French and Francophone Studies

FREN B207 Ouvrir la voix: Introduction aux études francophones
This course provides students with an overview of foundational concepts, methods and texts relevant to Francophone Studies. We will engage with past and present debates relating to identity, diversity, nation and empire in the colonial and postcolonial contexts and explore the specificity of Francophone Studies with regards to the field of postcolonial studies. While focused on literature, the course will also explore other forms of cultural production (movies, graphic novels, political speeches, etc.) from sub-Saharan Africa, the Maghreb, the Caribbean and Vietnam. The course will train students in literary analysis and develop their ability to speak and write critically in French. 

FREN B208 La diversité dans le cinéma français contemporain
Until the closing years of the 20th century, ethnic diversity was virtually absent from French cinema. While Francophone directors from Northern and Sub-Saharan Africa debunked colonialism and neocolonialism in their films, minorities hardly appeared on French screens. Movies were made by white filmmakers for a white audience. Since the 1980's and the 1990's, minorities have become more visible in French films. Are French Blacks and Arabs portrayed in French cinema beyond stereotypes, or are they still objects of a euro-centric gaze? Have minorities gained agency in storytelling, not just as actors, but as directors? What is the national narrative at play in the recent French films that focus on diversity? Is it still "us against them", or has the new generation of French filmmakers found a way to include the different components of French identity into a collective subject? From Bouchareb to Gomis, from Kechiche to Benyamina and Jean-Baptiste, this course will map out the visual fault lines of the French self and examine the prospects for a post-republican sense of community. This course will be taught in French. Open to non-majors. There will be a weekly screening on Sunday, 7:00pm-9:00pm.

FREN B221 Femme sujet/Femme objet
An in-depth examination of how women authors from selected periods conceive of their art, construct authority for themselves, and, where appropriate, distinguish themselves from male colleagues, of whom several who have assumed female voices/perspective will be examined as points of comparison. It introduces students to the techniques and topics of selected women writers (as well as theoretical approaches to them) from the most recent (Djebar and M. Duras) to late Medieval authors. This course is taught in French.