Study Programmes 2015-2016
LROM0133-1  
Questions on history of 19 to 21C French literature
Duration :
30h Th
Number of credits :
Master in French and Romance languages and literatures : French as a second language (120 ECTS)3
Master in French and Romance languages and literatures : general (120 ECTS)3
Master in French and Romance languages and literatures : general (60 ECTS)3
Lecturer :
Benoît Denis
Language(s) of instruction :
French language
Organisation and examination :
Teaching in the first semester, review in January
Units courses prerequisite and corequisite :
Prerequisite or corequisite units are presented within each program
Course contents :
The academic year 2013-2014, the course will concern the following theme : " the literary theory of the writers. From Paul Valéry to Tel Quel". According to the expression of William Marx, the beginning of the XXth century sees the "birth of the modern criticism". It means a discourse about literature, operated by the writers themselves, which is fitted to the principles of the literary modernity, such as it was established in France in the middle of the previous century. Beginning by the central figure of Paul Valéry, the course will study the contributions of Marcel Proust, Jean Paulhan, Jean-Paul Sartre, Roland Barthes or Maurice Blanchot. The objective will be to show how was gradually constituted, not a body of doctrine, but an interrogation on the essence of the literature which puts the foundations of a theory of the literature, envisaging questions such as : the specific nature of the literary language, the relation between the literature and the reality, the relationships between the author and the reader, the question of the value.
Learning outcomes of the course :
At the end of this course, the student will be able :
  • To make understandable a complex literary text by refering it to the history of the literature in which it takes place.
  • To restore the terms and to seize the stakes of the French debate on the nature of modern literature.
  • To analyze texts which belong to the genre of the literary essay.
Prerequisite knowledge and skills :
Planned learning activities and teaching methods :
Mode of delivery (face-to-face ; distance-learning) :
See : http://cipl82.philo.ulg.ac.be/horaires
Recommended or required readings :
A portfolio of readings will be supplied in the beginning of the course. Compulsory reading : Compagnon (Antoine), Le Démon de la théorie. Littérature et sens commun, Paris, Seuil, "Points essais", 2001.
Assessment methods and criteria :
Oral examination, consisting in commentary and close reading of texts from the course.
Work placement(s) :
Organizational remarks :
The course, the readings and the examination are exclusively in French.
Contacts :
ben.denis@ulg.ac.be