Spring 2017 Course Offerings | Department of French

FRESHMAN SEMINARS

FREN 013/HUMS074

Albert Camus: The Major Works (Alice Kaplan)

An exploration of the major works–fiction, theater, political essays–of French writer Albert Camus (1913-1960).

GROUP B & C

ADVANCED AND LITERATURE COURSES IN FRENCH

Gateway courses

FREN 160

Advanced Culture and Conversation

Intensive oral practice designed to further skills in listening comprehension, speaking, and reading through

the use of videos, films, fiction, and articles. Emphasis on contemporary French and francophone cultures.

Prerequisites: FREN 150, 151, or a satisfactory placement test score, or with permission of the course director.

May be taken concurrently with or after FREN 170.

FREN 170

Introduction to the Study of Literature in French
Introduction to close reading and analysis of literary texts written in French. Works by authors such as Marie

de France, Molière, Balzac, Hugo, Baudelaire, Duras, Proust, and Genet.

Advanced Language Course

FREN 198

Applied Advanced French Grammar
In-depth study of grammar and discourse strategies. Advanced grammar exercises, linguistic analysis of

literary selections, and English-to-French translation. Intended to improve students’ written command of

French and to prepare them for upper-level courses; recommended for prospective majors.

General fields courses

FREN 240/LITR 214/HUMS 201

The Modern French Novel (Maurice Samuels, Alice Kaplan)

A survey of major French novels, considering style and story, literary and intellectual movements, and

historical contexts. Writers include Balzac, Flaubert, Proust, Camus, and Sartre. Readings in translation. One

section conducted in French.

FREN 245/THST 245

Twentieth Century Theater (Christopher Semk)

An introduction to the works of major twentieth-century playwrights, including Anouilh, Ionesco, Beckett,

Sartre, and Genet. Special emphasis on theater of the absurd. The social, cultural, and political contexts of the

plays; questions relating to theater in performance.

Special topics courses

FREN 300/HUMS 161/ENGL 203

Medieval Shorts (R. Howard Bloch, Ardis Butterfield)

Study of the medieval verse tales that are at the root core of humorous, realistic, and idealist literature in

English, French, Italian, and Spanish. Readings include a wide range of short works such as French fabliaux,

fables and lais, novella from Boccaccio’s Decameron, English short tales and lyrics. English translations will be

available for all texts, which will also be studied alongside their original languages.

FREN 333/WGSS357

Women Vagabonds in Literature and Film (Morgane Cadieu)
We will examine various representations of women vagabonds (nomads, maroons, flâneuses, streetwalkers)

and analyze how they deconstruct the traditional spatialization of sex and gender. French and Francophone

literature by Colette, Confiant, Sebbar, Breton, Modiano, NDiaye. Films by Duras, Akerman, Varda, Truffaut.

Theoretical excerpts on feminism and space theory.

FREN 335/HUMS235

Orientalism in Literature and Art (Marie-Hélène Girard, Maryam Sanjabi)
Examination of Oriental influences in French prose, theater, poetry, travel literature, and art from the

seventeenth century to the twentieth. Topics include the problems of Orientalism; encounters with peoples,

monuments, and cultures of the Muslim Middle East; social and political critique; and the popular lure of

Oriental exoticism. Readings in English.

FREN 347/HSAR 280

Ekphrasis (Thomas Connolly)

An exploration of ekphrasis, understood both as the verbal representation of visual representation and, more

broadly, as the way in which one artistic discourse represents, critiques, or transgresses another. Manifestations

of this rhetorical device in both Western and non-Western cultures from antiquity to the present.

FREN 389

Lovers of the Ancien Régime (Pierre Saint-Amand)

A study of love and relationship in the literature of Old Regime France. Topics include major actors (the

libertine, the fop), spaces (the boudoir, the salon, and the garden), and social practices (conversation). Authors

include Molière, Madame de Lafayette, Crébillon fils, and Laclos. Conducted entirely in French. For students of

superior linguistic ability.

FREN 414/MMES 261

The Algerian War of Independence and Its Literature (Jill Jarvis)
Survey of literature about the Algerian war of independence written in both France and Algeria since 1954. The

role of women in the insurgency; the construction of an Algerian national identity; the issue of political

commitment for intellectuals; debates on terrorism and the use of torture. Some attention to film. Readings

from the works of Camus, Dib, Kateb, Memmi, Stora, Blanchard, and Fanon.