Foreign Languages

FF221
20th Century Literature
Prof. Lynne Gelber

FF221 presents representative examples of modern and post-modern mentalities in poetry, theatre, fictive narrative and film of both the "hexagon" and non-European French cultures. Some attention to questions of immigration, feminism, and popular culture are also included. Although the focus of the course is the study of some of the most important primary texts of the period, we continue to work at this level on written and spoken skills through discussion, oral student presentations and a final written paper, for which a first written version is required. The paper normally explores some aspect of these primary texts. The Honors component adds an additional weekly meeting to explore critical concepts and secondary sources related to the primary texts studied by the entire class. Honors students will be expected to develop an intellectual argument, use these critical materials, and write a longer paper in French which incorporates the critical and theoretical concepts into their textual analysis. Honors students are also expected to bring their critical understanding to class discussions.

FL263A
Fantastic in Literature
Prof. John Anzalone

Fantastic literature and art involve representations (ghost stories, tales of the uncanny, "frightening" pictures) that provoke questions and doubt about the nature of what we call Reality, about the self, and about the very nature of literary and artistic representation. The intrusion of the supernatural or the inexplicable in daily life, by upsetting conventional assumptions, raises provocative questions that this class will attempt to address. Though the fantastic may be discerned over a long period of time and in different civilizations, it has a particularly brilliant history since the end of the 18th century. The course will examine the problems raised by the Fantastic in tales of authors such as E.T.A. Hoffmann, Edgar Allen Poe, Maupassant, Villiers de l'Isle-Adam, Henry James, Cortazar, J-L. Borges, Calvino, Kafka and Susskind; and via discussion of painters and illustrators as diverse as Breughel, Bosch, Goya, Fuesli, Redon, Grandville, Kahlo and Varro. We will also consider theorists such as Freud and Todorov.
The Honors hour of the class will be devoted in particular to film manifestations of the fantastic in works such as Blade-runner, Edward Scissorhands, Freaks, Dead Again, The Sixth Sense, What Lies Beneath, etc. Students will write several papers, give presentations of tales not read in class, and perhaps try their hand--individually or collectively--at the writing of a fantastic fiction. French major or minor credit is possible: consult with the instructor. Interested students are encouraged to speak with Prof. Anzalone. This course counts as LS2.