FFS 282 - Fictions of Appropriation

Semester Offered: Spring
1 unit(s)

Is literary plagiarism a contradiction in terms? Is the plagiarist a robber of words, a cheat, a criminal? Is the plagiarized work devoid of any literary value, and what interest do literary critics (and journalists) have in examining it? What is the nature of the proprietary attribution we bestow on authorship, and what does truth in creating mean? This course explores the contentious yet fertile intertextual terrain on which such questions have been (and continue to be) debated through a range of critical and creative books, including excerpts from Camara Laye’s L’Enfant noir (1953), Yambo Ouologuem’s Le Devoir de violence (1966), Romain Gary/Emile Ajar’s La Vie devant soi (1975), Maryse Condé’s Moi, Tituba, sorcière de Salem (1986), Calixthe Beyala’s Le Petit Prince de Belleville (1992), Marie Darrieusecq’s Tom est mort (2007), Michel Houellebecq’s La Carte et le territoire (2010), and Kamel Daoud’s Meursault contre-enquête (2014). Patricia-Pia Celerier.

Prerequisite(s): FFS 212.

Two 75-minute periods.

Course Format: CLS