FREN 348 - Modernism and its Discontents

Semester Offered: Fall
1 unit(s)

Topic for 2013/14a: Fashion’s Empires. This course examines the emergence of fashion as one of French modernity’s most complex and ideologically charged discourses. Taking an interdisciplinary approach, we consider the historical and cultural evolution of fashion in France from the end of the Old Regime to the early twentieth century. From the spectacle of Marie Antoinette’s fashion excesses to the new chic of Coco Chanel’s simplicity, the course explores the ways in which fashion and its representation in both text and image operated on gender, society and national identity in France’s modern age. Studying literary texts next to historical documents, illustrations, real objects, and works of fashion theory, our analysis reveals fashion’s central and powerful role in French culture. Authors studied may include Girardin, Balzac, Feydeau, Zola, Mallarmé, Proust, Colette, alongside illustrators and fashion writers. Ms. Hiner.

Prerequisite(s): Prerequisite for all advanced courses: 1 unit of 200-level work above FREN 212, or Study Abroad in France or in a French-speaking country, or by permission of the department. Open to freshman and sophomores only by permission of the instructor.

One 2-hour period.