Comparative Stylistics: Two Languages so Close and yet so Far Apart

Learning a foreign language, contrary to what happens for a mother tongue, usually does not occur in a vacuum. Any foreign language student quickly becomes aware of the fact that interferences do exist between the native language and the studied language; these may take the names of false-friends, anglicisms , gallicisms, literal translations etc. The objective of this course will be to become aware of the processes which may be at play when going from one language to the other, a field of study which is called comparative stylistics or science of translating. The aim will therefore be to identify, understand and master the mechanisms at stake in order to improve one’s competence in the French language, while being aware of the “juncture points” between English and French.

The course is primarily intended for 2nd, 3rd or 4th year students, or students not having to take 509 or 510. There will be no compulsory text book, documents will be posted from week to week on the course site; however it might be advisable to have a good unilingual French dictionary (for example: Lexis Larousse de la langue française) and a good bilingual dictionary (for example: Le Robert & Collins français-anglais et anglais-français)