Eye of Other FR Lit and Film

Catalog description

This course examines the evolution of attitudes in French language essays, novels and cinema concerning the concept of identity, the body and difference (cultural, racial, linguistic, religious or otherwise). The readings include short texts by the 16th century inventor of the modern essay, Michel Montaigne, the 17th century philosopher Descartes, an 18th century revolutionary text (The Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen) and poems by the 19th century poets Charles Baudelaire and Victor Hugo. Students will also read essays by François Cheng, Nancy Huston, Eduardo Manet and Milan Kundera, novels by Jorge Semprún and Marie Darrieussecq and examine films by François Ozon and Julian Schnabel.