RLFR 320 - Slums and Housing Projects: Writing Urban Margins in French and Francophone Literature

Institution:

Williams College

Subject:

French

Description:

In this course we will explore the politics and poetics of fiction that engages marginalized urban spaces in France and the francophone world. From the depiction of informal settlements in Martinique in Patrick Chamoiseau's epic novel Texaco to the shantytowns of Casablanca in Mahi Binebine's Les etoiles de Sidi Moumen to the Parisian housing projects in Gisele Pineau's Un papillon dans la cite and Didier Mandin's Banlieue Voltaire, we will explore how literature represents neighborhoods that exist in the face of dominant discourses of urban redevelopment that work to destroy them. What voices and histories emerge from these spaces under aggression? And how does literature claim to speak from and for these marginalized communities? Readings will include both literary works and theoretical readings from urban studies and geography. Conducted in French.

Credits:

3.00

Credit Hours:

Prerequisites:

Any RLFR literature course

Corequisites:

Exclusions:

Level:

Instructional Type:

Other

Notes:

Additional Information:

Historical Version(s):

Institution Website:

www.williams.edu

Phone Number:

(413) 597-3131

Regional Accreditation:

New England Association of Schools and Colleges

Calendar System:

Four-one-four plan

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