FRENCH LITERATURE 2

The class of "Littérature française" is one of the main teachings of the French course of the Master Degree Course in European, American and post-colonial languages and literatures. It allows students to acquire an advanced knowledge of the history of French literature as well as mastery of theoretical-critical methodologies.
Teaching objectives:
Through a course structured in graduated training stages, students will be able to deal with complex literary and critical texts in French (to read, analyze, interpret and place them in their respective historical-cultural contexts) and to master the techniques related to literary studies and textual analysis (philology, history of genres, poetry, rhetoric, hermeneutics, stylistics, reception, theoretical-literary terminology
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1. Knowledge and understanding
Knowledge of the historical-cultural context covered by the programme (1848-1868); knowledge of the history of French literature and poetics in the XIX and XX Centuries; knowledge of the work and poetics of the author studied; in-depth knowledge of a single work in its various facets and articulations (philology, history of genres, poetry, rhetoric, hermeneutics, stylistics, reception); knowledge of applied criticism.
2. Applying knowledge and understanding
Ability to read, understand, analyse, interpret and place poetic texts as well as ancient (19th century) and modern critical texts in their respective historical-cultural contexts.
3. Judging skills
Ability to evaluate different approaches, methods and interpretations of the texts; ability to exercise critical spirit and analytical skills; ability to orientate oneself between different critical perspectives.
4. Communication skills
Ability to present problems and analyses regarding the program with logical and chronological rigour, and to express concepts with clarity and terminological precision.
5. Learning Capabilities
Ability to synthesize, connect, sort, transmit ideas, forms and data.
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Knowledge of the general frameworks of the history of French literature from the Middle Ages to the present day acquired through the basic literary teachings of the three-year degree course in Languages, civilizations and language sciences.
Since the course is given in French, a mastery of the French language (written and oral) is required at level C1 of the CEFR, also in view of the examination.

Bad luck, misery, misfortune: modern literature in the mirror of the curse

Primary Literature:

- Alfred de Vigny, Stello, éd. Marc Eigeldinger, Paris, Flammarion, « GF », 2008.
- Henri Murger Scènes de la vie de bohème, éd. Sandrine Berthelot, Paris, Flammarion, « GF », 2012.
- Paul Verlaine, Les Poètes maudits, in Œuvres en prose complètes, éd. Jacques Borel, Paris, Gallimard, « Bibliothèque de la Pléiade », 1972.
- Antonin Artaud, Van Gogh, le suicidé de la société, Paris, Gallimard, « L’imaginaire », 2001.

Selected passages from : Baudelaire, Verlaine, Mallarmé, Laforgue.


Secondary Literature:

- Brissette Pascal, La Malédiction littéraire. Du poète crotté au génie malheureux, Presses de l'Université de Montréal, « Socius », Montréal, 2005.
- Brissette Pascal, « Poète malheureux, poète maudit, malédiction littéraire. Hypothèses de recherche sur les origines d’un mythe », Contextes, mai 2008, http://contextes.revues.org/1392
- Brissette Pascal et M.-P. Luneau (dir.), Deux siècles de malédiction littéraire, Presses Universitaires de Liège, 2014.
- Brissette, Pascal et Anthony Glinoer (dir.), Bohème sans frontière, Presses Universitaires de Rennes, « Interférences », 2010.
- Festa-McCormick Diana, « The Myth of the Poètes Maudits », in Robert L. Mitchell (dir.), Pre-Text/Text/Context : Essays on Nineteenth-Century French Literature, Colombus, Ohio State University Press, 1980, p. 199-215.
- Glinoer, Anthony, La Bohème. Une figure de l'imaginaire social, Les Presses de l'Université de Montréal, coll. Socius, 2018.
- Les Bohèmes 1840-1870. Écrivains, journalistes, artistes, édité par Jean-Didier Wagner et François Cesto, Seyssel, Champ Vallon, « Les Classiques », 2012.
- Malédictions littéraires, Textyles (Bruxelles), n° 53, 2018.
- Meizoz Jérôme, Postures littéraires. Mises en scène modernes de l’auteur, Slatkine, 2007.
- Steinmetz Jean-Luc, « Du poète malheureux au poète maudit (réflexion sur la constitution d’un mythe) », Œuvres & Critiques, vol. VII, No 1, 1982, p. 75-86.
- Vaillant, Alain et Vérilhac, Yoan (dir.), Vie de bohème et petite presse du XIXe siècle, Presses universitaire de Paris Nanterre, « Orbis litterarum », 2018.

Assessment will be carried out through:
1. A written essay (approx. 15 pages) in French (50% of the assessment). The essay must be submitted seven days before the oral test.
The essay will focus on a topic chosen by the student and previously agreed upon with the course convenor. During the course students will receive instructions on the essays structure, on bibliography and on typographical norms.
2. An oral test in French on the subjects discussed during the course, including reading and analysis of the texts studied in class (50% of the evaluation).
The test must include :
- the reading of two essays in the "Ouvrages de référence" list

Lessons, lectures, textual analysis seminars

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