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FIST255
French Fairy Tales: Of Pixies, Politics and Parodies
FIST255 SP
Crosslistings: FREN254
Not Currently Offered
"And they lived happily ever after." Why? Why was there a
need for happy endings in 17th- and 18th- century France? If
written for children, what do fairy tales tell us of the
civilizing process of the period? If aimed at adults, what
social, economic, and literary concerns did this amazingly
popular genre address? We shall discuss these issues through
analyses ranging from psychoanalytic texts to gender
studies, as well as situate the French tales between their
Italian precursors and German followers; map the growth of
the oral peasant folktale into a written, aristocratic
genre; examine ideological differences between male and
female authors; study the (licentious) influence of the
ARABIAN NIGHTS, and consider transformations into political
parodies and films.
MAJOR READINGS
BEAUTY AND THE BEAST AND OTHER CLASSIC
FRENCH FAIRY TALES, ed. Jack Zipes (Includes tales by
Perrault, d'Aulnoy, Bernard, Murat, Leprince de Beaumont)
THE SKIMMER, Crebilon fils
THE INDISCREET JEWELS, Diderot
ZADIG, Voltaire
Selection of tales by Rousseau, Duclos, Voisenon
BEAUTY AND THE BEAST, Cocteau
THE USES OF ENCHANTMENT, Bettelheim
Articles by Barchilon, Darnton, Robert, Zipes
EXAMINATIONS AND ASSIGNMENTS
Short papers, oral reports,
Internet-based exercises, final multi-media-based project.
(Not to worry, technological instruction will be available!)
ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS and/or COMMENTS
Regular class
attendance, active participation in class and on-line
discussion group. Classwork may be submitted electronically.
Check out this course on the Internet!
Unless preregistered students attend the first class meeting
or communicate directly with the instructor prior to the
first class, they will be dropped from the class list.
NOTE: Students must still submit a completed Drop/Add form
to the Registrar's Office.
COURSE FORMAT: Discussion Lecture
REGISTRATION INFORMATION
Level: UG Credit: 1.00
Gen Ed Area & Dept: HA RLIT
Prerequisites:
None
Last Updated on MAR-22-1999
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Copyright Wesleyan University, Middletown, Connecticut, 06459