French and Italian

Literary texts represent and often question relations of power and cultural norms, but as a form of knowledge, literature is itself implicated in power relations. Topics range from the work of a writer or group of writers who composed both fiction and political theory or commentary to the function of censorship and of literary trials. Prerequisite: a 200-level course in French or instructor's permission. One 90-minute lecture, one 90-minute preceptorial.

Close readings of landmark novels from nineteenth-century France by Balzac, Stendhal, Hugo, Flaubert, Zola, Huysmans, Claire de Duras, and Constant. What course did the modern novel chart between realism and naturalism, romantic disenchantment and fin-de-siècle decadence, engaged art and aesthetic detachment, national history and private life? How did the novel reflect, shape, and map this revolutionary period in French history? Topics to be highlighted: formal innovation, realism, social critique, theories of the novel, the reading public, and print culture. Prerequisite: a 200-level French course or instructor's permission.

A study of major themes, forms, and techniques in modern fiction. Close analysis of works by Proust, Gide, Céline, Sartre, Camus, Sarraute, Duras, Robbe-Grillet, and Condé. The nouveau roman and experiments in contemporary fiction will be examined as well as the cultural, moral, and political problems of our times. One 90-minute lecture, one 90-minute preceptorial. Prerequisite: a 200-level French course or instructor

Postromantic poetry, including works by Baudelaire, the symbolists (Verlaine, Rimbaud, Mallarmé), such modernists as Valéry, Apollinaire, and the surrealists. Special emphasis is placed on close textual analysis, as well as on symbolist, surrealist, and contemporary poetics. Two 90-minute seminars. Prerequisite: a 200-level French course or instructor

Plays by Molière, Corneille, Racine, Beaumarchais, Marivaux, Hugo, Feydeau, Jarry, Claudel, Giraudoux, Anouilh, Sartre, Genet, Ionesco, and Beckett, along with consideration of mise en scène, techniques of acting, theories of Artaud, and evolution of such traditions as théâtre de moeurs, boulevard comedy, and theater of the absurd. Two 90-minute classes. Prerequisite: a 200-level French course or instructor's permission.

Innovations in the theory and practice of French narrative from the 1850s to the present, considered in cultural, historical, and intellectual context. Works by Flaubert, Proust, Gide, Céline, Camus, Sarraute, Yourcenar, and others will be read in English translation. Prerequisite: a 200-level literature course or instructor's permission. Two 90-minute classes.

Topics will range from the oeuvre and context of a single author (for example, Balzac, Baudelaire, or Beckett) to specific cultural and literary problems (modernism and the avant-garde, history as literature, women's writing). Prerequisite: a 200-level French course or instructor's permission.

Albert Camus was one of the most acclaimed writers of the 20th century, and one of the most paradoxical. Reading his major narratives, plays, and essays, we will asses how the author found himself often at odds with his own thought and creativity, through his philosophy, politics, or the very act of writing. We will see how Camus, always in between, eternally on the move, can help us face (and revolt against) the nonsense of our world, from pandemics to terrorism, imperialism and totalitarianism, how we can question ourselves and relate to others, while still remembering to seek happiness and beauty.

A survey of the literature of decolonization in the Francophone world. The focus will be on the invention of a critical and militant literature in 1950's and 60's North and West Africa, the Caribbean, and Viet Nam. Texts will include poetry, essays, novels, and films. Prerequisite: 200-level French class or permission of instructor.

Major movements and directors in French and French-language cinema. Topics may include: early history of the cinematographe; the Golden Age of French film; Renoir, Bresson, Tati; the "New-Wave"; French women directors of the 1980s; adaptation of literary works.

Issues pertaining to French literature and/or culture that transcend chronological boundaries. The specific content of the course will change each time it is offered. Possible topics include: French Autobiographical Writings, The Idea of Nationhood in France, The French Intellectual, Satire and Humor in France. Prerequisite: a 200-level course in French or instructor's permission. One three-hour seminar.

This course will study the interrelation of slavery and capitalism in the francophone Caribbean, from the Haitian Revolution to the present. The course will examine a series of classic works that contest French Caribbean colonialism and slavery, from the perspective of the historical transition from late imperialist feudalism to industrial and post-industrial capitalism. Writers addressed will include CLR James, Karl Marx, Aimé Césaire, Suzanne Césaire, Eric Williams, Edouard Glissant, and Maryse Condé.

A practical investigation of the issues affecting translation between English and French. Weekly exercises will offer experience of literary, technical, journalistic and other registers of language. Discussion will focus on the linguistic, cultural and intellectual lessons of translation seen as a practical discipline in its own right. Prerequisite: FRE 307 or equivalent level of proficiency in French.

This seminar will focus in depth on a specific aspect of art, history, theory, and criticism in Europe between 1789 and 1914. Possible topics include French painting and its critics, portraiture and sociability, shifting conceptions of realism and naturalism, the onset of modernism, and representations of interior space. Prerequisites: a course in the art of this period or permission of the instructor. Visits to area museums. For department majors, this course satisfies the Group 3 distribution requirement. One three-hour seminar.

A study of some of the major themes and movements of modern architecture from the late 19th century to the present day. Students will be encouraged to examine the social and political context, to probe the architects' intellectual background, and consider issues of class and gender in their relation to architectural and urban form. For department majors, this course satisfies the Group 3 distribution requirement. One three-hour seminar.

Practical and theoretical preparation for teachers of French. Sessions may be held in common with other language programs.

To suit the particular interests of the students and the instructor, a subject for intensive study is selected from special topics such as chansons de geste, roman courtois, paleography and textual criticism, rhetorical theory, lyric poetry, the chronicles, and Provençal materials.

To suit the particular interests of the students and the instructor, a subject for intensive study is selected from topics such as the forms of narrative prose, poetics and logic, chamber theater and fête, Reformation and Counter-Reformation writings, travel literature, and the critical spirit.

Satirical writing is a fundamental mode of literature in the age of Louis XIV. Many major authors of the time - poets, playwrights, novelists, moralists - use their works to mock and denigrate a wide variety of individuals and groups, e.g., lawyers and litigants, bad writers and jealous husbands. What allows satire to be a legitimate part of the classical canon?

Usually a treatment of an aspect of the "other" or nonofficial culture of the 17th century; préciosité, parody, and burlesque; correspondence; personal memoirs; and others.

This course focuses on the way literature, film, but also cultural events and spaces (circus, zoo, museum) present animals as objects of admiration and subjects of performance. We consider the fascination that animals inspire in humans, which might lead to question the distinction between "us" and "them". What is at stake, what are the consequences, for us and for them, when animals are seen or shown as an elusive Other who still beckons a closer encounter? How does the poetic power of language, or the evocative nature of images, affect their agency and our empathy, and eventually our mutual relationship?

The relation of aesthetic form, genre conventions, and ideology is examined through the work of one of the major 18th-century writers or through one or more of the paraliterary forms often preferred by 18th-century writers: the familiar letter, the anecdote, the scientific or critical essay, the commentary, historiography, or natural history.

The ideological and formal problems raised by the break with classical ideals are studied in a variety of texts, documentary as well as literary. Topics include the conception of the literary work as a personal, original production; the struggle of the author for the creation of a style; and the writer's assumption of his relation to history.

Development of the French novel and short story. Particular emphasis is given to Proust, Gide, Malraux, Sartre, Camus, Butor, and Robbe-Grillet. Topics such as the roman fleuve, the poetic novel, the anti-novel, and the nouveau roman are also considered.

Treatment of either the works of an individual writer or a broad topic, such as the impact on literature of other forms of intellectual or artistic activity, including philosophy, the visual arts, history, and psychology.