FRENCH

FRENCH

Level 1

FR 1006 - INTRODUCTORY FRENCH LANGUAGE 1
Credit Points
20
Course Coordinator
Dr R Ravet

Pre-requisites

None. (Normally not open to students qualified for FR 1007).

Notes

This course may NOT be included as part of a graduating curriculum with FR 1007.

Overview

This is an intensive language course intended for students who have little or no previous knowledge of French. It concentrates on the acquisition of basic grammar and vocabulary, and on the development of writing, reading, speaking and listening skills. In addition to the four weekly classes, students follow a programme of private study (1 hour per week) in the Language Centre.

Structure

4 tutorials per week.

Assessment

1st Attempt: 1 two-hour written examination (80%) and in-course assessment: 4 linguistic exercises (20%).

Resit: 1 two-hour written examination (100%).

FR 1007 - FRENCH LANGUAGE 1
Credit Points
15
Course Coordinator
Dr M Jubb

Pre-requisites

Higher or A level in French.

Notes

This course may NOT be included as part of a graduating curriculum with FR 1006.

Overview

The course will develop the receptive and productive language skills through weekly classes which will focus respectively, on written language, aural language and oral language. In addition students will complete a programme of assignments in the Language Centre in their own time.

Structure

1 one-hour written language class, 1 one-hour aural language class, 1 one-hour oral language class per week.

Assessment

1st Attempt: 1 two-hour written examination (66%) and 1 ninety-minute aural/oral examination (34%). A satisfactory level of performance in course work covering a range of linguistic skills will exempt candidates from the examination.

Resit: 1 two-hour written examination (66%) and 1 oral examination (34%).

FR 1012 - LITERATURE AND CULTURE OF MODERN FRANCE 1
Credit Points
10
Course Coordinator
Professor M Syrotinski

Pre-requisites

Higher or A level in French.

Overview

Twentieth century French and Francophone culture and society through a study of a selection of films, short prose texts, poetry, bandes dessinées (cartoons) and socio-political documents, organised around the two broad themes of "Childhood and Adolescence" and "Gender, Sexuality and Love".

Structure

2 hours per week: lecture, tutorial.

Assessment

1st Attempt: 1 two-hour written examination (100%). A satisfactory level of performance in course work will exempt candidates from the examination.

Resit: 1 two-hour written examination (100%).

FR 1013 - INTRODUCTION TO LITERATURE AND CULTURE OF MODERN FRANCE 1
Credit Points
10
Course Coordinator
Dr M Jubb

Pre-requisites

None. May only be taken in conjunction with FR 1006.

Notes

This course may not be included as part of a graduating curriculum with FR 1012 or FR 1512.

Overview

Introduction to twentieth century French and Francophone culture and society through a study of a selection of films, short prose texts, poetry, bandes dessinées (cartoons) and socio-political documents. Organised round the two broad themes of "Childhood and Adolescence" and "Gender, Sexuality and Love".

Structure

1 one-hour lecture and 1 one-hour tutorial per week.

Assessment

1st Attempt: 1 two-hour written examination (100%). A satisfactory level of performance in course work will exempt candidates from the examination.

Resit: 1 two-hour written examination (100%).

FR 1506 - INTRODUCTORY FRENCH LANGUAGE 2
Credit Points
20
Course Coordinator
Dr R Ravet

Pre-requisites

Normally FR 1006 (but may also be taken by students who have studied French for at least three years and pass the diagnostic test at an appropriate level.

Notes

This course may NOT be included as part of a graduating curriculum with FR 1507.

Overview

This is a continuation of FR 1006 and aims to bring students up to a level of competence which will enable them to proceed to level 2 French. By the end of the course, students should be able to understand authentic spoken and written French, and to express themselves in speech and writing with a reasonable degree of facility and accuracy.

Structure

4 tutorials per week.

Assessment

1st Attempt: 1 two-hour written examination (60%), 1 oral examination (20%) and in-course assessment: 4 linguistic exercises (20%).

Resit: 1 two-hour written examination (80%) and 1 oral examination (20%).

FR 1507 - FRENCH LANGUAGE 2
Credit Points
15
Course Coordinator
Dr M Jubb

Pre-requisites

Normally FR 1007 (but may also be taken by students who have studied French for at least five years and pass the diagnostic test at an appropriate level).

Notes

This course may NOT be included as part of a graduating curriculum with FR 1506.

Overview

Classes will follow the same pattern as in course FR 1007.

Structure

1 one-hour written language class, 1 one-hour aural language class, 1 one-hour oral language class per week.

Assessment

1st Attempt: 1 two-hour written examination (66%) and 1 ninety-minute aural/oral examination (34%). A satisfactory level of performance in course work covering a range of linguistic skills will exempt candidates from the examination.

Resit: 1 two-hour written examination (66%) and 1 oral examination (34%).

FR 1512 - LITERATURE AND CULTURE OF MODERN FRANCE 2
Credit Points
10
Course Coordinator
Professor M Syrotinski

Pre-requisites

Higher or A level in French.

Overview

Twentieth century French and Francophone culture and society through a study of a selection of films, short prose texts and poetry, organised around the broad themes of "Resistance and Collaboration in World War 2" and "Colonialism and its Aftermath".

Structure

2 hours per week: lecture, tutorial.

Assessment

1st Attempt: 1 two-hour written examination (100%). A satisfactory level of performance in course work will exempt candidates from the examination.

Resit: 1 two-hour written examination (100%).

FR 1513 - INTRODUCTION TO LITERATURE AND CULTURE OF MODERN FRANCE 2
Credit Points
10
Course Coordinator
Dr M Jubb

Pre-requisites

None. May only be taken in conjunction with FR 1506.

Notes

This course may not be included as part of a graduating curriculum with FR 1012 or FR 1512.

Overview

Introduction to twentieth century French and Francophone culture and society through a study of a selection of films, short prose texts and poetry, organised round the broad themes of "Resistance and Collaboration in World War 2" and "Colonialism and its Aftermath".

Structure

1 one-hour lecture (Wed at 10) and 1 one-hour tutorial (to be arranged) per week.

Assessment

1st Attempt: 1 two-hour written examination (100%). A satisfactory level of performance in course work will exempt candidates from the examination.

Resit: 1 two-hour written examination (100%).

Level 2

FR 2001 - ADVANCED INTRODUCTORY FRENCH LANGUAGE 1
Credit Points
20
Course Coordinator
Dr R Ravet

Pre-requisites

FR 1506

Overview

Three of the four hours will be identical to course FR 2002. The fourth hour will consist of grammar classes, dealing with areas not covered by previous courses.

Structure

4 one-hour tutorials per week.

Assessment

1st Attempt: 1 two-hour written examination (75%) and 1 oral examination (25%). A satisfactory level of performance in course work covering a range of linguistic skills will exempt candidates from the examination.

Resit: 1 two-hour written examination (75%) and 1 oral examination (25%).

FR 2002 - ADVANCED FRENCH LANGUAGE 1
Credit Points
15
Course Coordinator
Dr R Ravet

Pre-requisites

FR 1507 or (for Accelerated Degree entry only) ‘A’ level at grade B or SYS at grade B in French.

Overview

Classes will develop language skills, both receptive (aural comprehension capacity through tuition based on audio and video material; reading comprehension through analysis of written French and translation into English), and productive (composition and letter-writing, translation into French). Classes on grammatical and linguistic analysis will contribute to the development of both sets of skills.

Structure

3 one-hour tutorials per week.

Assessment

1st Attempt: 1 two-hour written examination (75%) and 1 oral examination (25%). A satisfactory level of performance in course work covering a range of linguistic skills will exempt candidates from the examination.

Resit: 1 two-hour written examination (75%) and 1 oral examination (25%).

FR 2009 - FRENCH IDENTITIES: INDIVIDUAL AND NATION
Credit Points
15
Course Coordinator
Dr N Kiwan

Pre-requisites

Normally FR 1012 or FR 1512.

Overview

This course will involve the study a range of set texts or topics, each dealing with key moments and debates in France's intellectual, political and socio-cultural history. All texts/topics will be studied from the point of view of the relationship between individual and nation and will consider the question of cultural constructions of national identity in works of literature and film.

Structure

1 one-hour lecture and 1 one-hour tutorial per week.

Assessment

1st Attempt: 1 two-hour written examination (100%). A satisfactory level of performance in course work will exempt students from the examination.

Resit: 1 two-hour written examination (100%).

FR 2011 - INTRODUCTION TO FRENCH IDENTITIES: INDIVIDUAL AND NATION
Credit Points
15
Course Coordinator
Dr N Kiwan

Pre-requisites

Normally FR 1013 or FR 1513.

Overview

This introductory course will involve the study a range of set texts or topics, each dealing with key moments and debates in France's intellectual, political and socio-cultural history. All texts/topics will be studied from the point of view of the relationship between individual and nation and will consider the question of cultural constructions of national identity in works of and film.

Structure

1 one-hour lecture and 1 one-hour tutorial per week.

Assessment

1st Attempt: 1 two-hour written examination (100%). A satisfactory level of performance in course work will exempt students from the examination.

Resit: 1 two-hour written examination (100%).

FR 2501 - ADVANCED INTRODUCTORY FRENCH LANGUAGE 2
Credit Points
20
Course Coordinator
Dr R Ravet

Pre-requisites

FR 2001

Overview

Three of the four hours will be identical to course FR 2502. The fourth hour will consist of grammar classes, intended to bring students to the same level as FR 2502 students.

Structure

4 one-hour tutorials per week.

Assessment

1st Attempt: 1 two-hour written examination (75%) and 1 oral examination (25%). A satisfactory level of performance in course work covering a range of linguistic skills will exempt candidates from the examination.

Resit: 1 two-hour written examination (75%) and 1 oral examination (25%).

FR 2502 - ADVANCED FRENCH LANGUAGE 2
Credit Points
15
Course Coordinator
Dr R Ravet

Pre-requisites

FR 2002

Overview

Classes will follow the same pattern as FR 2002 with similar emphasis on development of receptive and productive language skills. More classes will be devoted to aural comprehension by means of audio material.

Structure

3 one-hour tutorials per week.

Assessment

1st Attempt: 1 two-hour written examination (75%) and 1 oral examination (25%). A satisfactory level of performance in course work covering a range of linguistic skills will exempt candidates from the examination.

Resit: 1 two-hour written examination (75%) and 1 oral examination (25%).

FR 2509 - FRENCH IDENTITIES: CENTRE AND PERIPHERY
Credit Points
15
Course Coordinator
Dr N Kiwan

Pre-requisites

Normally FR 1012 or FR 1512.

Overview

This course will involve the study a range of set texts or topics, each dealing with key moments and debates in France's intellectual, political and socio-cultural history. All texts/topics will be studied from the point of view of the relationship between centre and peripheryin French and Francophone countries and will consider the question of cultural constructions of national identity in works of literature and film.

Structure

1 one-hour lecture and 1 one-hour tutorial per week.

Assessment

1st Attempt: 1 two-hour written examination (100%). A satisfactory level of performance in course work will exempt candidates from the examination.

Resit: 1 two-hour written examination (100%).

FR 2510 - INTRODUCTION TO FRENCH LINGUISTICS
Credit Points
15
Course Coordinator
Dr G Hesketh

Pre-requisites

Normally FR 1506 or FR 1507.

Overview

The course, which aims at breadth rather than depth of coverage, will introduce students to all the major areas of linguistic study as they relate to the French language: pronunciation; sentence structure; words, meanings and dictionaries; French as a world language and French in use, in its social and historical context. Students will be encouraged to apply their theoretical knowledge to the practical analysis of examples of real French.

Structure

2 one-hour lecture/workshops per week.

Assessment

1st Attempt: 1 two-hour written examination (100%). A satisfactory level of performance in course work will exempt candidates from the examination.

Resit: 1 two-hour written examination (100%).

FR 2511 - INTRODUCTION TO FRENCH IDENTITIES: CENTRE AND PERIPHERY
Credit Points
15
Course Coordinator
Dr N Kiwan

Pre-requisites

Normally FR 1013 or FR 1513.

Overview

This introductory course will involve the study of a range of texts and topics, each dealing with key moments and debates in France's intellectual, political and socio-cultural history. All texts/topics will be studied from the point of view of the relationship between centre and periphery in French and Francophone countries and will consider the question of cultural constructions of national identity in works of literature and film.

Structure

1 one-hour lecture and 1 one-hour tutorial per week.

Assessment

1st Attempt: 1 two-hour written examination (100%). A satisfactory level of performance in course work will exempt students from the examination.

Resit: 1 two-hour written examination (100%).

Level 3

FR 3003 - LEVEL 3 FRENCH LANGUAGE 5
Credit Points
30
Course Coordinator
Professor A Saunders and Dr R Ravet

Pre-requisites

FR 2501 or FR 2502

Notes

This course is run over the full session.

Overview

Language teaching falls into three broad areas, all of which complement each other and contribute to the student’s overall command of the French language. One class - taken by a native French speaker - focuses on oral communicative skills while another develops competence in the written language at a formal level and concentrates also on the practical applications of language, developing both written and spoken competence in a variety of different registers.

Structure

An average of 3 one-hour seminars per fortnight.

Assessment

1st Attempt: In-course assessment: 5 linguistic exercises (100%).

Resit: 1 two-hour written examination (75%) and 1 oral examination (25%).

FR 3028 - LEVEL 3 FRENCH LANGUAGE 6
Credit Points
20
Course Coordinator
Professor A Saunders

Pre-requisites

Available only to Erasmus/Socrates students.

Notes

This course is run over the full session.

Overview

A range of source texts, including passages of journalism, will be studied, and the translation issues which they pose will be examined. As well as direct translation, use will also be made of comparative translation, through discourse analysis.

Structure

1 one-hour seminar per week.

Assessment

1st Attempt: In-course assessment: 3 linguistic exercises (100%).

Resit: 1 two-hour written examination (100%).

FR 3033 - THE MIDDLE AGES IN FRANCE A
Credit Points
15
Course Coordinator
Dr M Jubb

Pre-requisites

Available only to students in Programme Year 3 with a knowledge of French.

Notes

This course may NOT be included as part of a graduating curriculum with FR 4033 (The Middle Ages in France B). It will be available in 2009/10 and in alternate sessions thereafter.

Overview

The course studies a selection of short French texts written between 1150 and 1300. These cover a range of different genres, including narrative verse, lyric poetry, courtly romance and early drama, and they illustrate contrasting values and contrasting attitudes to the role of men and women in the society of the period. The background of the period is also studied, covering such topics as the production and reception of medieval, as opposed to modern, texts; feudalism; courtly love.

Structure

2 one-hour meetings per week.

Assessment

1st Attempt: In-course assessment: two written assignments (100%).

Resit: 1 two-hour written examination (100%).

FR 3034 - THE HISTORY AND STRUCTURE OF THE FRENCH LANGUAGE A
Credit Points
15
Course Coordinator
Dr G Hesketh

Pre-requisites

Available only to students in Programme Year 3 with a reading knowledge of French.

Notes

This course may NOT be included as part of a graduating curriculum with FR 4034 (The History and Structure of French Language B). It will be available in 2008/09 and in alternate sessions thereafter.

Overview

The course, which builds on the foundation laid in FR 2510, offers an introduction to French linguistics in, so far as possible, a non-technical way. Three major areas are explored: language and society; aspects of grammar; words and meanings. Each of these areas is considered from two points of view: first, that of the overall structure of contemporary French, which will occupy the majority of class time; second that of the historical developments in each area (generally from around 1650), which have made the language what it is today.

Structure

2 one-hour meetings per week.

Assessment

1st Attempt: In-course assessment: two written assignments (100%).

Resit: 1 two-hour written examination (100%).

FR 3035 - THE RENAISSANCE IN FRANCE A
Credit Points
15
Course Coordinator
Professor A Saunders

Pre-requisites

Available only to students in Programme Year 3 with a reading knowledge of French.

Notes

This course may NOT be included as part of a graduating curriculum with FR 4035 (The Renaissance in France B). It will be available in 2008/09 and in alternate sessions thereafter.

Overview

The course aims to help students achieve an understanding and appreciation of a number of French literary works of the sixteenth century, within the broader context of the European Renaissance. Prose fiction of Rabelais is studied together with the work of a major sixteenth-century French poet. Some non-French writing of the period is also studied (in English translation), as well as topics such as the renewal of interest in classical antiquity, the development of printing and social change.

Structure

2 one-hour meetings per week.

Assessment

1st Attempt: In-course assessment: two written assignments (100%).

Resit: 1 two-hour written examination (100%).

FR 3036 - FRENCH EMBLEM LITERATURE A
Credit Points
15
Course Coordinator
Professor A Saunders

Pre-requisites

Available only to students in Programme Year 3 with a reading knowledge of French.

Notes

This course may NOT be included as part of a graduating curriculum with FR 4036 (French Emblem Literature B). It will be available in 2009/10 and in alternate sessions thereafter.

Overview

Emblem literature, with its combination of word and image, was popular across Europe in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries for its usefulness both as a teaching tool and as a source of iconographic inspiration, but France was several decades ahead of the rest of Europe. The course will examine a selection of French emblem books, noting the rich diversity of practice, and analyse the ways in which they could be used as vehicles for social comment as well as for political or religious propaganda, and for practical purposes as pattern books for artists in other media such as embroidery, tapestry, painting, and woodcarving.

Structure

2 one-hour meetings per week.

Assessment

1st Attempt: In-course assessment: two written assignments (100%).

Resit: 1 two-hour written examination (100%).

FR 3039 - INVENTING THE SELF: LITERARY AUTOBIOGRAPHY IN POST-WAR FRANCE A
Credit Points
15
Course Coordinator
Professor M Syrotinski

Pre-requisites

Available only to students in Programme Year 3 with a reading knowledge of French.

Notes

This course may NOT be included as part of a graduating curriculum with FR 4039 (Inventing the Self: Literary Autobiography in Post-war France B). It will be available in 2009/10 and in alternate sessions thereafter.

Overview

Through the detailed study of a selection of autobiographies from World War II to the present, this course will examine the way in which a major French writers have adopted and transformed the autobiographical genre to pursue such questions as the relationship of life to art, the nature of memory, the unconscious, and the transformation of the self through time as well as through the very process of autobiographical writing.

Structure

2 one-hour meetings per week.

Assessment

1st Attempt: In-course assessment: two written assignments (100%).

Resit: 1 two-hour written examination (100%).

FR 3040 - CONTEMPORARY FRENCH THOUGHT A
Credit Points
15
Course Coordinator
Dr N Nesbitt

Pre-requisites

Available only to students in Programme Year 3 with a reading knowledge of French.

Notes

This course may NOT be included as part of a graduating curriculum with FR 4040 (Contemporary French Thought B). It will be available in 2008/09 and in alternate sessions thereafter.

Overview

The course will examine the development of French thought since the 1950s through the study of the writings of a number of important intellectual figures. In particular, we will look at the ways in which each of the writers questions and redefines a particular field of knowledge (such as linguistics, anthropology, philosophy, history or psycho-analysis).

Structure

2 one-hour meetings per week.

Assessment

1st Attempt: In-course assessment: two written assignments (100%).

Resit: 1 two-hour written examination (100%).

FR 3041 - LEVEL 3 FRENCH LANGUAGE 1
Credit Points
30
Course Coordinator
Professor A Saunders and Dr R Ravet

Pre-requisites

May be taken only by Junior Honours candidates in French Studies (Single Honours).

Notes

This course is run over the full session.

Overview

Language teaching falls into 3 broad areas, all of which complement each other, and contribute to the student’s overall command of the French language. One class taken by a native French speaker, focuses on oral communicative skills, while another develops competence in the written language at a formal level, and also concentrates on the practical application of language, developing both written and spoken competence in a variety of different registers. The Junior and Senior Honours Language courses form a continuum for which the final assessment is not made until the end of the Senior Honours year.

Structure

2 one-hour seminars per week.

Assessment

1st Attempt: French Honours language examinations (100%). Any student who follows this course but decides not to proceed to level 4 will be examined by in-course assessment: 5 linguistic exercises (100%).

Resit: 1 two-hour written examination (75%) and 1 oral examination (25%).

FR 3042 - LEVEL 3 FRENCH LANGUAGE 2
Credit Points
15
Course Coordinator
Professor A Saunders and Dr R Ravet

Pre-requisites

May be taken only by Joint French Junior Honours students.

Notes

This course is run over the full session.

Overview

Language teaching falls into 3 broad areas, all of which complement each other, and contribute to the student’s overall command of the French language. One class taken by a native French speaker focuses on oral communicative skills; while another develops competence in the written language at a formal level; and also concentrates on the practical applications of language, developing both written and spoken competence in a variety of different registers. The Junior and Senior Honours language courses form a continuum for which the final assessment is not made until the end of the Senior Honours year.

Structure

An average of 3 one-hour seminars per fortnight.

Assessment

1st Attempt: French Honours language examinations (100%). Any student who follows this course but decides not to proceed to Level 4 will be examined by in-course assessment: 5 linguistic exercises (100%).

Resit: 1 two-hour written examination (75%) and 1 oral examination (25%).

FR 3045 - LEVEL 3 FRENCH LANGUAGE 9
Credit Points
30
Course Coordinator
Dr N Lübecker

Pre-requisites

Available only to students in Programme Year 3 or above.
Available only to Honours candidates in European Studies.

Notes

This course is run over the full session.

Overview

An intensive programme of written language exercises is designed to develop competence in a variety of different registers, including formal and informal.

Assessment

1st Attempt: In-course assessment: 6 linguistic exercises (100%).

Resit: 1 two-hour written examination (100%).

FR 3047 - LEVEL 3 FRENCH LANGUAGE 12
Credit Points
10
Course Coordinator
Professor A Saunders

Pre-requisites

Available only to Erasmus/Socrates students.

Overview

A range of source texts, including passages of journalism, will be studied, and the translation issues which they pose will be examined. As well as direct translation, use will also be made of comparative translation, through discourse analysis.

Structure

1 one-hour seminar per week.

Assessment

1st Attempt: In-course assessment: 2 linguistic exercises (100%).

Resit: 1 two-hour written examination (100%).

FR 3048 / FR 3548 - LEVEL 3 FRENCH LANGUAGE 14/15
Credit Points
15
Course Coordinator
Dr N Lübecker

Pre-requisites

Available only to students in Programme Year 3 or above. Available only to Honours candidates in European Studies.

Overview

An intensive programme of written language exercises is designed to develop competence in a variety of different registers, including formal and informal.

Assessment

1st Attempt: In-course assessment: 3 linguistic exercises (100%).

Resit: 1 two-hour written examination (100%).

FR 3049 - LEVEL 3 FRENCH LANGUAGE 16
Credit Points
15
Course Coordinator
Professor A Saunders and Dr R Ravet

Pre-requisites

FR 2501 or FR 2502. Available only to European Studies students in Programme Year 4, studying two languages.

Notes

This course is run over the full session.

Overview

Language teaching falls into three broad areas, all of which complement each other and contribute to the student's overall command of the French language. One class - taken by a native French speaker - focuses on oral communicative skills; another develops competence in the written language at a formal level, while the third concentrates on the practical application of language, developing both written and spoken competence in a variety of different registers.

Structure

An average of 3 one-hour seminars per fortnight.

Assessment

1st Attempt: In-course assessment: language exercises (100%).

Resit: 1 two-hour written examination (75%) and 1 oral examination (25%).

FR 3051 - CONTEMPORARY FRENCH FILM A
Credit Points
15
Course Coordinator
Dr N Lübecker

Pre-requisites

240 credit points.

Notes

This course may NOT be included as a part of a graduating curriculum with FR 4051 (Contemporary French Film B). It will be available in 2009/10, and in alternate sessions thereafter.

Overview

The course focuses on contemporary French directors – e.g. Catherine Breillat, Claire Denis, Bruno Dumont, Philippe Grandrieux and François Ozon – whose works explore questions of desire, sexuality and death. These timeless topics are treated in new and often provocative ways allowing the following questions to be discussed: what is the relation between formalism and socio-political engagement in the works of the five directors? How do the filmmakers relate to the traditions that they do not belong to (ie first of all Hollywood and La nouvelle vague)? What do the directors tell us about cinema and contemporary society? Viewings will include: Lhumanité/Humanity (Dumont); Beau Travail/Good Work (Denis); A ma soeur!/Fat Girl (Brellait); Sous le sable/Under the Sand (Ozon); La vie nouvelle (Grandrieux).

Structure

2 one-hour meetings per week.

Assessment

1st Attempt: In-course assessment: two written assignments (100%).

Resit: 1 two-hour written examination.

FR 3054 - NOVELS OF THEIR CENTURY A
Credit Points
15
Course Coordinator
Professor J Dunkley

Pre-requisites

240 credits; Available only to students in Programme Year 3 with a reading knowledge of French.

Notes

This course may not be included as a part of a graduating curriculum with FR 4054 (Novels of their Century B). It will be available in 2008/09 and in alternate years thereater.

Overview

A range of substantial, canonical French novels, representative of their periods will be studied, together with related films based on them.

Structure

2 one-hour meetings per week.

Assessment

1st Attempt: In-course assessment: 2 written assignments, two 2,500 words (50% each).

Resit: 1 two-hour written examination.

FR 3055 - RESIDENCE ABROAD PROJECT
Credit Points
15
Course Coordinator
Dr N Kiwan

Pre-requisites

240 credits by the end of level 2.

Overview

Students will be expected to complete a report in French of c. 4000 words.

Structure

This course will follow a distance-learning model. As such, students will be able to contact the course coordinator, Dr Nadia Kiwan, by email whilst they are abroad. This will allow students to discuss any concerns, queries they may have with the course coordinator.

Assessment

1st Attempt: Ethnographic report (100%).

Resit: Resubmission of ethnographic report (100%).

FR 3056 - MAY '68
Credit Points
15
Course Coordinator
Dr N Nesbitt

Pre-requisites

240 credits; available only to students in Programme Year 3 with a reading and aural knowledge of French.

Notes

This course may not be included as a part of a graduating curriculum with FR 4056 (May '68). It will be available in 2009/10 and in alternate sessions thereafter.

Overview

The first part of this course will focus on the historical and cultural background that led to the events of May '68. Once students are grounded in this material, the course will move on to examine this multi-faceted event in greate detail, and then, in conclusion, survey the legacy of May '68 and some of the continuing debates surrounding its interpretation in contemporary French culture.

Structure

2 one-hour meetings per week.

Assessment

1st Attempt: In-course assessment: two written assignments (100%).

Resit: 1 two-hour written examination.

FR 3527 - LEVEL 3 FRENCH LANGUAGE 7
Credit Points
15
Course Coordinator
Dr N Lübecker

Pre-requisites

FR 2502 or FR 2501

Co-requisites

FR 3041 or FR 3042. May be taken only by mode B Junior Honours candidates in French, studying in a French-speaking country.

Overview

The course, open only to mode B Junior Honours students of French, fulfilling their residence requirements in a French-speaking country, complements FR 3022, FR 3023 and FR 3009. An intensive programme of written language exercises is designed to develop competence in a variety of different registers, including formal and informal. The Junior and Senior Honours Language courses form a continuum for which the final assessment is not made until the end of the Senior Honours year.

Structure

Required field work: regular submission of written material by correspondence.

Assessment

1st Attempt: French Honours language examinations (100%). Any student who follows this course but decides not to proceed to level 4 will be examined by in-course assessment: 3 linguistic exercises (100%).

Resit: 1 two-hour examination (100%).

FR 3533 - LITERATURE AND SOCIETY IN SEVENTEENTH-CENTURY FRANCE A
Credit Points
15
Course Coordinator
Professor A Saunders

Pre-requisites

Available only to students in Programme Year 3 with a reading knowledge of French.

Notes

This course may NOT be included as part of a graduating curriculum with FR 4533 (Literature and Society in Seventeenth-Century France B). It will be available in 2009/10 and in alternate sessions thereafter.

Overview

The course will examine, in the context of their time, a number of French writers of the seventeenth century. Topics dealt with will include the development of drama; Versailles and the Sun King; social ideals and the notion of gentlemanliness.

Structure

2 one-hour meetings per week.

Assessment

1st Attempt: In-course assessment: two written assignments (100%).

Resit: 1 two-hour written examination (100%).

FR 3535 - FRENCH THEATRE A
Credit Points
15
Course Coordinator
Dr G Hesketh

Pre-requisites

Available only to students in Programme Year 3 with a reading knowledge of French.

Notes

This course may NOT be included as part of a graduating curriculum with FR 4535 (French Theatre B). It will be available in 2008/09 and in alternate sessions thereafter.

Overview

Students will initially participate in a series of discussions focused on central aspects of dramatic theory. Thereafter, some classes will be devoted to the study of a series of representative texts, either in print or on film, and others will take the form of seminars on more general topics.

Structure

2 one-hour meetings per week.

Assessment

1st Attempt: In-course assessment: two written assignments (100%).

Resit: 1 two-hour written examination (100%).

FR 3536 - FRENCH CINEMA A
Credit Points
15
Course Coordinator
Dr M Jubb

Pre-requisites

Available only to students in Programme Year 3 with a reading knowledge of French.

Notes

This course may NOT be included as part of a graduating curriculum with FR 4536 (French Cinema B). It will be available in 2008/09 and in alternate sessions thereafter.

Overview

An introductory overview of the history of the French cinema will be followed by detailed study of a number of films. The introduction will stress the particular status of film as a serious art form in France, and the position of the French cinema in relation to that of the rest of Europe and Hollywood. It will study the cinema’s response to and reflection of the major historical events of the twentieth century in France. The detailed study will be organised chronologically, from the 1930s up to the 1980s, but will concentrate on the aesthetic and formal aspects of the films to be studied.

Structure

2 one-hour meetings per week.

Assessment

1st Attempt: In-course assessment: two written assignments (100%).

Resit: 1 two-hour written examination (100%).

FR 3537 - FRANCOPHONE AFRICAN AND CARRIBEAN LITERATURE AND FILM A
Credit Points
15
Course Coordinator
Professor M Syrotinski

Pre-requisites

Available only to students in Programme Year 3 with a reading knowledge of French.

Notes

This course may NOT be included as part of graduating curriculum with FR 4537 (Francophone African Literature and Film B). This course will be available in 2009/10 and in alternate sessions thereafter.

Overview

This course will introduce students to the literature and cinema of Francophone Africa. After some general historical and social background, texts and films by individual authors and film directors will be studied, and there will be discussion of the general issues arising out of the films and texts taken separately, as well as the interrelation between them. The main themes will be: literature and cinema as historical documents; conditions of production, distribution (and exhibition); colonialism/post-colonialism/neo-colonialism; the language question; humour and political satire; and gender and the cinematic gaze.

Structure

2 one-hour meetings per week.

Assessment

1st Attempt: In-course assessment: two written assignments (100%).

Resit: 1 two-hour written examination (100%).

FR 3552 - INTERWAR LITERATURE AND POLITICS A
Credit Points
15
Course Coordinator
Dr N Lübecker

Pre-requisites

Available only to students in Programme Year 3 with a reading knowledge of French.

Notes

This course may NOT be included as part of a graduating curriculum with FR 4552 (Interwar Literature and Politics B). It will be available in 2008/09 and in alternate sessions thereafter.

Overview

The course looks at French society, literature and thought in the interwar period. Through readings of novels, pamphlets, sociological and philosophical texts by writers like Andre Breton, Georges Bataille, Andre Malraux, Robert Brasillach, Georges Sorel and Paul Nizan the following topics will be discussed: literature and communism, the aesthetics of avant-garde, the existential and political use of myths, fascism and the fear of decadence.

Structure

2 one-hour meetings per week.

Assessment

1st Attempt: In-course assessment: two written assignments (40% and 60%).

Resit: 1 two-hour written examination (100%).

FR 3553 - PARIS: TRANSNATIONAL CITY OF CULTURE A
Credit Points
15
Course Coordinator
Dr N Kiwan

Pre-requisites

Available only to students in Programme Year 3 with a reading and aural knowledge of French or by permission of the Head of School.

Notes

This course may not be included as part of a graduating curriculum with FR 4553 (Paris: Transnational City of Culture B). It will be available in 2008/09 and in alternate sessions thereafter.

Overview

The first part of this course will focus on an introduction to the nature of cultural production, French cultural policy as well as urban, postcolonial and transnationalism theories. Once students are grounded in the theoretical issues, the course will move on to a series of case-studies of post-migrant artists and artistic genres in order to look at how the city space can be used, to what extent Paris is enabling/disabling for artists, the role of the media as gatekeepers, the relevance of la Francophonie to their work, their transnational links etc.

Structure

2 one-hour meetings per week.

Assessment

1st Attempt: In-course assessment: two written assignments (100%).

Resit: 1 two-hour written examination.

FR 3554 - VOLTAIRE AND THE FRENCH ENLIGHTENMENT A
Credit Points
15
Course Coordinator
Professor J Dunkley

Pre-requisites

Available only to students in Programme Year 3 or above with a reading knowledge of French or by permission of the Head of School.

Notes

This course may not be included as part of a graduating curriculum with FR 4554 (Voltaire and the French Enlightenment B). It will be available in 2008/09 and in alternate years thereafter.

Overview

The course looks at Voltaire's contribution to the French Englightenment in its historical and geographical context. Reading of texts chosen from among his comedies, his tragedies, his philosophical tales and essays and his polemical writings will illuminate this.

Structure

2 one-hour meetings per week.

Assessment

1st Attempt: In-course assessment; two written assignments (100%).

Resit: 1 two-hour written examination.

FR 3555 - ENLIGHTENMENT COMEDY A
Credit Points
15
Course Coordinator
Professor J Dunkley

Pre-requisites

Available only to students in Programme Year 3 or above with a reading knowledge of French, or by permission of the Head of School.

Notes

This course may not be included as part of a graduating curriculum with FR 4555 (Enlightenment Comedy B). It will be available in 2009/10 and in alternate years thereafter.

Overview

The course looks at the productions of the (official) Comédie-Française and the (unofficial) Théâtre de la Foire and at the different types of comedy which each produced, and at the effects which each had on the other. Texts representative of the official theatre will include a selection fo those composed by writers such as Boindin, Regnard, Lesage, Destouches and Voltaire, and from the Foire a selection of those available on the César website (with iconography).

Structure

2 one-hour meetings per week.

Assessment

1st Attempt: In-course assessment; two written assignments (100%).

Resit: 1 two-hour written examination.

FR 3557 - POLITICS OF DIFFERENCE
Credit Points
15
Course Coordinator
Dr N Kiwan

Pre-requisites

240 credit points. Available only to students in Programme Year 3 with a reading and aural knowledge of French.

Notes

This course may NOT be included as a part of a graduating curriculum with FR 4053 (The Politics of Difference in Contemporary France B). It will be available in 2009/10 and in alternate sessions thereafter.

Overview

This course is designed to provide students with a better understanding of the political and philosophical challenges of reconciling equality and the recognition of cultural difference within French political culture. The first half of this twelve-week course deals with the theoretical and philosophical debates about the challenge posed by cultural difference in France, placing them in historical context. The second half of the course will focus more heavily on specific case studies and challenges that have arisen over the last 20 years. Difference will be conceptualised in its broadset sense, and will include issues relating to migration, regionalism, gender, and sexual orientation.

Structure

2 one-hour meetings per week.

Assessment

1st Attempt: In-course assessment, two written assignments (100%).

Resit: 1 two-hour written examination (100%).

Level 4

FR 4003 - FRENCH SENIOR HONOURS SEMINAR 1
Credit Points
30
Course Coordinator
Professor J Dunkley

Pre-requisites

May be taken only by Single Senior Honours French students.

Notes

This course is run over the full session.

Overview

This seminar programme, taught over the whole session, covers a broad range of topics embracing cultural, aesthetic, philosophical and literary matters, as well as political and social ideas. Students are expected to research material for the seminars, present this material in an articulate and persuasive manner, and organise a follow up discussion. In this way the seminars will complement the level 4 language class, as well as the optional courses, and prepare students for the composition paper.

Structure

An average of 1 two-hour seminars per fortnight.

Assessment

1st Attempt: 1 three-hour composition paper in French (100%).

FR 4004 - LEVEL 4 FRENCH LANGUAGE 3
Credit Points
30
Course Coordinator
Professor A Saunders and Dr R Ravet

Pre-requisites

FR 3041 or FR 3042 or FR 3003.

Notes

This course is run over the full session.

Overview

Language teaching falls into 3 broad areas, all of which complement each other, and contribute to the student's overall command of the French language. One class taken by a native French speaker focuses on oral communicative skills; another develops competence in the written language at a formal level; while the third concentrates on the practical applications of language, developing both written and spoken skills in a variety of different registers.

Structure

An average of 3 one-hour seminars per fortnight.

Assessment

1st Attempt: In-course assessment: 5 linguistic exercises (100%).

FR 4007 / FR 4507 - FRENCH SENIOR HONOURS SEMINAR 2
Credit Points
15
Course Coordinator
Professor J Dunkley

Pre-requisites

May be taken only by Joint Senior Honours French students.

Notes

Joint Honours students may take this course in EITHER half-session.

Overview

This seminar programme, taught over a half-session, covers a broad range of topics embracing cultural, aesthetic, philosophical and literary matters, as well as political and social ideas. Students are expected to research material for the seminars, present this material in an articulate and persuasive manner, and organise a follow up discussion. In this way the seminars will complement the level 4 language class, as well as the optional courses, and prepare students for the composition paper.

Structure

An average of 1 two-hour seminars per fortnight.

Assessment

1st Attempt: 1 three-hour composition paper in French (100%).

FR 4008 - LEVEL 4 FRENCH LANGUAGE 1
Credit Points
30
Course Coordinator
Professor A Saunders and Dr R Ravet

Pre-requisites

FR 3041

Notes

This course is run over the full session.

Overview

Language teaching falls into 3 broad areas, all of which complement each other, and contribute to the student’s overall command of the French language. One class taken by a native French speaker focuses on oral communicative skills; another develops competence in the written language at a formal level; while the third concentrates on the practical applications of language, developing both written and spoken competence in a variety of different registers. The Junior and Senior Honours language courses form a continuum for which the final assessment is not made until the end of the Senior Honours Year.

Structure

3 one-hour seminars per week.

Assessment

1st Attempt: French Honours language examinations: 2 three-hour written examinations (66%) and 1 oral examination (34%).

FR 4009 - LEVEL 4 FRENCH LANGUAGE 2
Credit Points
15
Course Coordinator
Professor A Saunders and Dr R Ravet

Pre-requisites

FR 3042

Notes

This course is run over the full session. May be taken only by Joint Senior Honours French students.

Overview

Language teaching falls into 3 broad areas, all of which complement each other, and contribute to the student’s overall command of the French language. One class taken by a native French speaker focuses on oral communicative skills; another develops competence in the written language at a formal level; while the third concentrates on the practical applications of language, developing both written and spoken competence in a variety of different registers. The Junior and Senior Honours language courses form a continuum for which the final assessment is not made until the end of the Senior Honours year.

Structure

An average of 3 one-hour seminars per fortnight.

Assessment

1st Attempt: French Honours language examinations: 1 three-hour written examination (50%) and 1 oral examination (50%).

FR 4033 - THE MIDDLE AGES IN FRANCE B
Credit Points
15
Course Coordinator
Dr M Jubb

Pre-requisites

Available only to students in Programme Year 4 with a reading knowledge of French.

Notes

This course may NOT be included as part of a graduating curriculum with FR 3033 (The Middle Ages in France A). It will be available in 2009/10 and in alternate sessions thereafter.

Overview

The course studies a selection of short French texts written between 1150 and 1300. These cover a range of different genres, including narrative verse, lyric poetry, courtly romance and early drama, and they illustrate contrasting values and contrasting attitudes to the role of men and women in the society of the period. The background of the period is also studied, covering such topics as the production and reception of medieval, as opposed to modern, texts; feudalism; courtly love. In addition, students will extend their understanding of the subject by means of independent research, setting the topics treated in their wider context and synthesizing material from a range of sources.

Structure

2 one-hour meetings per week.

Assessment

1st Attempt: In-course assessment: two written assignments (100%).

FR 4034 - THE HISTORY AND STRUCTURE OF THE FRENCH LANGUAGE B
Credit Points
15
Course Coordinator
Dr G Hesketh

Pre-requisites

Available only to students in Programme Year 4 with a reading knowledge of French.

Notes

This course may NOT be included as part of a graduating curriculum with FR 3034 (The History and Structure of the French Language A). It will be available in 2008/09 and in alternate sessions thereafter.

Overview

The course, which builds on the foundation laid in FR 2510, offers an introduction to French linguistics in, so far as possible, a non-technical way. Three major areas are explored: language and society; aspects of grammar; words and meanings. Each of these areas is considered from two points of view: first, that of the overall structure of contemporary French, which will occupy the majority of class time; second that of the historical developments in each area (generally from around 1650), which have made the language what it is today. Students will also have the opportunity to examine more general topics relating to French linguistics and linguistic methods. In addition, students will extend their understanding of the subject by means of independent research, setting the topics treated in their wider context and synthesizing material from a range of sources.

Structure

2 one-hour meetings per week.

Assessment

1st Attempt: In-course assessment: two written assignments (100%).

FR 4035 - THE RENAISSANCE IN FRANCE B
Credit Points
15
Course Coordinator
Professor A Saunders

Pre-requisites

Available only to students in Programme Year 4 with a reading knowledge of French.

Notes

This course may NOT be included as part of a graduating curriculum with FR 3035 (The Renaissance in France A). It will be available in 2008/09 and in alternate sessions thereafter.

Overview

The course aims to help students achieve an understanding and appreciation of a number of French literary works of the sixteenth century, within the broader context of the European Renaissance. Prose fiction of Rabelais is studied together with the work of two major sixteenth-century French poets. Some non-French writing of the period is also studied (in English translation), as well as topics such as the renewal of interest in classical antiquity, the development of printing and social change. In addition, students will extend their understanding of the subject by means of independent research, setting the topics treated in their wider context and synthesizing material from a range of sources.

Structure

2 one-hour meetings per week.

Assessment

1st Attempt: In-course assessment: two written assignments (100%).

FR 4036 - FRENCH EMBLEM LITERATURE B
Credit Points
15
Course Coordinator
Professor A Saunders

Pre-requisites

Available only to students in Programme Year 4 with a reading knowledge of French.

Notes

This course may NOT be included as part of a graduating curriculum with FR 3036 (French Emblem Literature A). It will be available in 2009/10 and in alternate sessions thereafter.

Overview

Emblem literature, with its combination of word and image, was popular across Europe in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries for its usefulness both as a teaching tool and as a source of iconographic inspiration, but France was several decades ahead of the rest of Europe. The course will examine a selection of French emblem books, noting the rich diversity of practice, and analyse the ways in which they could be used as vehicles for social comment as well as for political or religious propaganda, and for practical purposes as pattern books for artists in other media such as embroidery, tapestry, painting, woodcarving. Some English emblems will also be studied. In addition, students will extend their understanding of the subject by means of independent research, setting the topics treated in their wider context and synthesizing material from a range of sources.

Structure

1 two-hour meeting per week.

Assessment

1st Attempt: In-course assessment: two written assignments (100%).

FR 4039 - INVENTING THE SELF: LITERARY AUTOBIOGRAPHY IN POST-WAR FRANCE B
Credit Points
15
Course Coordinator
Professor M Syrotinski

Pre-requisites

Available only to students in Programme Year 4 with a reading knowledge of French.

Notes

This course may NOT be included as part of a graduating curriculum with FR 3039 (Inventing the Self: Literary Autobiography in Post-war France A). It will be available in 2009/10 and in alternate sessions thereafter.

Overview

Through the detailed study of a selection of autobiographies from World War II to the present, this course will examine the way in which major French writers have adopted and transformed the autobiographical genre to pursue such questions as the relationship of life to art, the nature of memory, the unconscious, and the transformations of the self through time as well as through the very process of autobiographical writing. In addition, students will extend their understanding of the subject by means of independent research, setting the topics treated in their wider context and synthesizing material from a range of sources.

Structure

2 one-hour meetings per week.

Assessment

1st Attempt: In-course assessment: two written assignments (100%).

FR 4040 - CONTEMPORARY FRENCH THOUGHT B
Credit Points
15
Course Coordinator
Dr N Nesbitt

Pre-requisites

Available only to students in Programme Year 4 with a reading knowledge of French.

Notes

This course may NOT be included as part of a graduating curriculum with FR 3040 (Contemporary French Thought A). It will be available in 2008/09 and in alternate sessions thereafter.

Overview

The course will examine the development of French thought since the 1950s through the study of the writings of a number of important intellectual figures. In particular, we will look at the ways in which each of the writers question and redefine a particular field of knowledge (such as linguistics, anthropology, philosophy, history or psycho-analysis). In addition, students will extend their understanding of the subject by means of independent research, setting the topics treated in their wider context and synthesizing material from a range of sources.

Structure

2 one-hour meetings per week.

Assessment

1st Attempt: In-course assessment: two written assignments (100%).

FR 4051 - CONTEMPORARY FRENCH FILM B
Credit Points
15
Course Coordinator
Dr N Lübecker

Pre-requisites

None.

Notes

This course may NOT be included as a part of a graduating curriculum with FR 3051 (Contemporary French Film A). The course will be available in 2009/10 and in alternate sessions thereafter.

Overview

The course focuses on contemporary French directors – e.g. Catherine Breillat, Claire Denis, Bruno Dumont, Philippe Grandrieux and François Ozon – whose works explore questions of desire, sexuality and death. These timeless topics are treated in new and often provocative ways allowing the following questions to be discussed: what is the relation between formalism and socio-political engagement in the works of the five directors? How do the filmmakers relate to the traditions that they do not belong to (ie first of all Hollywood and La nouvelle vague)? What do the directors tell us about cinema and contemporary society? We will also discuss how the selected directors may be situated within the history of French (and international) cinema. Viewings will include: Lhumanité/Humanity (Dumont); Beau Travail/Good Work (Denis); A ma souue!/Fat Girl (Brellait); Sous le sable/Under the Sand (Ozon); La vie nouvelle (Grandrieux).

Structure

2 one-hour meetings per week.

Assessment

1st Attempt: In-course assessment, two written assignments (100%).

FR 4052 - FRENCH DISSERTATION I
Credit Points
15
Course Coordinator
Professor J Dunkley

Pre-requisites

May be taken only by Honours candidates in French.

Overview

A dissertation of 8,000 words on a subject to be decided in consultation with the Course Co-ordinator, to be researched and written (under supvervision by a member of staff) in the second half session of Junior Honours, and submitted at the beginning of Senior Honours.

Structure

Invidiual supervision over 12 weeks.

Assessment

1st Attempt: Dissertation (100%).

FR 4054 - NOVELS OF THEIR CENTURY B
Credit Points
15
Course Coordinator
Professor J Dunkley

Pre-requisites

240 credits; Available only to students in Programme Year 4 with a reading knowledge of French.

Notes

This course may not be included as part of a graduating curriculum with FR 3054 (Novels of their Century A). It will be available in 2008/09 and in alternate years thereafter.

Overview

A range of substantial, canonical French novels, representative of their periods and related films will be studied, together with a further novel to be studied privately under guidance.

Structure

2 one-hour meetings per week.

Assessment

1st Attempt: In-course assessment: two written assignments, 2,500-3,000 words (50% each).

FR 4056 - MAY '68
Credit Points
15
Course Coordinator
Dr N Nesbitt

Pre-requisites

240 credits; available only to students in Programme Year 4 with a reading and aural knowledge of French.

Notes

This course may not be included as part of a graduating curriculum with FR 3056 ('May '68). It will be available in 2009/10 and in alternate sessions thereafter.

Overview

The first part of this course will focus on the historical and cultural background that led to the events of May '68. Once students are grounded in this material, the course will move on to examine this multi-faceted event in greater detail, and then, in conclusion, survey the legacy of May '68 and some of the continuing debates surrounding its interpretation in contemporary French culture. In addition, students will be required to investigate the international ramifications of the cultural and political events of 1968.

Structure

2 one-hour meetings per week.

Assessment

1st Attempt: In-course assessment: two written assignments (100%).

Resit: 1 two-hour written examination.

FR 4533 - LITERATURE AND SOCIETY SEVENTEENTH-CENTURY FRANCE B
Credit Points
15
Course Coordinator
Professor A Saunders

Pre-requisites

Available only to students in Programme Year 4 with a reading knowledge of French.

Notes

This course may NOT be included as part of a graduating curriculum with FR 3533 (Literature and Society in Seventeenth-Century France A). It will be available in 2009/10 and in alternate sessions thereafter.

Overview

The course will examine, in the context of their time, a number of French writers of the seventeenth century. Topics dealt with will include the development of drama; Versailles and the Sun King; social ideals and the notion of gentlemanliness. In addition, students will extend their understanding of the subject by means of independent research, and by synthesizing material from a range of sources.

Structure

2 one-hour meetings per week.

Assessment

1st Attempt: In-course assessment: two written assignments (100%).

FR 4535 - FRENCH THEATRE B
Credit Points
15
Course Coordinator
Dr G Hesketh

Pre-requisites

Available only to students in Programme Year 4 with a reading knowledge of French.

Notes

This course may NOT be included as part of a graduating curriculum with FR 3535 (French Theatre A). It will be available in 2008/09 and in alternate sessions thereafter.

Overview

Students will initially participate in a series of discussions focussed on central aspects of dramatic theory. Thereafter, some classes will be devoted to the study of a series of representative texts, either in print or on film, and others will take the form of seminars on more general topics. In addition, students will extend their understanding of the subject by exploring areas (dramatists, directors, texts, periods, etc) not covered on the syllabus by means of independent research, setting the topics treated in their wider context and synthesizing material from a range of sources.

Structure

2 one-hour meetings per week.

Assessment

1st Attempt: In-course assessment: two written assignments (100%).

FR 4536 - FRENCH CINEMA B
Credit Points
15
Course Coordinator
Dr M Jubb

Pre-requisites

Available only to students in Programme Year 4 with a reading knowledge of French.

Notes

This course may NOT be included as part of a graduating curriculum with FR 3536 (French Cinema A). It will be available in 2008/09 and in alternate sessions thereafter.

Overview

An introductory overview of the history of the French cinema will be followed by detailed study of a number of films. The introduction will stress the particular status of film as a serious art form in France, and the position of the French cinema in relation to that of the rest of Europe and Hollywood. It will study the cinema’s response to and reflection of the major historical events of the twentieth century in France. The detailed study will be organized chronologically, from the 1930s up to the 1980s, but will concentrate on the aesthetic and formal aspects of the films to be studied. In addition, students will extend their understanding of the subject by means of independent research, setting the topics treated in their wider context and synthesizing material from a range of sources.

Structure

2 one-hour meetings per week.

Assessment

1st Attempt: In-course assessment: two written assignments (100%).

FR 4537 - FRANCOPHONE AFRICAN AND CARRIBEAN LITERATURE AND FILM B
Credit Points
15
Course Coordinator
Professor M Syrotinski

Pre-requisites

Available only to students in Programme Year 4 with a reading knowledge of French.

Notes

This course may NOT be included as part of a graduating curriculum with FR 3537 (Francophone African Literature and Film A). This course will be available in 2009/10 and alternate sessions thereafter.

Overview

This course will introduce students to the literature and cinema of Francophone Africa. After some general historical and social background, texts and films by individual authors and film directors will be studied, and there will be discussion of the general issues arising out of the films and texts taken separately, as well as the interrelation between them. The main themes will be: literature and cinema as historical document; conditions of production, distribution (and exhibition); colonialism/post-colonialism/neo-colonialism; the language question; humour and political satire; and gender and the cinematic gaze. In addition, students will extend their understanding of the subject by means of independent research, taking account of additional films or texts, exploring the relations between them, setting the topics treated in their wider context and synthesizing material from a range of sources.

Structure

2 one-hour meetings per week.

Assessment

1st Attempt: In-course assessment: two written assignments (100%).

FR 4552 - INTERWAR LITERATURE AND POLITICS B
Credit Points
15
Course Coordinator
Dr N Lübecker

Pre-requisites

Available only to students in Programme Year 4 with a reading knowledge of French.

Notes

This course may NOT be included as part of a graduating curriculum with FR 3552 (Interwar Literature and Politics A). It will be available in 2008/09 and in alternate sessions thereafter.

Overview

The course looks at French society, literature and thought in the interwar period. Through readings of novels, pamphlets, sociological and philosophical texts by writers like Andre Breton, Georges Bataille, Andre Malraux, Robert Brasillach, Georges Sorel and Paul Nizan the following topics will be discussed: literature and communism, the aesthetics of the avant-garde, the existential and political use of myths, fascism and the fear of decadence. Students will extend their understanding of the subject by means of independent research setting the topics treated in their wider contexts, and synthesizing material from a range of sources.

Structure

2 one-hour meetings per week.

Assessment

1st Attempt: In-course assessment: two written assignments (40% and 60%).

FR 4553 - PARIS: TRANSNATIONAL CITY OF CULTURE B
Credit Points
15
Course Coordinator
Dr N Kiwan

Pre-requisites

Available only to students in Programme Year 4 with a reading and aural knowledge of French or by permission of the Head of School.

Notes

This course may not be included as part of a graduating curriculum with FR 3553 (Paris: Transnational City of Culture A). It will be available in 2008/09 and in alternate sessions thereafter.

Overview

The first part of this course will focus on an introduction to the nature of cultural production, French cultural policy as well as urban, postcolonial and transnationalism theories. Once students are grounded in the theoretical issues, the course will move on to a series of case-studies of post-migrant artists and artistic genres in order to look at how the city space can be used, to what extent Paris is enabling/disabling for artists, the role of the media as gatekeepers, the relevance of la Francophonie to their work, their transnational links etc. Students will extend their understanding of the subject by means of independent research, setting the topics treated in their wider contexts, and synthesising material from a range of sources.

Structure

2 one-hour meetings per week.

Assessment

1st Attempt: In-course assessment: two written assignments (100%).

FR 4554 - VOLTAIRE AND THE FRENCH ENLIGHTENMENT B
Credit Points
15
Course Coordinator
Professor J Dunkley

Pre-requisites

Available only to students in Programme Year 4 with a reading knowledge of French or by permission of the Head of School.

Notes

This course may not be included as part of a graduating curriculum with FR 3554 (Voltaire and the French Englightenment A). It will be available in 2008/09 and in alternate years thereafter.

Overview

The course looks at Voltaire's contribution to the French Enlightenment in its historical and geographical context. Readings of texts chosen from among his comedies, his tragedies, his philosophical tales and essays and his polemical writings will illuminate this. In addition, students will extend their understanding of the subject by means of reading and independent research and by synthesizing material from a range of sources.

Structure

2 one-hour meetings per week.

Assessment

1st Attempt: In-course assessment; two written assignments (100%).

FR 4555 - ENLIGHTENMENT COMEDY B
Credit Points
15
Course Coordinator
Professor J Dunkley

Pre-requisites

Available only to students in Programme Year 4 with a reading knowledge of French, or by permission of the Head of School.

Notes

This course may not be included as part of a graduating curriculum with FR 3555 (Enlightenment Comedy A). It will be available in 2009/10 and in alternate years thereafter.

Overview

The course looks at the productions of the (official) Comédie-Française and the (unofficial) Théâtre de la Foire and at the different types of comedy which each produced, and at the effects which each had on the other. Texts representative of the official theatre will include a selection of those composed by writers such as Boindin, Regnard, Lesage, Destouches, and Voltaire, and from the Foire a selection of those available on the César website (with iconography). Students will, in addition, extend their understanding of the subject by means of independent research and by synthesizing a range of source material.

Structure

2 one-hour meetings per week.

Assessment

1st Attempt: In-course assessment; two written assignments (100%).

FR 4557 - POLITICS OF DIFFERENCE
Credit Points
15
Course Coordinator
Dr N Kiwan

Pre-requisites

240 credit points. Available only to students in Programme Year 4 with a reading knowledge of French.

Notes

This course may NOT be included as a part of a graduating curriculum with FR 3053 (The Politics of Difference in Contemporary France A). It will be available in 2009/10 and in alternate sessions thereafter.

Overview

This course is designed to provide students with a better understanding of the political and philosophical challenges of reconciling equality and the recognition of cultural difference within French political culture. The first half of this twelve-week course deals with the theoretical and philosophical debates about the challenge posed by cultural difference in France, placing them in historical context. The second half of the course will focus more heavily on specific case studies and challenges that have arisen over the last 20 years. Difference will be conceptualised in its broadest sense - and will include issues relating to regionalism, migration, gender, and sexual orientation. Students will extend their understanding of the subject by means of independent research, setting the topics treated in their wider contexts, and synthesising material from a range of sources.

Structure

2 one-hour meetings per week.

Assessment

1st Attempt: In-course assessment, two written assignments (100%).