FREN 232 - The Modern Age

Semester Offered: Spring
1 unit(s)

The course explores literary, artistic, social, or political manifestations of modern French society and its relation to the French-speaking world from the Napoleonic Empire to the present.

Topic for 2016/17b: Music and Text. From Bizet’s opera Carmen, inspired by Prosper Mérimée’s nineteenth-century novella, to modern cultural practices including rap, raï, slam, and environmentally focused sound recordings, the course examines literary language in relation to music. How does language “sing,” and what does music “say?” If music performs a “socially prescribed task,” as musicologist Richard Middleton proposes, then what do various combinations of music and language suggest about specific moments in French history? We address this question by considering music and literature both separately and together in relation to class, gender, ethnicity, and national identity. Readings include song lyrics, poetry, fiction, and a play. Films include Edmond T. Gréville’s Princesse Tam-Tam and Christophe Barratier’s Les choristes. Kathleen Hart.

Prerequisite(s): FREN 212 or the equivalent, or permission of the instructor.

Two 75-minute periods.