Learning objectives
The course aims to provide an adequate and in-depth knowledge of the concept of Franconia in its many meanings and then to privilege the one that will focus on French-language writers born elsewhere. On the learning level, the student will acquire during the course: in-depth knowledge, with the support of a critical bibliography, of authors, works, movements and aesthetic ideas central to Francophone literature from the 20th century to the present; the ability to contextualize and analyze complex texts in French from both a formal and thematic-ideological point of view; the ability to formulate critical judgments based on careful decoding of the text.
Prerequisites
B2
Course unit content
Since long time, writers born abroad have come to enrich French literature from the Comtesse de Ségur to Guillaume Apollinaire, from Elsa Triolet to Eugène Ionesco. Some, born elsewhere, kept the trace of this birth in their works (Camus, Duras). Others chose French after having first written in their own language] (Samuel Beckett, Milan Kundera, Agota Kristof, Atiq Rahimi). Today, authors from Africa, the Middle East, the Caribbean or the Indian Ocean also express themselves in the language inherited from History while others, from non-French-speaking countries (China, Japan, Afghanistan, Argentina, Hungary, etc.), have chosen French as their writing language.
Infinite facets unfold under the brand of Francophonie; The course initially intends to clarify the term “francophonie” and how authors position themselves with respect to this definition that for some of them now seems outdated. The phenomenon that the course intends to investigate, that of writers born in foreign lands, questions authors who were not predisposed, by the country they come from and by their relationship with the French language, to write in the language of Molière. A relationship with the language that is different from the relationship that exists with writers from the old colonies given the presence, for the latter, of a political dimension inherent to the Francophonie that, if it also exists for other writers, manifests itself in a more individual way. During the course, the characteristics of the writing of these authors born elsewhere will be identified, highlighting – through the analysis of their works – the reasons for adopting French as a language of expression
Full programme
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Bibliography
Reading and analysis of passages by the following writers that will be uploaded to the elly platform: Romain Gary, Jorge Semprun, François Cheng, Agota Kristof, Andreï Makine, Nancy Huston, Vassilis Alexakis, Kim Thuy, Atiq Rahimi.
The following texts must be read in full:
Agota Kristof, L'Analphabète, Genève, Zoe.
Nancy Houston, Nord perdu, Babel, Actes Sud.
Akira Mizubayashi, Une langue venue d'ailleurs, Folio.
Teaching methods
The course consists of lectures, during wich the presentation of histirical and literary contents will be supplemented by commentary and analysis of extracts from texts. The Elly Platform will be used in order to make available critical materials to enable students to carry out personal investigations of the course contents.
Assessment methods and criteria
Competencies and skills will be assessed through an oral examination in French after successfully passing the compulsory written examination. There are four parts to the written examination: grammar, "synthèse" vocabulary test, traduction.
A negative assessment will be given if that the student is unable to attain the minimum requirements of the course; has failed to achieve spoken competence at a C1 level; is unable to decodify texts or make independent judgement; shows a lack of personal and independent study and has failed to make use of the information available. Sufficient evaluation (18-23/30) is determined by the demonstration by the student to have learned the basic and minimum contents of the course, the ability to speak French in a suitable topic, ; ensuring a sufficient level of self-preparation, ability to solve problems related to information retrieval and decoding of complex texts, as well as the formulation of independent judgment. The mean scores (24-27/30) are assigned to the student who produces evidence of a level more than sufficient (24-25/30) or good (26-27/30) evaluation indicators listed above. Higher scores (from 28/30 to 30/30 cum laude) are awarded based on the demonstration of a level as very good to excellent evaluation indicators listed above.
Other information
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2030 agenda goals for sustainable development
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