University Bulletin 2001-02 French Language and Literature University Bulletin 2001-02
French Language and Literature


Objectives


Concentrating in a foreign literature opens the mind, the imagination, the sensibility to the fullness of life's possibilities. It furthers the potential for wider linguistic expression and teaches us to recognize, respect, and appreciate diversity. It is useful for graduate school, diplomacy, journalism, business, and the enjoyment of the myriad forms of cultural expression. We can thereby learn to express ourselves more cogently, expand our horizons, and pursue a variety of professions by majoring in one of the richest of the world's traditions: French.


How to Become a Concentrator


Students considering a French concentration should complete the language requirement as soon as possible, preferably by the end of their freshman year at Brandeis. They are then normally advised to take FREN 104a or FREN 105a, 106b, and 110a before beginning the sequence of advanced courses (120 and beyond). Please note: Many French concentrators and minors choose to study in France for all or part of their junior year. Students interested in learning more about the concentration or minor are encouraged to speak with the undergraduate advising heads in French.


Faculty


See Romance and Comparative Literature.


Requirements for Concentration


The concentration consists of nine semester courses:

A. FREN 106b (Advanced French Composition).

B. Three of the following early period courses: FREN 120a, 122b, 130a, 132b.

C. Four additional French courses numbered above 106. ECS 100a, the Proseminar, may be one of those electives.

D. Either FREN 97a or b (Senior Essay--fall semester), or FREN 99d (Senior Thesis--a full-year course). Candidates for departmental honors must have a 3.50 GPA in French courses previous to the senior year and must enroll in FREN 99d. Honors are awarded on the basis of cumulative excellence in all courses taken in the concentration, including the senior thesis.

Students may petition the advising head for changes in the above program. Students wishing credit toward the French concentration for French courses cross-listed under European Cultural Studies will be required to do all the reading and writing assignments in French. (The abbreviation FECS denotes French and European Cultural Studies courses.)


Requirements for Minor in French


A. FREN 106b (Advanced French Composition).

B. FREN 110a (Introduction to French Literature).

C. Three additional courses in French numbered above 100. One of these may be a course conducted in English, provided that all the reading and writing assignments are completed in French.

All students pursuing a French minor will be assigned an advisor in the department. Students must enroll in the French minor by the end of the fall semester of the senior year.


Courses of Instruction


All courses are conducted in French unless otherwise noted.


(1-99) Primarily for Undergraduate Students


A student may take at most two 30-level French courses for credit with permission of the Language Coordinator.


FREN 10a Beginning French

Enrollment limited to 18 per section. Students who have completed two or more years of study of French must obtain permission of the instructor before enrolling.

For students who have had no previous study of French. A systematic presentation of the basic grammar and vocabulary of the language within the context of French and Francophone culture, with focus on all four language skills: listening, speaking, reading, and writing. Several sections will be offered. Usually offered every year in the fall.

Staff

FREN 20b Continuing French

Prerequisite: FREN 10a or the equivalent. Enrollment limited to 18 per section.

For students with some previous study of French. Continuing presentation of the basic grammar and vocabulary of the language within the context of French and Francophone culture, and practice of the four language skills. Special attention to reading and writing skills, as well as guided conversation. Several sections will be offered. Usually offered every semester.

Staff

FREN 32a Intermediate French: Conversation

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Prerequisite: FREN 20b or the equivalent. Enrollment limited to 18 per section.

This course focuses on the development of oral expression and conversational skills in the context of continuing development of linguistic competence in French. Usually offered every year.

Staff

FREN 33a Intermediate French: Reading

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Prerequisite: FREN 20b or the equivalent. Enrollment limited to 18 per section.

This course focuses on the development of reading skills in the context of the continuing development of linguistic competence in French. Usually offered every year.

Staff

FREN 34a Intermediate French: Topics in French and Francophone Cultures

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Prerequisite: FREN 20b or the equivalent. Enrollment limited to 18 per section.

Topics or themes from French-speaking cultures are the context for continuing development of linguistic competence in French. Usually offered every year.

Staff

FREN 97a Senior Essay

Signatures of the instructor and the advising head of French required. Students should first consult the French advising head.

Both FREN 97a and 97b offer students an opportunity to produce a senior essay under the direction of an individual instructor. Normally, students will enroll in FREN 97a in the fall. Only under exceptional circumstances will a student enroll in FREN 97b in the spring. Offered every fall.

Staff

FREN 97b Senior Essay

Signatures of the instructor and the advising head of French required. Students should first consult the French advising head.

See FREN 97a for course description. Offered as needed.

Staff

FREN 98a Independent Study

May be taken only with the written permission of the advising head of the concentration and the chair of the department. Signatures of the instructor and the chair of the department required.

Reading and reports under faculty supervision. Offered as needed.

Staff

FREN 98b Independent Study

May be taken only with the written permission of the advising head of the concentration and the chair of the department. Signatures of the instructor and the chair of the department required.

Reading and reports under faculty supervision. Offered as needed.

Staff

FREN 99d Senior Thesis

Signatures of the instructor and the advising head of French required. Students should first consult the French advising head.

Usually offered every year.

Staff


(100-199) For Both Undergraduate and Graduate Students


The abbreviation FECS denotes French and European Cultural Studies courses.

FREN 104a Advanced Language Skills

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Prerequisite: A 30-level French course or the equivalent. Enrollment limited to 15. May be repeated for credit with special permission.

Provides additional language practice at the advanced level through courses that focus on linguistic skills. Skills courses may include such offerings as French Pronunciation, Stylistics, or Advanced Grammar. Given the considerable language background of students at this level, these courses provide more systematic generalizations, as well as tackle some of the more complex linguistic topics. These courses provide essential preparation for students wishing to advance to the major or minor. Usually offered every year.

Staff

FREN 104b Advanced Language Skills through Culture

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Prerequisite: A 30-level French course or the equivalent. Enrollment limited to 15. May be repeated for credit with special permission.

Provides additional language practice at the advanced level through courses that focus on content. Content courses at this level may include such offerings as French History Through Film, or French Impressionism. These courses explore topics in greater depth, practicing language in a rigorous intellectual framework. These courses provide essential preparation for students wishing to advance to the major or minor. Usually offered every year.

Ms. Harder

FREN 105a French Conversation and Grammar

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Prerequisite: A 30-level French course or the equivalent, or permission of the instructor. Enrollment limited to 18.

A study of oral and written communication in French through class discussions, oral and written exercises, presentations, literary and cultural readings, films, and explorations of the media. Emphasizes grammar, vocabulary, and oral and written fluency. Usually offered every semester.

Ms. Klein

FREN 106b Advanced French Composition

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Prerequisite: A 30-level French course or the equivalent, or permission of the instructor. Refer to the University Writing section of the Bulletin for information regarding applicability of the writing intensive requirement. Enrollment limited to 18.

An intense study of French composition through analysis of passages from novels, poems, short stories, and newspaper articles. Emphasis will be placed on techniques of writing in French such as lecture méthodique, dissertation, explication de texte, and comparisons. Usually offered every semester.

Ms. Klein

FREN 110a Introduction to French Literature

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Prerequisite: A 30-level French course or the equivalent, or permission of the instructor. Enrollment limited to 18.

An introduction to French literature from the 16th century to the present. Usually offered every year.

Staff

FREN 120a The French Middle Ages

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Prerequisite: A 100-level French course or the equivalent, or permission of the instructor.

The Middle Ages was a time of contrast, obsessed with love of God and the carnal functions of the body. This course will investigate the dual character of medieval literature, looking at the powers of "le rire" and of "le sérieux." Literary forms studied will include plays, fabliaux, lais, chansons, ballades, and romances. Usually offered every second year.

Mr. Randall

FREN 122b The Renaissance

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Prerequisite: A 100-level French course or the equivalent, or permission of the instructor.

The literature of the 16th century was erotic, tragic, and comic. This class will read the love poetry of writers such as Louise Labé and Joachim Du Bellay, the darkly comic novels of François Rabelais, the essays of Montaigne, and the baroque and polemical works of Agrippa d'Aubigné. It will also analyze issues of basic interest in the Renaissance such as Neoplatonism, the Reformation, and the "Querelle des femmes." Usually offered every second year.

Mr. Randall

FREN 130a The Seventeenth Century

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Prerequisite: A 100-level French course or the equivalent, or permission of the instructor.

Heart and Mind in French Classicism. The combat of passion and reason in 17th-century masterpieces of comedy, tragedy, Pascal's Pensées, and the psychological novel, La princesse de Clèves. Topics include the conflict of love and duty, social class, skepticism and religious faith, gender roles. Usually offered every third year. Will be offered in the fall of 2001.

Mr. Kaplan

FECS 134a Women and Moralists in the Ancien Régime

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Open to all students. Conducted in English with readings in English translation.

Examines women's part in changing the literary, artistic, intellectual, and political culture of the 17th- and 18th-century French monarchy. Topics include salons and social mobility, learned ladies and renegade nuns, science and morality, and subverting authority. Usually offered every second year.

Ms. Harth

FREN 135a The Nineteenth Century

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Prerequisite: A 100-level French course or the equivalent, or permission of the instructor.

Liberation and Selfhood in 19th-century France. Short stories, novels, poetry, and theater in 19th-century France. Topics include love and intimacy, the struggle for identity, gender roles, myth and folklore, religion and secularization. Authors may include Lamartine, Hugo, Desbordes-Valmore, Musset, Nerval, Sand, Balzac. Usually offered every second year.

Mr. Kaplan

FREN 137a The Twentieth Century

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Prerequisite: A 100-level French course or the equivalent, or permission of the instructor.

Major prose and drama of the 20th century. Topics may include the breakdown of genres; language and its limits; the absurd; memoirs of childhood; questions of personal, national, and ethnic identity; rewriting the classics. Usually offered every second year.

Ms. Hale

FREN 142b "La Ville Ecrite"

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Prerequisite: A 100-level French course or the equivalent, or permission of the instructor.

Analyzes the symbolic appearance of the city in French literature and film from the Middle Ages to the present day. The symbolic representation of the city in literature and film will be contextualized in theoretical writings by urbanists and philosophers. Both the symbolic and theoretical depictions of the city will be used to understand the culture in which they were produced. Writers studies include St. Augustine, Rutebeuf, Rabelais, Descartes, Zola, Baudelaire, Benjamin, Le Corbusier, Ledoux, Dali, Batiaille, Debord, Godard, and Perec. Usually offered every second year. Last offered in the spring of 2001.

Mr. Randall

FECS 145a Topics in French Fiction in Translation

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Prerequisite: A 30-level French course or the equivalent, or permission of the instructor. May be repeated for credit with special permission.

Power, Passion, Creativity in the French Novel. Major novels of the 19th and 20th centuries by Balzac, Stendhal, George Sand, Flaubert, Zola, and Proust reflect France's social and political upheavals. Topics include psychological analysis, revolution and class conflicts, male and female relationships, the creative process. Usually offered every second year.

Mr. Kaplan

FREN 150b Topics in French Poetry

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Prerequisite: A 100-level French course or the equivalent, FREN 110a, or permission of the instructor. May be repeated for credit with special permission.

The Lyric Imagination. Reading modern French verse and prose poems, from Baudelaire to Yves Bonnefoy, with essays on the creative process. No previous experience with poetry is necessary. Topics include rebellion against romanticism, surrealist love, ethnic and female voices, beauty and spiritual meaning. Usually offered every third year. Last offered in the fall of 2000.

Mr. Kaplan

FREN 155b Topics in French Drama

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Prerequisite: A 100-level French course or the equivalent, or permission of the instructor. May be repeated for credit with special permission.

Topics may include Greek myth in French drama; theater of the revolution; comedy and tragedy; Romantic drama; melodrama; farce; the theater of the absurd; African and Caribbean drama; French classical theater. Usually offered every second year.

Ms. Hale

FECS 157a Topics in French Film

(Formerly FECS 184a)

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Open to all students. Conducted in English with readings in English translation. Signature of the instructor required. May be repeated for credit with special permission

The topic for 2001-02: The New Wave. From the 1950s on, the innovations of the French New Wave have influenced film in France and abroad. Filmmakers to be studied include Godard, Chabrol, Melville, Rivette, Rohmer, Truffaut, and Varda. Usually offered every third year. Will be offered in the fall of 2001.

Ms. Harth

FREN 165b Topics in Francophone Literatures

(Formerly FREN 180b)

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Prerequisite: A 100-level French course or the equivalent, or permission of the instructor. May be repeated for credit with special permission.

An introductory survey of the poetry, prose, and drama of Francophone writers of Africa or the Caribbean (in alternating sequence). Topics include Négritude, French and African languages, tradition and change, oral and written literature, Islam, the influence of film, the role of women Francophone writers. Usually offered every second year.

Ms. Hale

FECS 182b French Literature and Painting

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Open to all students. Conducted in English with readings in English translation.

Explores the interrelations between French painting and literature through selected texts and corresponding visual images of the 19th and 20th centuries. Topics include Romanticism, Realism, Symbolism, Surrealism, Cubism. Usually offered every third year. Last offered in the spring of 1998.

Ms. Hale

FREN 186b French Literature and Politics

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Prerequisite: A 100-level French course or the equivalent, or permission of the instructor.

A historical analysis of the development of political theory and literature. We analyze how a literary work relates to the political culture in which it was produced. Works studied include: Philippe de Commynes, Mémoires; Montesquieu, De l'esprit des lois; Tocqueville, De la démocratie en amérique; Rabelais, Gargantua; Sarte, Les Mains Sales. Usually offered every third year. Last offered in the spring of 2000.

Mr. Randall

FREN 190b Advanced Seminar

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Signature of the instructor required. May be repeated for credit with special permission.

La Contrainte: In literature and the arts there has always been a debate between those who believed that art was especially a question of inspiration and those who saw it as a question of artifice or craft. We look at two schools of literature, from two very different periods, that both placed the "contrainte," at the center of their poetics. Both the "Grande Rhétorique" from the 15th century, and "Oulipo" from the 20th century, espoused a highly artificial understanding of art. We analyze this "poétique de la contrainte" that contrasted with the inspired poetics of the Pléiade and the Freudian unconscious of the Surrealists within the larger cultural context of the 15th and 20th centuries. Usually offered every second year. Will be offered in the fall of 2001.

Mr. Randall


Cross-Listed Courses


ECS 100a

European Cultural Studies: The Proseminar