Module Identifier |
FRM0130 |
Module Title |
PATHS TO THE ABSOLUTE: FROM SYMBOLISM TO SURREALISM |
Academic Year |
2003/2004 |
Co-ordinator |
Dr Andrew J Hussey |
Semester |
Semester 1 |
Other staff |
Dr Heather M Williams |
Pre-Requisite |
Normally degree-level competence in French |
Course delivery |
Lecture | 7 Hours |
|
Seminars / Tutorials | 13 Hours |
Assessment |
Assessment Type | Assessment Length/Details | Proportion |
Semester Exam | 3 Hours | 60% |
Semester Assessment | essay and commentary on a set text One essay of 2,500 words and one commentary of 1,500 words | 40% |
|
Learning outcomes
On successful completion of this module students should be able to:
The close attention to poetic language will provide a basis for subsequent study of twentieth-century literature and literary theory.
On completion of this module students will be able to:
-
articulate and understand the historical and philosophical context of debates around modernism
-
describe nineteenth century perspectives of modernism
-
explain relevant critical arguments developed in the avant-gardes in the early part of the twentieth century
-
offer reasoned critical analysis of primary texts, demonstrating independendent of thought
-
use secondary literature with an appropriate level of sophistication
-
demonstrate analytical skills at an appropriate level
-
read critically, with a sensitivity to language or `textuality?
-
demonstrate a sophisticated grasp of the relationship between form and content
Those students who wish to go on with their studies should be able to demonstrate that they have a solid foundation for postgraduate research
Brief description
This module studies in depth poetic theory and practice from the mid 19th to early 20th Century in France. The four poets will be considered both as theorists and practitioners. Close critical reading of their work will provide students with a detailed knowledge of the issues and debates in contemporary literary theory as well as the period under consideration.
Aims
The aims of this module are to trace and consider the development of poetic theory and practice from the mid nineteenth century to the early twentieth century. These developments will be with specific reference to French poets concerned with the study of the crisis in representational language (Baudelaire, Mallarme) and the poetic object (Breton, Bataille), two themes which exerted considerable influence on twentieth century literary theory.
Content
Lecture/ Seminar list
Week 1: Paths to the Absolute: an introduction (lecture)
Week 2: The historical context 1857-1898 (lecture and seminar)
Week 3: Poetry and the City: Baudelaire (lecture and seminar)
Week 4: Case study: `Tableaux parisiens? (two seminars)
Week 5: The crisis of metaphysical language: Mallarme (lecture and seminar)
Week 6: Case study: `Prose (pour des Esseintes)? (two seminars)
Week 7: The historical context 1900-1927 (lecture)
Week 8: Symbolism to Surrealism: Andre Breton (lecture and seminar)
Week 9: Case study: `L'rnion libre? and extracts from the `Deuxieme manifeste du surrealisme? (seminar)
Week 10: The inner scar: Georges Bataille (lecture and seminar)
Week 11: Case study: `Tempete des flames? and `L'rxperience interieure? (two seminars)
Week 12: Conclusions (seminar)
Reading Lists
Books
Baudelaire, Charles (1975) Oeuvres completes, 2 vols
Paris: Gallimard, Pleiade
Culler, Jonathan (1990) Intertextuality and interpretation: Baudelaire' 'correspondances', in 'Nineteenth-Century French Poetry: Introduction to close reading' ed. Christopher Prendergast
Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 118-37
Evans, Margery (1993) Baudelaire and Intertextuality: Poetry at the crossroads
Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
Fairlie, Alison (1960) Baudelaire: Les Fleurs du mal
London: Edward Arnold
Fairlie, Alison (1981) Imagination and Language
Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
Johnson, Barbara (1979) Defigurations du langage poetique: La seconde revolution baudelairienne
Paris: Flammarion
Prendergast, Christopher Paris and the Nineteenth Century
Oxford: Blackwell, 1992, 1995
Mallarme, Stephane (1992) Poesies, ed. Bertrand Marchal
Paris: Gallimard
Mallarme, Stephane (1976) Igitur, Divagations, Un Coup de des, preface d'Yves Bonnefoy
Paris: Gallimard
Mallarme, Stephane (1995) Correspondance complete 1860-1871, ed. Bertrand Marchal
Paris: Gallimard
Scherer, Jacques (ed) (1957) Le 'Livre' de Mallarme
Paris: Gallimard
Austin, Lloyd James (1987) Poetic Principles and Practice: Occasional papers in Baudelaire, Mallarme, Valery
Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
Austin, Lloyd James (1995) Essais sur Mallarme, ed. Malcolm Bowie
Manchester: Manchester University Press
Bersani, Leo (1982) The Death of Stephane Mallarme
Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
Bowie, Malcolm (1978) Mallarme and the Art of Being Difficult
Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
Bowie, Malcolm (ed) with Fairlie & Finch (1982) Baudelaire, Mallarme, Valery: New essays in honour of Lloyd Austin
Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
Davies, Gardner (1953) Vers une explication rationnelle du Coup de des
Paris: Corti
Dayan, peter (1986) Mallarme' 'Divine Transposition': Real and apparent sources of literary value
Oxford: Clarendon Press
Derrida, Jacques (1972) 'La Double seance' in La Dissemination
Paris: Seuil
Genette, Gerard (1976) Figures 1
Paris: Seuil
Lloyd, Rosemary (1984) Mallarme 'Poesie'
London: Grant & cutler
Marchal, Bertrand (1988) La Religion de Mallarme
Paris: Corti
Pearson, Roger (1996) Unfolding Mallarme
Oxford: Clarendon Press
Richard, Jean-Pierre (1961) L'Univers imaginaire de Mallarme
Paris: Seuil
Robb, Graham (1996) Unlocking Mallarme
London: Yale University Press
Scherer, Jacques (1977) Grammaire de Mallarme
Paris: Nizet
Charlton, D. G. (1959) Positivist Thought in France During the Second Empire 1852-1870
Oxford: Clarendon Press
Lehmann, A. G. (1950) The Symbolist Aesthetic in France 1885-1895
Oxford: Basil Blackwell
Scott, Clive (1988) The Riches of Rhyme
Oxford: Clarendon Press
Breton, Andre (1988) Oeuvres Completes
tome 1. Gallimard
Breton, Andre (1962) Manifestes du surrealisme
Paris: Jean-Jacques Pauvert
Breton, Andre (1965) Le Surrealisme et la peinture
Paris: Gallimard
Balakian, Anna (1971) Andre Breton: Magus of Surrealism
New York
Behar, Henri (ed) (1970) Andre Breton par lui-meme
Paris
Bonnet, Marguerite (1975) Andre Breton, Naissance de l'aventure surrealiste
Paris
Eigeldinger, Marc (ed) (1970) Andre Breton
Neuchatel
Isou, Isidore (1948) Reflexions sur Andre Breton
Paris
Legrand, Gerard (1976) Andre Breton et son temps
Paris
Bataille, Georges (1970) Oeuvres Completes (Histoire de l'oeil; L'Anus scolaire; Sacrifices) (Arethuse; Documents; La Critique Social; Acephale; Contre-Attaque; College de sociologie)
tome I. Premiers ecrits 1922-1940, introduction by Michel Foucault
Batailles, Georges (1972) Oeuvres Completes
tome II. Ecrits posthumes 1922-1940
Batailles, Georges (1973) Oeuvres Completes (Madame Edwards; Le Petit; L'Archangelique; L'Impossible; Haine de la poesie; L'Orestie; La Scissiparite; L'Abbe C; L'Etre indifferencie n'est rien; Le Bleu du ciel)
tome III. Oeuvres litteraires
Notes
This module is at CQFW Level 7