FLF524 - French Theater in Cultural Contexts

FLF524 - French Theater in Cultural Contexts

Course Justification

The M.A. Program in French requires courses that combine culture and literature. This course provides and opportunity for Masters' students as well as honors students pursuing the French B.A. to study in some depth the dramatic literatures of two major periods of French history their cultural contexts.

Course Objectives Students will:

·  Improve their linguistic skills in reading, writing, and speaking French.

·  Learn to write graduate-Ievel critical, analytical, and research papers in French.

·  Engage in research on the history and culture of seventeenth and twentieth-century France by using materials in the library and on the internet.

·  Learn and apply various critical approaches to the understanding of dramatic texts.

·  Understand the problems of theatrical production by viewing films of performances. Become familiar with some of the major authors in French literature. Develop classroom strategies for the teaching of French theater.

List of Textbooks

Jean-Baptiste Poquelin {Moliere), Le Bourgeois gentilhomme, Les Femmes savantes, Le Malade imaginaire. 2-07-036334-1. Folio (Schoenhof), 1993, $10.95.

Pierre Corneille, Le Cid; Cinna, Polyeucte. 0-948230-57-6. Absolute Classics, GBR, 1996, $15.95.

Jean Racine, Berenice, Phedre, Athalie. 1-87714-164-0. World Classics Series, Brooking International, 1999, $5.95.

Jean-Paul Sartre, Huis Clos etLes Mouches. 2-07-036807-6. Polio, Schoenho( 1990, $8.95. Albert Camus, Caligula et Le Malentendu. 2-07-03606-4. Folio (Schoenhof), 1990, $9.25. Jean Anouilh, Antigone. 2-7103-0025-7. La Table Ronde (Schoenhof), 1995, $10.95. Other materials will be on reserve and/or e-reserve at the library.

Resources

The D.H. Hill library has a good basic collection in seventeenth- and twentieth-century French history and culture as well as histories of French literature and critical works on the authors to be studied. It also has videos, both on the cultures of the periods and of perfornlances of several of the plays. More specialized materials can be obtained from the Duke and UNC libraries and put on e-reserve.

SAMPLE SYLLABUS

FRENCH THEA TER IN CUL TURAL CONTEXTS

Instructor: Mary Ann Witt, Professor, FLL Office: 218 1911 Building Telephone 515-9313

E-mail address: Class meeting times: Office hours:

Course prerequisites: Graduate status in French M.A program or pennission of instructor.

Course description: An intensive study of some of the major plays in the French tradition in the cultural context of two periods: the age of Louis XIV (late seventeenth century) and the Gernlan occupation of France (1940-1941). Reading of plays by Corneille, Racine, Moliere, Sartre, Camus, and Anouilh and of texts on the history and art of the periods. Analysis of the plays from literary, theatrical, cultural, and political points ofview. Use offilm, video, and Internet sites and visit to the North Carolina museum of art. Attention to pedagogical uses of theater in the classroom.

Books to Purchase

Jean-Baptiste Poquelin (Moliere), Le Bourgeois gentilhomme, Les Femmes savantes, Le Malade imaginaire. 2-07-036334-1. Folio. (Schoenhot), 1993, $10.95.

Pierre Corneille, Le Cid, Cinna, Polyeucte. 0-948230-57-6. Absolute Classics, GBR, 1996, $15.95.

Jean Racine, Berenice, Phedre, Athalie. 1-87714-164-0. World Classics Series, Brooking International, 1999, $5.95.

Jean-Paul Sartre, Huis Clos et Les Mouches. 2-07-036807-6. Folio, Schoenhof, 1990, $8.95.

Albert Camus, Caligula et Le Maleritendu. 2-07-03606-4. Folio (Schoenhot), 1990, $9.25. Jean Anouilh, Antigone. 2-7103-0025- 7. La Table Ronde (Schoenhot), 1995, $10.95. Other materials will be on reserve and/or e-reserve at the library .

Students with disabilities: Reasonable accommodations will be made for students with verifiable disabilities. In order to take advantage of these, students must register with Disability Services for Students at 1900 Student Health Center, Campus Box 7509,515-7653. See httD :1 Iwww .ncsl1. edu/nrovost/officeslaffirm-action/ dss

Grade distribution: There will be one short (5-page) paper, one long (15-page) paper, an oral report in class, a midterm exam and a final exam. Distribution is as follows:

Paper 1 10% Paper 2 20 % Midterm exam 20% Final exam 30% Oral work 20%

(report and class participation)

COURSE CALENDAR

(There are approximately 30 days of Tuesday- Thursday classes in a typical semester)

Days 1-3: Introduction to course, lectures, video, and discussions on the age of Louis XIV in France and on French neo-classicism.
Days 4-5. Moliere in cultural context. Nature of French comedy. Reading and discussionLes Femmes savantes.
Days 6- 7: Reading and discussion of Le BoUrgeois gentilhomme. Viewing of filmed performance by the Comedie fran~aise. Discussion of music by Lully and dance in performance.
Day 8: Reading and discussion of Le malade imaginaire.
Day 9-10: Introduction to French Neoclassical tragedy and its role in French society. "La Querelle du Cid." Reading and discussion ofPierre Comeille, Le Cid.
Days 11-13: Reading and discussion ofComeille, Cinna and Polyeucte.
Day 14: First paper due. Introduction to Racine, begin Berenice .
Days 15-17. Racine, Phedre andAthalie. (Film ofPhedre.)
Day 18: Visit to the North Carolina Museum of Art. Concentration on art of the French neo- classical period.
Day 19: Midterm examination
Day 20: Introduction to the German occupation ofParis and the status of French culture under it. Interest in revival of French neo-classical comedy and tragedy. Role of the theater in French life of the period. Viewing of film Le demiermetro.
Day 21: Readings in Sartre's theory of the theater. Discussion ofHuis Clos.
Days 22-23: Les Mouches.
Days 24-26: Albert Camus, writings on theater, Caligula, Le Malentendu.
Days 27-28: Anouilh, Antigone
Day 29: Oral reports. Final paper due.
Day 30: Oral reports, cont. Conclusions and review-