[WesMaps 98/99 Home Page]
[Course Search]
[Course Search by CID]
FREN278
Advanced Seminar in Literature: The Text: Author, Reader, Society
FREN278 FA
Not Currently Offered
The purpose of this seminar is to discuss specific modes of
literary criticism and theoretical discourse and their
application to a number of selected texts. Topics and works
to be examined will vary each year. The organizing topic in
the Fall 1996, "The Text: Author, Reader, Society,"
focuses on:
The act of reading involves a triad in which author, reader,
and society are participants. This notion has been examined
and questioned in many ways in recent theoretical writings.
Is there an author in or of a text? Is it true that it is
only "in the reader that the text comes to life"? How does
the reader react to the eroticism in Sade's and Balzac's
works? How do social and cultural elements present
themselves in the contexts and contents of texts and their
readings? Is it possible to learn how better to interpret
aspects of Zola's works by reading Aron's The Art of Eating
in France: Manners and Menus in the 19th Century? How can
Duby's The Chivalrous Society help us examine La Chanson de
Roland? How can Eugen Weber's France: Fin de Siecle help
us penetrate the decadence portrayed by Huysmans? These are
questions that will be studied in readings of medieval
texts, medieval and classical plays, 17th-century letters,
and 18th- and 19th-century short fictions and novels.
MAJOR READINGS
LA CHANSON DE ROLAND
LA FARCE DE MAITRE PATHELIN
Moliere, Dom Juan
Sevigne, Selection of LETTRES
Sade, LA PHILOSOPHIE DANS LE BOUDOIR
Balzac, LA FILLE AUX YEUX D'OR, LA DUCHESSE DE LANGEAIS
Zola, L'INONDATION
Villiers de l'Isle Adam, Selections from CONTES
Huysmans, A REBOURS
Selected readings from Suleiman and Crosman, THE READER IN
THE TEXT
W. Iser, THE ACT OF READING
Duby, THE CHIVALROUS SOCIETY
Duby and Mandrou, HISTOIRE DE LA CIVILISATION FRANCAISE
J. P. Aron, THE ART OF EATING IN FRANCE (19TH CENTURY)
Eugen Weber, FRANCE, FIN DE SIECLE
Robert Herbert's IMPRESSIONISM, ART, LEISURE, AND PARISIAN
SOCIETY
EXAMINATIONS AND ASSIGNMENTS
Short papers; direction of
class discussions; participation in class discussions; final
take-home exam.
ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS and/or COMMENTS
his course is
required of French majors and should be taken in their final
year. It is also open to qualified non-majors. All
students should have completed satisfactorily FREN 223, 224
or equivalent. Students who have not done so should consult
with the professor before preregistering.
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 Seminar
REGISTRATION INFORMATION
Level: UG Credit: 1.00
Prerequisites:
FREN223 or FREN224
Last Updated on MAR-22-1999
Contact wesmaps@wesleyan.edu to
submit comments or suggestions.
Copyright Wesleyan University, Middletown, Connecticut, 06459