Global Arc

Major movements and directors in French and French-language cinema. Topics may include: early history of the cinematographe; the Golden Age of French film; Renoir, Bresson, Tati; the "New-Wave"; French women directors of the 1980s; adaptation of literary works.

This course studies the history, theory, and aesthetics of "new media" in France and beyond between 1400 and 1900. We look closely at moments when textual and visual media that are now "old" were first emerging, from the printing press in the Renaissance to the Lumière brothers' cinématographe in 1895. How did early users perceive, adopt, and shape these new media technologies? How did each medium transform the existing cultural landscape? What can this history tell us about contemporary new media? Course integrates regular visits to libraries and archives on campus for hands-on interaction with historical media objects and technologies.

This course dives into the richness of French-language, literature, and culture from different genres and time periods. The focus will be on textual analysis and translation, with additional forays in "reading" other cultural material such as film. In addition to close and far reading, students will receive practical training in translation, archival research, and digital humanities. We will also explore a variety of theoretical frameworks students may apply to their own research projects, such as semiotics, media studies, postcolonial studies and environmental humanities. Prerequisite: FRE 207, 208, or permission of instructor.

Issues pertaining to French literature and/or culture that transcend chronological boundaries. The specific content of the course will change each time it is offered. Possible topics include: French Autobiographical Writings, The Idea of Nationhood in France, The French Intellectual, Satire and Humor in France. Prerequisite: a 200-level course in French or instructor's permission. One three-hour seminar.

This course will study the interrelation of slavery and capitalism in the francophone Caribbean, from the Haitian Revolution to the present. The course will examine a series of classic works that contest French Caribbean colonialism and slavery, from the perspective of the historical transition from late imperialist feudalism to industrial and post-industrial capitalism. Writers addressed will include CLR James, Karl Marx, Aimé Césaire, Suzanne Césaire, Eric Williams, Edouard Glissant, and Maryse Condé. Prerequisites: 200-level FRE course or permission of instructor.

A practical investigation of the issues affecting translation between English and French. Weekly exercises will offer experience of literary, technical, journalistic and other registers of language. Discussion will focus on the linguistic, cultural and intellectual lessons of translation seen as a practical discipline in its own right. Prerequisite: FRE 307 or equivalent level of proficiency in French.

Combines a general introduction to literary theory with the in-depth study of a small number of representative original texts. The first element will be taught via a survey of the field and the second via the focused study of works on a central theme, such as "melancholy and spectrality" or "others and alterity," using authors such as Levinas, Derrida, and Kristeva. Prerequisite: 200-level French course or permission of instructor. Two 90-minute seminars.

This course focuses on the ways literature, film, but also cultural events and spaces (circus, zoo, museum) present animals as objects of admiration and subjects of performance. We will consider the fascination that animals inspire in humans, which might lead to question the distinction between "us" and "them". What is at stake, what are the consequences, for us and for them, when animals are seen or shown as an elusive Other who still beckons a closer encounter? How do the poetic power of language, or the evocative nature of images, affect their agency and our empathy, and eventually our mutual relationship?

This course examines the book (as both philosophical figure and material object) in the thought of French-Algerian philosopher Jacques Derrida. This course introduces students to Derrida through his published writing as well as his enormous personal library, now housed at Princeton. Students will become familiar with key concepts - trace, différance, iterability, archive, and survival - spanning Derrida's work from early to late. The course will also introduce students to the history of reading and the study of material texts with regular visits to Derrida's library in Rare Books and Special Collections.

Who wrote about politics in the eighteenth century? Why? And for whom? This course will examine the genres and techniques Enlightenment writers invented to talk about politics in spite of official and unofficial censorship. Coined by Montesquieu, the phrase "political writer" can apply to a wide range of writers whose motivations, purposes, and publishing strategies varied in response to different urges and new audiences. The course is based on the study of primary texts, but also historical documents, such as indictments of writers.