Module description
This module aims to deepen students’ knowledge of the extremely rich tradition of the French novel. Building on the reading all students will have done of at least some novels at level 4, this course aims on the one hand to trace the evolution of the French novel historically from 1700 to the present day, and on the other to teach students the key reading and analytic techniques that are pertinent to the novel. Particular attention will be paid to narrative voice, description, characterization, irony, narrative structure, the use of direct speech, indirect speech, style indirect libre. The prescribed texts will consist largely of classics from the French tradition with a view to familiarizing students with the canon, but attention will also be paid to more recent developments in the Francophone novel outside France.
Assessment details
Assessment: Assessed coursework of 1500-2000 words worth 25% submitted during the semester and a 2 hour exam (75%) at the end of the module.
Assessment (for study abroad semester 1 only students if taught in semester 1): The 2-hour written examination is replaced with a 2500 word essay (75%)
Educational aims & objectives
- To familiarise students with a range of major French novels
- To give students an overview of the development of the French novel after 1700
- To teach students some of the key conceptual tools that are appropriate for reading novels, for example narrative voice, description, characterization, irony, narrative structure, the use of direct speech, indirect speech, style indirect libre
- To develop students’ analytical abilities in relation to the theme of the module
- To develop students’ ability to articulate their reflections in front of their peers
- To develop students’ research and writing abilities
Learning outcomes
By the end of the module, the students will be able to demonstrate intellectual, transferable and practicable skills appropriate to a Level 5 module and in particular will be able to demonstrate:
- A detailed knowledge of the primary texts on the syllabus
- Knowledge of the development of the French novel after 1700.
- An ability to discuss and analyse novels with relation to both primary and secondary sources at a level of sophistication appropriate to university study
- An ability to research independently the questions raised by the course
- An ability to distil their learning and research to produce coherent, well-supported and well-structured arguments in both essay and exam conditions
Teaching pattern
Two classes per week (a lecture and a seminar).
Suggested reading list
Core texts
Unless otherwise stated, students are expected to buy their own copy of all core texts.
- Diderot, Jacques le Fataliste et son maître 1796 (Paris: Gallimard, 1973); for ab initio students any recent edition in English e.g. David Coward: Jacques the Fatalist (Oxford University Press, 1999)
- Flaubert, Madame Bovary 1857 (Paris: Gallimard, 1972); for ab initio students any recent translation in English
- Gide, Les Faux-Monnayeurs 1926 (Paris: Gallimard, 1995); for ab initio students any recent translation of The Counterfeiters in English
- Duras, Le Ravissement de Lol V Stein (1964; any edition); for ab initio students any recent translation in English, e.g. The Ravishing of Lol Stein by Richard Weaver
- Kourouma, Les Soleils des indépendances (1968); for ab initio students Suns of Independence, English translation Adrian Adams