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Semester 2

Documentary Forms in French and Francophone Culture (ELCF09041)

Subject

European Languages and Cultures - French

College

CAHSS

Credits

20

Normal Year Taken

4

Delivery Session Year

2023/2024

Pre-requisites

In order to be eligible to take 4th Year Options, Visiting Students should have the equivalent of at least two years of study at University level of the appropriate language(s) and culture(s).

Course Summary

The course will introduce students to different documentary forms across media and cultures. Made by French and Francophone artists and journalists, the documentaries studied across the course explore sociocultural, political, and ecological issues, both in contemporary and historical contexts. The course will train students to examine and compare various modes of representation, whilst identifying the key characteristics of different media.

Course Description

The course will consider the diversity of contemporary documentary forms across a broad range of media, including photography, radio podcasts, installation, comics, live action and animated film. It will provide various perspectives on the evolution of documentary in recent decades, especially in the context of French and Francophone culture, with the emergence of new platforms and ways for audiences and readers to engage with sociocultural issues, political and intersectional questions, as well as personal and collective histories. The course will explore questions of representation - both from a social and aesthetic perspective - in a selection of documentaries. Students will examine documentaries that depict underrepresented social groups as well as marginalised voices. In addition, the course will provide students with the critical and comparative tools to analyse the documentaries aesthetic features. How do they represent and mediate the real? What are the differences and commonalities between the documentary aesthetics of a film, a photograph, or a comic book? How do the documentarists represent themselves? The personal (when not autobiographical) and ethical relationship between the individuals who make the documentaries and the represented subjects will be one of the key themes of the course. A selection of the following themes and topics will also be covered: education; wars and conflicts; everyday practices; the relationship between local and global cultures; the representation of memory and history. Week 1 - Introduction Weeks 2-9 - Each week will cover either: a selection of radio podcasts; a selection of photographs; a documentary film or animated film; a video installation; a comic book. Week 10 - Conclusion The course will be taught in ten two-hour seminars over the semester. In preparation for each seminar, students will be expected to familiarise themselves with the primary sources and read one academic article (or extracts of a book chapter) on the weekly topic. Every week, students will be provided with preliminary questions on the primary texts and secondary readings. They will also conduct independent research to prepare their group presentations. As the course encourages student-led learning experience, most of the seminar will be dedicated to group activities and class discussion. The tutor will introduce the primary sources at the beginning of each class.

Assessment Information

Written Exam 0%, Coursework 100%, Practical Exam 0%

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