Module description
This module aims to:
- introduce you to the study of French theatre and cinema using a variety of texts, films and filmed performances from different periods
- to provide a knowledge and an understanding of the specific qualities of performative language and texts
- to provide insights into the nature of theatricality and performance as well as to introduce key theoretical concepts such as mimesis ('showing') and diegesis ('telling').
It is designed to complement the core literature course (4AAFF121) by offering an introduction to the study of literary works which, existing as texts, also exist as theatrical or cinematic performances.
By the end of the module you should be able to analyse dramatic and cinematic texts. You should have a basic understanding of the relations between word and image, of the generic qualities of performative texts and of the specific methodologies involved in their creation and analysis.
You will learn the specific conventions of the French 'theatricality', from their establishment in the 17th century to their evolution and/or subversion in the 20th and 21st centuries.
In addition to examining the similarities and differences between text, theatre and film, the module will also explore the relationship between specific plays or films and their contexts and thus their relation to the broad sweep of French literary and cultural history. Following this course will enable you to make informed choices about intellectual pathways in subsequent years of your degree.
Assessment details
One 3-hour written exam
Teaching pattern
One lecture and one seminar per week, supplemented by weekly screenings
Suggested reading list
Screenings of the films will be offered as additional sessions.
Unless otherwise stated, students are expected to buy their own copy of all core texts.
- Corneille, Le Cid (any edition of the 1648 or 1660 'corrected' version, with numbered lines, e.g. La Bibliothèque Gallimard, NOT 1637 edition, e.g. Folio)
- Molière, Le Bourgeois gentilhomme (any edition with numbered lines)
- Ionesco, La Cantatrice chauve (Folio Théâtre)
- Marguerite Duras, Hiroshima mon amour (Folio)
- Alain Resnais, Hiroshima mon amour (film)
- François Ozon, Dans la maison (film)