Global Arc

Innovations in the theory and practice of French narrative from the 1850s to the present, considered in cultural, historical, and intellectual context. Works by Flaubert, Proust, Gide, Céline, Camus, Sarraute, Yourcenar, and others will be read in English translation. Prerequisite: a 200-level literature course or instructor's permission. Two 90-minute classes.

Topics will range from the oeuvre and context of a single author (for example, Balzac, Baudelaire, or Beckett) to specific cultural and literary problems (modernism and the avant-garde, history as literature, women's writing). Prerequisite: a 200-level French course or instructor's permission.

We will explore how Proust's work addresses issues great and small, such as art, memory, sexuality, war, spectacles, restrooms... We will read the two ends of "A la Recherche du Temps Perdu" (and more) and examine its influence in literature and broader cultures.

Albert Camus was one of the most acclaimed writers of the 20th century, and one of the most paradoxical. Reading his major narratives, plays, and essays, we will assess how the author found himself often at odds with his own thought and creativity, through his philosophy, politics, or the very act of writing. We will see how Camus, always in between, eternally on the move, can help us face (and revolt against) the nonsense of our world, from pandemics to terrorism, imperialism and totalitarianism, how we can question ourselves and relate to others, while still remembering to seek happiness and beauty.

A survey of the literature of decolonization in the Francophone world. The focus will be on the invention of a critical and militant literature in 1950's and 60's North and West Africa, the Caribbean, and Viet Nam. Texts will include poetry, essays, novels, and films. Prerequisite: 200-level French class or permission of instructor.

In partnership with local NGOs, this course gives students the opportunity to use French in real-life contexts while exploring issues of displacement, representation, identity, language, transnationalism, and multilingualism among francophone communities, particularly in New York. Students will work with organizations supporting recently arrived French-speaking immigrants in the U.S., contributing to ongoing projects and gaining first-hand insight into resettlement, immigration law, and language maintenance, while critically reflecting on their own experiences. Prerequisites: FRE 208 or FRE 215 or equivalent. Contact instructor.

This course will offer an overview of the history and culture of Haiti, the world's first black republic. In 1804, the former slaves of French St. Domingue under the leadership of Toussaint Louverture defeated the most powerful army in the world, Napoleon's to become the world's first post-slavery, black republic. The course will sample the rich history, novels, Afro-caribbean religion (Vodun), plays, music, film, and visual arts of this unique postcolonial nation.

Perhaps the greatness of works of art and literature -- and of one's life -- can be gauged by the importance they confer to things of no obvious significance: anecdotes, anonymous people, ephemeral characters, trivial details gleaned from daily life. Through readings of texts and film, as well as artworks from Princeton University Art Museum's collections, we will question, far beyond the concerns of minimalism, what is at stake in the possibility of the sublime within the banal. At the crossings of ethics and aesthetics, be raised the questions of what it means to not mean much, and, yet, be absolutely indispensable.

What is an archive? What role do archives play in producing historical knowledge and cultural memory? How are new digital technologies reshaping the archive and thereby transforming our relationship to the past? This course develops practical research skills by introducing students to major archives and digital collections in France, while also exploring key theoretical works on the archive from media theory, literary criticism, and philosophy (Foucault, Nora, Benjamin, Derrida). Students will also gain hands-on experience producing their own new media "archives" by creating podcasts and participating in an ongoing digital humanities project.

In this course, which is both a creative writing course and a literature course, students will study canonical French-language essays and newer forms of essayistic production (the essay film, photo essay, blog, and podcast) and will use these texts as models for their own writing. Beginning in the Renaissance with Montaigne's famous Essais and continuing to the present day with essays written throughout France and the Francophone world, students will analyze the stylistic and formal features of this compelling genre and seek to understand how the essay has maintained its relevance throughout the centuries.