FREN 0384
History in 20th Century Fr Lit
History in the Literature of Twentieth-Century France
We will define and discuss the articulation of key French texts and literary movements with the major historical events and climate of twentieth-century France with emphasis on the two World Wars. What reading strategies can enable us to understand how a literary work mirrors social relations, conflicts, and attitudes? Is there a "politics of literary style," as the critic Bakhtin asserts? How have World War I, the 1920s and 1930s, World War II, the postwar period, the Algerian Crisis, May 1968, and contemporary social issues all been reflected (and sometimes refracted) in fiction? Readings will include works of fiction by Céline, Giraudoux, Colette, Malraux, Sartre, Camus, Duras, as well as selected articles and films. (FREN 0221 or by waiver) 3 hrs. lect./disc.
We will define and discuss the articulation of key French texts and literary movements with the major historical events and climate of twentieth-century France with emphasis on the two World Wars. What reading strategies can enable us to understand how a literary work mirrors social relations, conflicts, and attitudes? Is there a "politics of literary style," as the critic Bakhtin asserts? How have World War I, the 1920s and 1930s, World War II, the postwar period, the Algerian Crisis, May 1968, and contemporary social issues all been reflected (and sometimes refracted) in fiction? Readings will include works of fiction by Céline, Giraudoux, Colette, Malraux, Sartre, Camus, Duras, as well as selected articles and films. (FREN 0221 or by waiver) 3 hrs. lect./disc.