placed upon writing by literary societies or institutions take various forms, and reflect diverse intentions. Traditionally, studies about censorship have been disconnected from studies about the esthetical rules and regulations prevailing in literary societies, such as the statements and rulings issued by Académies; the règles defining a literary genre; the check put on literary activities by normative critique; not forgetting the ukases issued by avant-garde groups.
In this course, we will look at the two faces of the coin by 1) historically revisiting the judicial forms of censorship (arrests, trials, etc.), and their impact upon literature; 2) examining in which ways, and to what extent the gens de lettres themselves established and enforced limitations, or taboos.
Last, but not least, we will try to examine and assert the creative, productive consequences of censorship and its constraints, in terms of literary innovation. SCHEDULE AND DETAILS ON COLLAB
T 3:30 pm – 6:15 pm (Roger)
FREN 7040 – Theories & Methods of Language 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 those theories to their own teaching experience and goals. Assignments include readings and case studies on the teaching of French, development and critique of pedagogical materials, peer observation and analysis, and a portfolio project for collecting, sharing, and reflecting on teaching methods.
Required for all GTAs teaching French at UVa for the first time. Restricted to Graduate Teaching Assistants in French. 3 credits. Students will register for the graded (letter grade) option in the SIS. Graduate exchange instructors will take the course as auditors.
TR 2:00 PM – 3:15 PM (James)
J-Term 2020 Undergraduate Courses
FRTR 3559: RACE in the US, France and the Francophone World: Intersections and Divergences

What is it?
- A new 1-credit FRTR course, Fall 2020 only (Course taught in English; no French required)
- FREN 3559 is available as an option for French majors/minors in need of one additional FREN credit toward their degree.
- Students and scholars from the US, France and the francophone world explore how race matters now in our lives, our studies, our scholarship
- An opportunity to look at race through a comparative geographic and historical lens
When is it?
- Fridays 12:00-1:15 EST via Zoom
The acute need to eliminate racial injustices of all kinds and the urgency of building a more equitable and just society are on everyone’s mind. In response to our nation’s current civic moment, the Department of French is offering students this exciting new interdisciplinary course this fall only.
Together, students and scholars from the US, France and the Francophone world will explore how race matters in our lives, our studies, our scholarship. By examining race through a comparative geographic, contemporary, and historical lens, we will better understand how our different national experiences are interconnected but also how they diverge.
Guest speakers will address the interconnected legacies of slavery, racism and empire; questions of cultural memorialization; debates on statues and street naming in France, the US and in other places in the francophone world such as Senegal and Burkina Faso.
It is our hope that our discussions will help us better understand our role in imagining and enacting a more responsible and inclusive cultural landscape for our university, our city, our world.
Confirmed guest participants include:
- Sue Peabody, University of Washington. There Are No Slaves in France (1996); Madeleine's Children: Family, Freedom, Secrets, and Lies in France's Indian Ocean Colonies (2017)
- Sara Johnson, UC-San Diego. The Fear of French Negroes: Transcolonial Collaboration in the Revolutionary Americas (2012)
- Pap Ndiaye (Sciences Po-Paris). La Condition Noire : Essai sur une minorité française (2008)
- Robin Mitchell (UC-Channel Islands). Vénus Noire: Black Women and Colonial Fantasies in Nineteenth-Century France (2020)
- Annette Joseph-Gabriel (Univ. Michigan-LSA). Reimagining Liberation: How Black Women Transformed Citizenship in the French Empire (2020)
- Mame-Fatou Niang (Carnegie Mellon), director of film Mariannes Noires (2017) author of Identités francaises : Banlieues, fémininités et universalisme (2019)
- Fabienne Guillen Diop (Université de Pau/EHES)
- Yarri Kamara. Writer, translator, cultural policy advisor UNESCO, based in Ougadougou, Burkina Faso (also a former UVA French major!)
UVA guest participants include:
- Anna Brickhouse (English/American Studies) author of The Unsettlement of America
- Marlene Daut (English/ Carter Woodson Institute), author of Baron de Vastey and the Origins of Black Atlantic Humanism and Tropics of Haiti: Race and the Literary History of the Haitian Revolution in the Atlantic World, 1789-1865
- Mamadou Dia (French/Media Studies) filmmaker
- Jennifer Sessions (History), author of By Sword and Plow: France and the Conquest of Algeria
- Jennifer Tsien (French), author of The Bad Taste of Others
- Bremen Donovan, UVA Ph.D. candidate in Anthropology working on discriminatory policing practices in France
Spring 2021 Graduate Courses
Graduate Courses
Advanced undergraduate students may enroll in graduate level courses with instructor permission.
FREN 5540/8540 Topics in 18th Century Literature –– Telling Stories in the Eighteenth Century
This course will provide an overview of eighteenth-century novels, with particular focus on the roman à tiroir (1001 Nuits), the epistolary novel (Lettres persanes), the conte philosophique (Candide), and the deconstructed plot of Jacques le Fataliste. The course will examine the experimental narrative techniques employed by 18th-century authors. We will see how this genre developed from Antiquity to the Spanish Golden Age, with a detour into the world of Middle-Eastern oral storytelling. Secondary readings will include theoretical approaches such as structuralism, reader reception, new developments in Orientalism, and the history of the book. We will also venture outside the literary field to consider some cognitive theories about why the mind feels the need to connect disparate events into a single thread.
R 3:30 pm – 6:00 pm (Tsien)
FREN 5581/8581 Topics/Seminar in African Literature/Culture
This course is a survey of 20th century Francophone literature of Africa. Colonial literature and Assimilation; Negritude, Nationalism and Identity; Postcolonial literature; Feminism; Literature and Censorship; Language and Literature; Theatre and ritual performance; and Oral literature as a major inter-text will all be examined through novels, poems, and plays by contemporary African writers in French.
Oral presentations, response papers, and a final research paper are required.
W 3:30 pm – 6:00 pm (Dramé)
FREN 5584/8584 Topics/Seminar in Cinema
This seminar aims to introduce students to the rich history of French cinema, from its origins in the birth of photography and other proto-cinematic technologies in the nineteenth century, to the advent of digital cinema at the dawn of the twenty-first. Provides a broad overview of key movements and genres, as well as concurrent trends in film theory and criticism. Students will be invited to reflect closely on film form, and to consider each film in light of the socio-historical context within which it was produced. We will also spend time thinking about best practices to adopt when designing undergraduate (and even graduate) cinema seminars. May include, but is not limited to, works by Lumière, Méliès, Feuillade, Gance, Buñuel/Dalì, Vigo, Carné, Renoir, Godard, Marker, Truffaut, Varda, Resnais, Chabrol, Tavernier, Besson, Pialat, Ozon, Kechiche, Cantet, Audiard, Asseyas, Desplechin, Sciamma, and Jeunet. Course conducted mostly in French. Will work well as a synchronous zoom seminar, if necessary.
T 3:30 pm – 6:00 pm (Blatt)
Spring 2021 Undergraduate Courses
The following writing requirements apply to courses in which the authorized enrollments do not exceed 20 (French 3031 and 3032) or 25 (literature and civilization courses beyond French 3032): FREN 3031 and 3032: 10-15 pages, typically divided among 4 to 5 papers. Peer editing is introduced during class and practiced outside.
3000-level literature and civilization courses: 10-15 pages, typically divided among 2 to 4 papers. The content is relatively less sophisticated than at the 4000-level. Peer editing outside of class may be offered to students as an option or it may be required.
4000-level literature and civilization courses: 15-20 pages, typically divided among 2 to 4 papers. The content is relatively more sophisticated than at the 3000-level. Peer editing outside of class may be offered to students as an option or it may be required.
In all courses, the quality of students' written French (that is, the degree to which their use of grammar and vocabulary is correct and appropriate) affects the grades they receive on their papers, since it affects how comprehensible, persuasive, and impressive their writing is. As students move from 3000- to 4000- level courses, they are expected to show greater sophistication in sentence structure, grammar, and use of idioms.
French in Translation Course
FRTR 3814/WGS 3814 Gender & Sexuality in France
If you imagine the Middle Ages as a far-off land occupied by only “knights in shining armor and damsels in distress,” think again. This course will open your eyes to a far more complex conversation about sexuality and gender that resonates in surprising ways with contemporary views. We will read in tandem medieval religious writings, medical works, and conduct manuals that set the stage for distinguishing between men and women based on their biological and behavioral “predispositions” alongside works of fiction that challenged these official stances. Among our readings will be letters exchanged between one-time lovers, a church leader and abbess, that recount in real time their efforts to think through the different expectations placed on them as church figures. Poetry, romance, and travel narratives that treat the Christian West’s encounter with other religions, races, and ethnicities will further reveal the fault lines that destabilize rigid binary treatment of the sexes. The thirteenth-century romance of a young girl raised to adulthood as a boy will provide ample treatment of how our medieval counterparts struggled with the notion that “biology is destiny.” Finally, the work of the first feminist and professional writer of Europe, Christine de Pizan, who composed the first manifesto written by women in their defense, will help us fully appreciate the challenges faced then and now when breaking down gendered expectations. Through our reading of these fascinating works, it is hoped that students will acquire a thicker and more nuanced appreciation of the long history of gender, sexuality, and identity. Class discussions will introduce students both to medieval culture and to the basic tenets of gender theory. Graded work will include short critical engagement and creative responses to readings, class discussions and presentations, and written exams. There are no pre-requisites for this class. The second-writing requirement can be fulfilled with this course (requires instructor permission). Lectures and readings are in English.
No knowledge of French required
MW 3:30 PM – 4:45 PM (McGrady)
Advanced Courses in French
FREN 3030 Phonetics: The Sounds of French
FREN 3030 is an introductory course in French phonetics. It provides basic concepts in articulatory phonetics and phonological theory, and offers students techniques for improving their own pronunciation. The course will cover the physical characteristics of individual French sounds, the relationship between French sounds and their written representation (orthography), the rules governing the pronunciation of "standard French", the most salient phonological features of selected French varieties, phonetic differences between French and English sounds, and ‘la musique du français’, i.e., prosodic phenomena (le rythme, l’accent, l’intonation, la syllabation). Practical exercises in 'ear-training' (the perception of sounds) and 'phonetic transcription' (using IPA) are also essential components of this dynamic course. Taught in French.
Counts for major/minor credit in French and in Linguistics. Prerequisite: FREN 2020 (or equivalent).
Taught in French
Counts for major/minor credit in French and in Linguistics
TR 9:30 am – 10:45 am (Saunders)
FREN 3031 Finding Your Voice in French
This course offers an opportunity for students to explore and develop their own “voice” in written and spoken French. Through reading and viewing a variety of cultural artifacts in French, and completing a series of individual and collaborative creative projects, students will have a chance to develop their own potential for self-expression. They will develop greater confidence in their communicative skills, command of grammar, and ability to revise and edit their own work. The course is conducted entirely in French.
Prerequisite: Completion of FREN 2020 or 2320; exemption from FREN 2020 by the UVA (F-Cape) Placement Test; a score of 3 on the AP French Language Exam; or a score of at least 660 on the SAT exam. FREN 3031 is a prerequisite for nearly all undergraduate French courses at a higher level.
TR 11:00 am – 12:15 pm (Lombart)
MW 2:00 pm – 3:15 pm (Boutaghou)
MWF 10:00 am – 10:50 am (James)
TR 2:00 pm – 3:15 pm (Lombart)
FREN 3032 Text, Image, Culture
In this course, students will discover and engage critically with a broad sampling of French and Francophone cultural production representing a variety of periods, genres, approaches, and media. Students will learn how to become more sensitive observers of French and Francophone culture, attuned to the nuances of content and form. They will read, watch, write about, and
discuss a range of works that may include poetry, painting, prose, music, theater, films, graphic novels, photographs, essays, and historical documents. They will also make significant progress in their oral and written comprehension and communication in French. The course is conducted entirely in French.
Prerequisite: FREN 3031. FREN 3032 is a prerequisite for nearly all French undergraduate courses on a higher level.
MWF 9:00 am - 9:50 am (Geer)
TR 9:30 am – 10:45 am (Ogden)
TR 2:00 pm - 3:15 pm (Allen)
TR 12:30 pm - 1:45 pm (Allen)
FREN 3034 Advanced Oral Expression in French
This course will allow students to learn and reflect on issues that are of concern to their French-speaking contemporaries. It offers an excellent opportunity for students to practice their French speaking skills in a variety of communicative contexts. Class resources will include French online newspapers, magazines, radio, and television. Discussion topics will be based largely on student-driven interests, but likely topics will include education, family life, the arts, immigration, Franco-American relations, and business culture. Students will be graded on their engaged involvement in class discussions, their in-class presentations (individual and group), an audio and/or video contribution to a class web-journal, and a final oral exam.
FREN 3034 is the only course on offer to emphasize, exclusively, the skill of speaking French (spontaneously and fluently)
(Pre-requisite: FREN 3031 and either completion of FREN 3032 or concurrent enrollment in FREN 3032). This course is not intended for students who are native speakers of French or whose secondary education was in French schools.
TR 12:30 pm - 1:45 pm (Saunders)
FREN 3043 The French Speaking World III: Modernities –– Tradition et innovation: comment (se) transformer à travers le temps, l'espace et la culture?
Ce cours vous invite à réfléchir sur les questions essentielles qui se trouvent au cœur de toute entreprise humaine qui tente de créer une œuvre artistique et/ou intellectuelle: comment faire surgir le nouveau de l'ancien, l'originalité de l'imitation, le singulier du conformisme? Ainsi, nous explorerons la relation entre la tradition et l'innovation à travers les écrivains, les artistes et les penseurs modernes qui ont façonné leurs œuvres en dialogue explicit avec le passé et la voix des autres. Que pouvons-nous apprendre, par exemple, de l'écrivain franco-chinois Cheng qui, élu à l'Académie française, écrit en un français qui est traversé par la langue et la pensée chinoises?; ou de la philosophe belge Despret qui reprend la thèse cartésienne du 17ème siècle sur la supériorité des hommes sur les animaux et la resitue dans le contexte éthique, féministe et écologique de nos jours?; ou du musicien belgo-rwandais Stromae qui transpose en performance du 21ème siècle (vidéo/youtube et concert) la chanson de l'opéra de Bizet qui, à son tour, puise dans la nouvelle de Mérimée du 19ème siècle?
Prerequisite: FREN 3031 and FREN 3032
TR 2:00 pm – 3:15 pm (Lyu)
FREN 3559 French for Global Development
Designed for students seeking to develop advanced linguistic skills in oral and written French and cultural competence in preparation for careers related to global development. Readings, discussions, and assignments revolve around case studies and simulated work-related situations drawn from real-life global development initiatives, with a focus on French-speaking west African countries. Topics will include economic development, community health, and education.
Pre-Requisite: FREN 3031 (this course is not intended for students who are native speaker of French).
MWF 11:00 am – 11:50 am (James)
FREN 3570 Topics in Francophone African Studies –– African Literatures and Culture
This course will explore aspects of African literatures and cultures. It will focus on selected issues of special resonance in contemporary African life; oral literature and its impact on all other art forms; key issues in French colonial policy and its legacy in Africa: language, politics, and education. The course will examine the image of the postcolonial state and society as found in contemporary arts, paintings, sculpture, music, and cinema. Selections from painters and sculptors like Cheri Samba (Zaire), Iba NDiaye, Ousmane Sow (Senegal), Werewere Liking (Cameroun), including such popular icons as Mamy Wata and forms such as Souwere glass painting; from musicians like Youssou Ndour (Senegal), Cheb Khaled (Algeria), Seigneur Rochereau, Tshala Muana (Zaire), Salif Keita (Mali), and Cesaria Evora (Cape Verde); from
Mande, Peul, and Kabyle oral literature in French translation; from filmmakers D.D. Mambety, Moussa Sene Absa, and Ngangura Mweze. The final grade will be based on contributions to discussions, a mid-term, and 2 papers.
Prerequisite: FREN 3031 and FREN 3032
MW 2:00 pm – 3:15 pm (Dramé)
FREN 3585.001 Topics in Cultural Studies –– Contemporary France and Social Movements
If your social media feeds intersect with those from France, it is very likely that, in recent years, you have repeatedly scrolled past images resembling a war zone. Who's fighting whom? And why are these violent confrontations taking place? One thing is for certain: a multi-layered crisis has motivated citizens to take to the streets. Spontaneous movements of resistance have emerged such as "Nuit Debout," "Gillets Jaunes," and various "ZAD." While the fires are still smoldering, and the clouds of tear gas are far from settled, police violence has already left an indelible mark in many people's lives and bodies.
In this course, we will open and examine the file of an increasing number of documents that have already been piling up. We will read essays, chronicles, pamphlets, and fiction, and we will watch movies and documentaries all offering an insider's look or taking stock of the situation. In a spirit of collaborative investigation, we will discuss what's happening today in France, and we will make connections with social justice movements in other parts of the world.
Prerequisite: FREN 3031 and FREN 3032
MW 3:30 pm – 4:45 pm (Simotas)
FREN 3585.002 Topics in Cultural Studies –– Women's Work: Women, Literature, and Society
Simone de Beauvoir famously wrote that, “On ne naît pas femme: on le devient.” What does it mean to be a woman? How do women define, defy, and redefine their place in society? This course considers French and Francophone women’s works of literature and film through the examination of the domestic sphere and conventions that have traditionally defined women’s places and roles. We will study autobiographical and fictional accounts of women's lives, conventions, transgressions (of gender, sexuality, language, morality, norms), and debates on/about women, women’s space, the feminine, the domestic, and feminism. Course texts will include essays, films, short stories, and novels from a variety of time periods and French and Francophone cultures. Students will participate actively in class discussion, collaborate on a group research presentation, write short reaction papers, a midterm and a final paper. Course conducted in French.
Prerequisite: FREN 3032
MWF 1:00 pm – 1:50 pm (Hall)
FREN 4580 Advanced Topics in Literature –– Philosophes noirs/Black Philosophers in French
Since the 1950s, Black philosophers adopted an antiracist and anti-colonial perspective in French. They have questioned for decades aporias and blind spots of our past. Historically many of them are from the Caribbean. We will read together in French : Frantz Fanon, Aimé Césaire, Edouard Glissant, Patrick Chamoiseau and see how they first paved the thinking of race and colonialism. We will analyze their system in light of the debate about race in the US and in France. The course will be entirely conducted in French.
Prerequisite: FREN 3032
MW 3:30 pm – 4:45 pm (Boutaghou)
FREN 4582 Avanced Topics in French Poetry –– Baudelaire et la modernité
Dans ce cours, nous lirons une sélection de textes de Baudelaire (Les Fleurs du mal, Les Petits poèmes en prose, Les Paradis artificiels, et les critiques d'art) pour apprécier l'ensemble de la production littéraire de l'un des poètes les plus célébrés dans la culture occidentale. Nous procèderons par des lectures et des analyses attentives pour examiner la sensibilité et l'esthétique baudelairiennes: le mal et l'éthique de la poésie, la structure et la déstructuration de la forme poétique, l’inspiration et la lucidité dans l'entreprise poétique. De façon plus générale, nous nous intéresserons à la nature et au pouvoir du langage poétique et réfléchirons sur la relation entre le langage poétique et le langage quotidiens ainsi que sur la fonction que peut avoir la poésie dans notre vie.
Pre-requisite: Au moins un cours de littérature, culture, ou de cinéma au-delà de 3032.
TR 3:30 pm – 4:45 pm (Lyu)
FREN 4585.001 Advanced Topics in Cultural Studies –– Getting Medieval on the Movies
Why isn’t Jamie Foxx cast as Robin Hood, or Zoe Saldana as Lancelot, or Michelle Yeoh as Merlin? When we’re dealing in myths, why do some ideas of “historical realism” seem to matter... and how sure are we that we know what medieval European society really looked like? When we imagine the world of over a thousand years ago, why do 1950s (or even 21st-century) race and gender dynamics so often structure it? Why does it matter how we retell important myths in popular culture anyway?
Writers and artists of the Middle Ages often didn’t share our worries about historical accuracy in representation and gave us the lasting legacies of a white Jesus and a pink-cheeked Virgin Mary—even if regional alternatives in fact existed with various degrees of cultural (in)sensitivity. What legacies are we passing down to future generations in our retellings of stories about Robin Hood, the Holy Grail, and Lancelot’s illicit love for Guenevere? Who benefits from perpetuating a singular image of the Middle Ages? Is there a future for different ways of using these stories, as in the work of French rapper Black M or American artist S. Ross Browne?
This class will look at such stories as told in medieval French texts (in modern French translation) and modern stage and screen adaptations, such as the 2012 musical “Robin des Bois” and classics like Rohmer’s 1964 Perceval. For cultural contrast, we’ll also examine a few Anglo adaptations (like Monty Python and the Holy Grail / “Spamalot,” Black Knight, and the 2018 Robin Hood).
No previous study of film required.
TR 12:30 pm – 1:45 pm (Ogden)
FREN 4585.002 Advanced Topics in Cultural Studies –– The Double
The theme of the double, known also as the Doppelgänger, has existed in the literature and in the culture of many civilizations since antiquity. This theme is often related to death and to the fear of a malevolent being who returns in the shape of someone who has not been properly buried. French literature and film contain important examples of doubles, and the work of cultural anthropologist and literary critic René Girard has given renewed vigor to this concept. This course will study doubles and doubling in some of the following novels, stories, plays, and films: Corneille, Le Menteur; Gautier, La Morte amoureuse; Green, Le Voyageur sur la terre; Grimonprez, Double Take; Kieslowski, La Double vie de Véronique; M.M. de Lafayette, Zayde, histoire espagnole; Molière, Amphytrion; Maupassant, Le Horla; Resnais, Hiroshima mon amour; Vigne, Le Retour de Martin Guerre. For purposes of comparison, we may also consider Hoffmann, The Doppelgänger; Poe, William Wilson; Stevenson, The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde; Wilde, The Portrait of Dorian Gray.
Three papers, short quizzes, active participation in discussion, and an oral presentation.
TR 2:00 pm – 3:15 pm (Lyons)
FREN 4585.003 Advanced Topics in Cultural Studies –– Joan of Arc in History
Joan of Arc looms large in French cultural memory, but her status changes (often dramatically) according to place and time. According to who is telling her story, she can appear as warrior or victim, saint or heretic, trailblazer or follower, feminist or traditionalist, spiritually inspired or mentally unstable. No two accounts of Joan are alike. How are we to understand this diversity of opinion and the continued debate surrounding Joan’s story that places her among the top ten historical figures in world history most often treated by writers and artists? This course will examine Joan’s legendary status as it is developed in legal, artistic, historical, and religious works from medieval to modern times. Instead of seeking out the historical “truth” or artistic “faithfulness” of these accounts, we will examine how these works speak to their own cultural moment. To explore this issue, the first half of the semester will focus on contemporary writings that range from letters of Italian merchants, opinions of theologians, and poems of praise about Joan to multiple legal inquiries into her case, including the trial that culminated with her 1431 execution. Thereafter, we will explore key cultural moments when Joan’s story re-emerges in French society, beginning with the “epic failure” of early modern writers to make of her a heroic figure. We will then examine her troubled “life” as a national hero in post-Revolution France before closing with a study of her conflicting modern status as a saint (she was canonized in 1920), as a political mascot, and as an international feminist icon outside of France. Student work will include short essays, presentations on assigned topics, and for the most ambitious students, research projects that match their interests (possible research topics include legal history, medicine or theology; Joan’s depiction in painting, sculpture, cinema, theatre; her use in modern French politics or her role on the international stage).
Pre-requisite: FREN 3032 and at least one additional course in French
MW 2:00 pm – 3:15 pm (McGrady)
FREN 4838 French Society & Civilization –– Contemporary France
Developing cultural literacy is an integral part of becoming an educated citizen of the world. The attainment of cultural literacy includes understanding social norms as well as politics and current events in a particular country. In France, cultural literacy is particularly valued in professional life, where the expectation is that you will be able to converse on a wide range of topics outside your field of specialization.
This course is designed to provide you with some tools for developing cultural literacy in the French context. Through an introduction to the politics, culture, and society of present-day France, you should come away from this class with a deeper understanding of social norms and institutional structures, as well as the ability to follow and understand French media coverage of events as they unfold in France. In your future travels in the US or abroad, you should feel comfortable discussing and debating social, political, and cultural issues and current events relating to France.
To achieve those goals, we will study the evolution of French society, politics, and culture from the end of the Second World War until the present. We will study major social problems facing contemporary France: the role of women, education, immigration, race, religion, public health as well as France's status in the European Union. Throughout the course, emphasis will be placed on readings from the French press, the televised news, and other visual sources.
Prerequisite: one 3000-level course beyond FREN 3032
TR 11:00 am – 12:15 pm (Horne)