Panorama du théâtre français du XXème siécle / Panorama of XXth Century French Theatre

This course will provide an overall approach to XXth Century French Theatre so that students can read plays critically but also understand and analyze them in the context of the evolution of theatre throughout the century. The course will consider the four major theatrical movements: traditional (Giraudoux), surrealist (Cocteau), existentialist (Sartre), and absurdist (Beckett, Ionesco, Tardieu). The second part of the course will focus on this last peculiar movement in order to understand how the overriding concern of its playwrights with linguistic experimentation generates a paradox: on the one hand they seem to show the arbitrariness and sterility of language while on the other, they also seem to demonstrate its infinite potential for regeneration and expansion.

Texts to be bought at the bookstore : Jarry, Ubu Roi; Giraudoux, La Guerre de Troie n'aura pas lieu; Cocteau, Les mariés de la tour Eiffel; Sartre, Huis Clos; Beckett, En attendant Godot; Ionesco, La cantatrice chauve; Tardieu, Les Amants du métro.