Alexandra K Wettlaufer

In this course we will examine representative works from 19th and 20th-century French literature, from Balzac’s Realism of the 1830s to Duras’s post-modern novel of the 1980s.  We will consider literature in its relation to history, with special attention both to form and style in the development of narrative, prose poetry and avant-garde theatre.  All students will be expected to give one in-class presentation on an aspect of French culture and history related to one of the works we are reading, and this presentation will be turned into a brief (5-7 page) paper.  A final paper on a French novel from this period not included on the syllabus will be due the last day of class.

Description :  In this course we will examine representative works from 19th and 20th-century French literature, from Balzac’s Realism of the 1830s to Duras’s post-modern novel of the 1980s.  We will consider literature in its relation to history, with special attention both to form and style in the development of narrative, prose poetry and avant-garde theatre.  All students will be expected to give one in-class presentation on an aspect of French culture and history related to one of the works we are reading, and this presentation will be turned into a brief (5-7 page) paper.  A final paper on a French novel from this period not included on the syllabus will be due the last day of class.

Required Texts

Balzac, Old Goriot

Baudelaire, Spleen de Paris

Flaubert, Madame Bovary

Proust, Swann’s Way

Colette, The Vagabond

Camus, Exile and the Kingdom

Sartre, No Exit

Duras, The Lover

Description

In this course we will consider eighteenth- and nineteenth-century novels about women and their twentieth-century interpretations as films.  Focusing on questions of gender, representation, genre, translation, and narrative form, we will examine these various texts through a variety of critical filters, including history (social, political, literary, filmic), contemporary documents (i.e., Diderot’s essay on “La Femme,” transcripts of the Madame Bovary obscenity trial, etc), and critical theory from the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. Reading knowledge of French is required; discussions will be held in English.  May be cross listed with WGS as well.

Required Texts and Films

Diderot, La Religieuse (1780)

Rivette, La Religieuse (film,1966)

Balzac, Le Chef-d’oeuvre inconnu (1832)

Rivette, La Belle Noiseuse (film, 1991)

Dumas, La Dame aux camélias (1848)

Cukor, Camille (film, 1936)

Zeffirelli, La Traviata (film, 1983)

Flaubert, Madame Bovary (1857)

Minnelli, Madame Bovary (film, 1949)

Chabrol, Madame Bovary (film, 1991)

Maupassant, “Une Partie de campagne” and “La Maison Tellier” (1881)

Renoir, Une Partie de campagne (film, 1936)

Ophuls, La Maison Tellier (film, 1952)

Mirbeau, Journal d’une femme de chambre (1900)

Renoir, Diary of a Chambermaid (film, 1946)

Buñuel, Diary of a Chambermaid (film, 1964)

Monaco, How to Read a Film

Course packet

Grading:

Participation:             20%

In-Class Presentation: 20%

Short paper:            20%

Final paper:            40%

Possible Texts:

Balzac, Old Goriot

Baudelaire, Spleen de Paris

Flaubert, Madame Bovary

Proust, Swann’s Way

Colette, The Vagabond

Camus, Exile and the Kingdom

Sartre, No Exit

Duras, The Lover

Description

In this course we will examine representative works from 19^th and 20^th-century French literature, from Balzac’s Realism of the 1830s to Duras’s post-modern novel of the 1980s.  We will consider literature in its relation to history, with special attention both to form and style in the development of narrative, prose poetry and avant-garde theatre.  All students will be expected to give one in-class presentation on an aspect of French culture and history related to one of the works we are reading, and this presentation will be turned into a brief (5-7 page) paper.  A final paper on a French novel from this period not included on the syllabus will be due the last day of class.