FREN 355 - Cross-Currents in French Culture

Semester Offered: Spring
1 unit(s)

Topic for 2013/14b: Foreign Lands, Inner Journeys. As of the nineteenth century, the French encountered other cultures on an unprecedented scale, due to colonialist expansion and an increase in tourism. Travel narratives and literary evocations of “local color” became popular, providing the reading public with an opportunity to learn about foreign lands and peoples. Yet travelers who write, and writers who travel, often express more about themselves than the cultures they purport to represent in their texts. Assumptions of national superiority, or dreams of a romantic “elsewhere” distort the traveler’s perception. Changes in geographical location may be accompanied by feelings of strangeness, leading the traveler to undergo an unexpected inner odyssey. As we explore the relationships between writing, displacement (both physical and psychological), and confrontation with an exotic “other,” we also consider real and imagined experiences of study abroad. Texts include novels, poetry, memoirs and essays from the nineteenth century to the present, and two films. Ms. Hart.

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.