Module Identifier FR10910  
Module Title FRENCH LITERATURE AND IDEAS IN THE TWENTIETH CENTURY  
Academic Year 2001/2002  
Co-ordinator Dr Andrew Hussey  
Semester Semester 1  
Course delivery Lecture   10 Hours (3 on each writer & an introductory lecture on the subject)  
  Seminars / Tutorials   3 + 2 (1 seminar on each writer and 2 discussion groups)  
Assessment Continuous assessment   based on an essay of 1500 - 2000 words   30%  
  Exam   2 Hours   70%  
  Resit assessment   One 2 hour exam unless no c/a submitted,inwhich case one 3 hour exam    

Brief description


French writing this century is often characterised as a `literature of ideas' and French novelists studied as thinkers whose work has political and philosophical importance. The first aim of this module is to introduce students to key themes in French writing which have reflected and influenced the society from which they have emerged. Particular topics which are covered in these texts are social justice, women in society, media culture.


The second aim of the module is however to study the texts as literary objects and to develop students' skills as readers and critics. There is therefore emphasis on close reading of the texts which will enable students to situate the texts in a literary and historical context.   

Learning outcomes


In the coursework and examination students will have the opportunity to relate French ideas to a wider cultural context.

Reading Lists

Books
** Supplementary Text
Philip Thody. (1964) Camus 1913-1960.
Jean-Paul Sartre. (1947) 'Explication de l'Etranger', Situations I (pp. 99-121). Gallimard
David Bellos. (1990) 'Introduction to Things: A Novel of the 1960s', Things. Trans D. Bellos. Harper Collins
W. J. Stachan. (1986) 'Introduction to Marguerite Duras and Moderato Cantabile', Moderato Cantabile. Methuen
Maurice Nadeau. (1963) Le Roman francais depuis la guerre, coll. idees. Gallimard
Robert Gildea. (1997) France Since 1945. Oxford University Press
** Essential Reading
Albert Camus. (1942) L' Etranger.
Marguerite Duras. (1958) Moderato Cantabile.
Georges Perec. (1965) Les Choses.