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2023/2024

Great Works of French Literature II

Code: 106616 ECTS Credits: 6
Degree Type Year Semester
2504378 French Philology and Culture OB 2 2
2504393 English and French Studies OB 2 2

Contact

Name:
Maria del Mar Garcia Lopez
Email:
mariamar.garcia@uab.cat

Teaching groups languages

You can check it through this link. To consult the language you will need to enter the CODE of the subject. Please note that this information is provisional until 30 November 2023.


Prerequisites

To take the course Grans obres de la literatura francesa II it is necessary to enjoy reading and to plan the necessary time to read first-hand - in addition to studying - the works included in the program.


Objectives and Contextualisation

The course Grans obres de la literatura francesa II offers an introduction to the classic texts of French literature. Through detailed reading, analysis, and interpretive discussion of four selected works, students will acquire the necessary tools to become critical readers. By the end of the course, students will be able to:

  • Demonstrate optimal reading comprehension of the studied literary texts.
  • Exhibit a good understanding of the socio-historical, cultural, and aesthetic contexts of the texts.
  • Assess literary texts orally and in writing using sound argumentation.
  • Properly utilize available bibliographic resources.

Competences

    French Philology and Culture
  • Act with ethical responsibility and respect for fundamental rights and duties, diversity and democratic values.
  • Assess and propose solutions to theoretical or practical problems in the areas of French literature, culture and language
  • Carry out effective written work and oral presentations adapted to the appropriate register in different languages.
  • Critically apply different methodologies to analyse the literature, culture and history of francophone countries.
  • Identify the main literary tendencies and the most important authors and works of literature in the French language.
  • Students must be capable of collecting and interpreting relevant data (usually within their area of study) in order to make statements that reflect social, scientific or ethical relevant issues.
  • Students must be capable of communicating information, ideas, problems and solutions to both specialised and non-specialised audiences.
  • Students must have and understand knowledge of an area of study built on the basis of general secondary education, and while it relies on some advanced textbooks it also includes some aspects coming from the forefront of its field of study.
  • Take account of social, economic and environmental impacts when operating within one's own area of knowledge.
  • Understand and produce oral and written academic texts with appropriateness and fluency in distinct communicative contexts.
  • Use digital tools and specific documentary sources for identifying and organisation information.
  • Use the written and spoken French language for academic and professional purposes related to the study of French linguistics, history, culture and literature.
    English and French Studies
  • Act with ethical responsibility and respect for fundamental rights and duties, diversity and democratic values.
  • Carry out effective written work or oral presentations adapted to the appropriate register in different languages.
  • Evaluate and propose solutions to theoretical or practical problems in the fields of English and French literature, culture and linguistics.
  • Recognize the most significant periods, traditions, trends, authors and works of literature in English and French in their historical and social context.
  • Students have the ability to gather and interpret relevant data (normally within their study area) to issue judgments that include reflection on important issues of social, scientific or ethical.
  • Students must have and understand knowledge of an area of study built on the basis of general secondary education, and while it relies on some advanced textbooks it also includes some aspects coming from the forefront of its field of study.
  • Take account of social, economic and environmental impacts when operating within one's own area of knowledge.
  • Use digital tools and specific documentary sources to gather and organise information.
  • Use spoken English and French correctly for academic and professional purposes related to the study of linguistics, history, culture and literature.

Learning Outcomes

  1. Acquire an awareness of the diachronic dimension of French and of the conditions of creation, dissemination and preservation of major French literary texts belonging to the initial stages of the language.
  2. Analyse literary texts using the distinct concepts and methods of general and comparative literature.
  3. Apply distinct literary methodologies to the analysis of texts and literary phenomena.
  4. Demonstrate knowledge of the history, culture, art and aesthetic and philosophical thought related to the languages and literatures studied.
  5. Demonstrate one's own position on a problem or controversy of philosophical relevance.
  6. Demonstrate the ability to relate linguistic and literary knowledge to other cultural spheres.
  7. Demonstrating a personal stance over a problem or controversy of philosophical nature.
  8. Develop commentaries on texts in French, taking into account the literary traditions and movements in which they are inscribed.
  9. Distinctiate and assemble the basic critical bibliography that makes up the field of study of a work or author of French-language literature.
  10. Evaluate the social and economic impact of the use of French in distinct contexts.
  11. Identify and explain the basic characteristics of literary texts and the process of interpretation.
  12. Identify and explain the basic characteristics of literary texts.
  13. Identify and explain the basic features of literary texts
  14. Identify distinct literary elements and their insertion into distinct texts and discursive styles.
  15. Identify the context in which historical and cultural processes are inscribed.
  16. Identify the context in which historical and cultural processes take place.
  17. Identify the distinct stages and genres in the literary history of the language(s) studied.
  18. Identifying and explaining the basic characteristics of literary texts and the interpretation process.
  19. Identifying main and supporting ideas and expressing them with linguistic correctness.
  20. In French, justify in a reasoned, coherent and structured way one's own hypotheses and conclusions on topics of French language, linguistics, literature or culture based on relevant documentation, bibliography and data.
  21. In a responsible and reasoned way, apply the appropriate computer techniques for the consultation and management of specific documentary sources.
  22. Know how to interpret the meaning of a text in French at a higher-proficient-user level (C1).
  23. Maintain an attitude of respect for the opinions, values, behaviors and practices of others.
  24. Make oral and written presentations of an academic and/or professional nature on French language, linguistics, culture or literature with a high degree of linguistic accuracy and terminological precision in French.
  25. Present arguments and evaluate the relevance of the analysis of a linguistic, literary or cultural phenomenon.
  26. Produce an essay (or similar) respecting the ethical aspects related to the authorship of ideas and the diversity of opinions.
  27. Produce critical texts on works and trends in French literature with the relevant conceptual and methodological control.
  28. Produce speeches in French adapting language register to the communicative situation.
  29. Produce work in which the fundamental digital and bibliographic tools for the field of study are applied.
  30. Produce works in which the fundamental digital and bibliographic tools for the field of study are applied.
  31. Recognise canonical authors and works of the literature studied and know how to contextualise these appropriately within the national and international literary framework.
  32. Relacionar les formes literàries amb el context històric en què s’inscriuen.
  33. Relate literature to other areas of culture.
  34. Search, select and manage information independently, both in structured sources (databases, bibliographies, specialised journals) and in information distributed on the web.
  35. Synthesise aspects related to philology and translation.
  36. Synthesise information obtained from distinct sources, problematise a topic, and structure the information in a relevant way in oral and written presentations adapted to the audience.
  37. Use the techniques of literary commentary.

Content

This subject is structured into the following units:

Unit 1. Charles Perrault. Contes [1697]

Unit 2. Charles Baudelaire. Les Fleurs du mal [1857]

Unit 3. Guy de Maupassant. Bel ami [1885]

Unit 4. Maurice Leblanc. Arsène Lupin, gentleman-cambrioleur [1907]


Methodology

To achieve the established objectives, this subject is taught through lecture-type classes and interpretative debates.

  • To participate in the interpretative debate, it is essential to have read the texts and completed the corresponding activities prior to each session.
  • Students are expected to regularly access Campus virtual.
  • Students must inform themselves of the information published on the Virtual Campus/Moodle for this subject.
  • All activity deadlines will be confirmed in class at the beginning of the course and must be respected. 

Annotation: Within the schedule set by the centre or degree programme, 15 minutes of one class will be reserved for students to evaluate their lecturers and their courses or modules through questionnaires.


Activities

Title Hours ECTS Learning Outcomes
Type: Directed      
Lectures 20 0.8 1, 4, 14, 16, 15, 18, 11, 12, 13, 17, 31, 33
Readings and debates 30 1.2 1, 2, 21, 3, 20, 25, 10, 6, 4, 7, 5, 28, 14, 16, 15, 18, 11, 12, 13, 17, 19, 23, 33, 32, 35
Type: Supervised      
Assessment activities: writing and class assignments. 24.5 0.98 1, 2, 21, 3, 20, 25, 10, 34, 6, 4, 7, 5, 9, 28, 29, 30, 26, 24, 14, 16, 15, 18, 11, 12, 13, 17, 19, 23, 31, 33, 32, 22, 35
Writting literary commentaries and critical texts 10 0.4 2, 21, 3, 20, 25, 34, 6, 4, 7, 5, 9, 8, 28, 27, 29, 30, 26, 24, 37, 14, 16, 15, 18, 11, 12, 13, 17, 19, 33, 32, 22, 35, 36
Type: Autonomous      
Reading and study 50 2 1, 21, 10, 34, 6, 4, 9, 14, 16, 15, 18, 11, 12, 13, 17, 31, 33, 32, 22, 35, 36

Assessment

CONTINUOUS ASSESSMENT

Students must provide evidence of their progress by completing various tasks and tests. These activities are detailed in the table at the end of this section of the Study Guide.

Review. When publishing final marks prior to recording them on students' transcripts, the lecturer will provide written notification of a date and time for reviewing assessment activities. Students must arrange reviews in agreement with the lecturer.

Missed/failed assessment activities. Students may retake assessment activities they have failed or compensate for any they have missed, provided that those they have actually performed account for a minimum of 66.6% (two thirds) of the subject's final mark and that they have a weighted average mark of at least 3.5.

The lecturer will inform students of the procedure involved, in writing, when publishing final marks prior to recording them on transcripts. The lecturer may set one assignment per failed or missed assessment activity or a single assignment to cover a number of such activities. Under no circumstances may an assessment activity worth 100% of the final mark be retaken or compensated for. 

Classification as "not assessable". In the event of the assessment activities a student has performed accounting for just 25% or less of the subject's final mark, their work will be classified as "not assessable" on their transcript.

Misconduct in assessment activities. Students who engage in misconduct (plagiarism, copying, personation, etc.) in an assessment activity will receive a mark of “0” for the activity in question. In the case of misconduct in more than one assessment activity, the student involved will be given a final mark of “0” for the subject. Assessment activities in which irregularities have occurred (e.g. plagiarism, copying, impersonation) are excluded from recovery.

 

SINGLE ASSESSMENT

The same assessment method as continuous assessment will be used. Attendance and class participation will be replaced by an oral exam. Description:

  • Long written exam equivalent to the sum of the two written exams conducted during the course: 50%
  • Submission of a literary text analysis and a critical text: 40%
  • Oral exam on the studied works and the topics covered in class: 10%

Date of the final evaluation: the same as the date of the last written exam in continuous assessment.

Recovery: last week of June.

 


Assessment Activities

Title Weighting Hours ECTS Learning Outcomes
1 essay 20% 6 0.24 21, 3, 20, 25, 34, 6, 4, 7, 5, 9, 28, 27, 29, 30, 26, 24, 14, 16, 15, 18, 11, 12, 13, 17, 19, 31, 33, 32, 22, 36
1 literary text analysis 15% 4 0.16 2, 21, 3, 20, 25, 34, 6, 4, 9, 8, 27, 29, 30, 24, 37, 14, 16, 15, 18, 11, 12, 13, 17, 32, 22, 35, 36
2 written exams 50% 3 0.12 20, 25, 6, 4, 7, 5, 9, 14, 16, 15, 18, 11, 12, 13, 17, 31, 33, 32, 35
Class attendance and participation in debates 10% 2.5 0.1 1, 2, 3, 20, 25, 10, 6, 4, 7, 5, 28, 14, 16, 15, 18, 11, 12, 13, 17, 19, 23, 31, 33, 32, 22, 35

Bibliography

Students are advised to buy the books before the course starts. 

Unité 1. Perrault, Charles. Contes [1697]. Édition de Catherine Magnien. Le livre de poche, 2006. ISBN : 978-2253082286.

  • Gheeraert, Tony. « Naissance d’un genre improbable. Le conte de fées littéraire français ». Hypothèses, 18/08/2021. Carnet en ligne. https://merveilles.hypotheses.org/107
  • Escola, Marc. Contes de Charles Perrault. Gallimard, coll. Folio, 2005.

Lectures conseillées : La Fontaine, Fables [1668-1694] ; Madame Leprince de Beaumont, La belle et la bête [1756] ; Amélie Nothomb, Barbe bleue [2012] ; Joël Pommerat, Cendrillon [2013].

 

Unité 2. Baudelaire, Charles. Les Fleurs du mal [1857]. Édition de Florence Bouchy. Hatier, 2020. ISBN : 978-2401063600.

Lectures conseillées : Alfred de Musset, La confession d’un enfant du siècle [1836] ;  Gustave Flaubert, Madame Bovary [1857].

 

Unité 3. Maupassant, Guy de. Bel-Ami [1885]. Édition annotée et commentée par Gabrielle Saïd. Hatier, 2016. ISBN : 978-2218991455.

Lectures conseillées : Stendhal, Le rouge et le noir [1830] ; Honoré de Balzac, Illusions perdues [1837-1843].

 

Unité 4. Leblanc, Maurice. Arsène Lupin, gentleman-cambrioleur. [1907]. Le Livre de poche, 2007. ISBN : 978-2253002826.

Lectures conseillées : Gaston Leroux, Le mystère de la chambre jaune [1907] ; Pierre Souvestre et Marcel Allain, Fantômas [1911].

 

L’analyse des textes littéraires

Baetens, Jan et al. Introduction à l’analyse des textes littéraires. Classiques Garnier. Coll. Dictionnaires et synthèses, 2023. ISBN : 978-2-406-14459-5.

Tadié, Jean-Yves (sous la direction de). La littérature française : dynamique et histoire. 2 tomes. Gallimard, 2007. Coll. Folio. ISBN. Tome 1 :978-2070418855. Tome 2 : 978-2070418862.

Pons, Émilie. Les clés de la dissertation et du commentaire littéraire, Ellipses, 2014. ISBN : 978-2729884321.

 

Webs

BNF-Gallica. Les essentiels de la littérature. https://gallica.bnf.fr/essentiels/

Fabula. Atelier de théorie littéraire. https://www.fabula.org/ressources/atelier/

Littérature française. https://litteraturefrancaise.net/fr/accueil/

 


Software

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