Unit information: Representations of Francophone Cultures in 2020/21

Unit name	Representations of Francophone Cultures
Unit code	FREN10013
Credit points	20
Level of study	C/4
Teaching block(s)	Teaching Block 2 (weeks 13 - 24)
Unit director	Professor. Stephens
Open unit status	Not open
Pre-requisites	None
Co-requisites	None
School/department	Department of French
Faculty	Faculty of Arts

Description including Unit Aims

The unit provides students with a representative selection of literary and visual texts from the Middle Ages to the present and introduces them to methods of analysing them. It involves a weekly lecture, and a weekly seminar. In this unit students will encounter a range of major French literary texts, films and other cultural artefacts, and will be encouraged to think about what is involved in the study of art, culture and literature. They will be expected to develop an awareness of different ways of approaching the analysis of culture and literature, and to explore how background reading around these topics will expand their horizons and contribute to a holistic approach to the study of the Humanities.

Intended Learning Outcomes

On successful completion of the unit, students will be able to demonstrate:

1. knowledge of the periods and genres represented by the set texts
2. skills of critical reading of both texts and images
3. skills in researching literary and cultural scholarship, via library and IT resources;
4. skills in organising the results of this research in essays, oral presentation and close textual analysis.

Teaching Information

Teaching will be delivered through a combination of synchronous sessions and asynchronous activities, including seminars, lectures, formative tasks, and collaborative as well as self-directed learning opportunities supported by tutor consultation. THIS UNIT RUNS IN TB2 EVERY YEAR RATHER THAN TB1.

Assessment Information

1 x 1000-word commentary (30%), testing ILOs 3-4.

1 x 2000-word essay (70%), testing ILOs 1-4.

Reading and References

• Racine, Phèdre (Bordas or Classiques Larousse)
• Rimbaud, a selection to be identified or made, to include verse and prose poetry
• La Châtelaine de Vergy (Folio classique edition by Jean Dufournet and Liliane Dulac)
• Agnès Varda, Les Glaneurs et la glaneuse
• Maryse Condé, La Belle Créole (Folio)