FRENCH 240 - Survey of French Literature from 1750 to 1990:The Quest for Authenticity

Institution:

Bard College

Subject:

Description:

Serving as an overview of modern French literature, this class focuses on short texts (poems, plays, essays, letters, short stories) that reflect the fragile relationship between selfhood and authenticity. From Rousseau's ambitious program of autobiography to Sartre's belief that we are inveterate embellishers when it comes to telling our own story, French literature has staged the classic tension between art, artifice, and authenticity. This has not only inaugurated an intensely individual and unstable relationship to the notion of truth, but has also implicated the reader in this destabilizing process. Students in this class explore how the quest for authenticity has led to radical reevaluations of literary style. The course includes readings from Rousseau, Stendhal, Flaubert, Baudelaire, Rimbaud, Proust, Gide, Sartre, Duras, Sarraute, and Ernaux. The course is taught in French. Prerequisite: two years of college French (successful completion of intermediate courses) or permission of instructor.

Credits:

4.00

Credit Hours:

Prerequisites:

Corequisites:

Exclusions:

Level:

Instructional Type:

Lecture

Notes:

Additional Information:

Historical Version(s):

Institution Website:

www.bard.edu

Phone Number:

(845) 758-6822

Regional Accreditation:

Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools

Calendar System:

Semester

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