Comedy & Society, Comedy and the Human Condition

Section A: Methodology - Section B: Literature

Through analysis of five significant comedies (Molière through Ionesco : Dom Juan – Le Mariage de Figaro – La guerre de Troie n’aura pas lieu – Caligula – Rhinocéros-), the course will examine this literary genre in relation to its audiences, to the society which it mirrors, as well as to the different dramatic esthetics which it embodies. We will look at how the social dimension and the vision of man are associated, in as much as {or given that}they are expressed according to different representations in classical theatre or in more contemporary theatre.

Students can choose to take either a methodological section or a literary section of this course.

The first option, section A, offers literary and social science students an opportunity to master analytical methods and textual commentaries that will allow them to read and understand a variety of theatrical texts, all while enhancing their analytical writing skills through various methodological exercises. These include summaries, literary comparisons, technical explanations, textual commentaries, argumentative dialectical essays, reading analyses and oral presentations.

The second option, section B, offers students the opportunity to study the historic, literary, dramatic, cultural, philosophical and social evolution of French comedy from the 17th to the 20th century in great depth.
In both sections, students will read the texts and watch different film productions of each work as well.

N.B Students who choose section A can validate their credits in methodology (equivalent 6525).

Required texts:
1) Giraudoux, La Guerre de Troie n'aura pas lieu, éd., Grasset, le livre de poche, ISBN 2 – 253 – 00489 – 8
2) Camus, Caligula, éd., Folio/Gallimard, ISBN 978 – 2 – 07 – 036064 – 2
3) Ionesco, Rhinocéros, éd., Folioplus/Gallimard, ISBN 978 – 2 – 07 – 033880 - 1
4) Beaumarchais, Le Mariage de Figaro, Paris, Pocket classique, 2010, ISBN-10: 2266210432, ISBN-13: 978-2266210430.
5) Molière, Dom Juan, Paris, Garnier Flammarion, 1998, ISBN-10: 2080709038, ISBN-13: 978-2080709035

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