Course finder
Semester 2
The Modern City: Paris (ORDINARY) (ELCF09030)
Subject
European Languages and Cultures - French
College
CAHSS
Credits
20
Normal Year Taken
3
Delivery Session Year
2023/2024
Pre-requisites
In order to be eligible to take 3rd/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
This course will assess the changing face of France's capital city over the last two centuries and the interconnection between the physical, the social and the cultural space of the city. It begins in the mid 19th century with Baudelaire's reaction to the immense upheaval occasioned by Haussmann's vast programme of urban planning which allowed the modern city to emerge out of what Le Corbusier refers to as a 'medieval village'. In considering the text by Ernaux, the course ends with the consequences of Delouvrier's Schéma directeur which did for the suburbs what Haussmann did for the centre thus earning Delouvrier the nickname 'l'Haussmann des faubourgs'. The aim is to analyse how the city is experienced, negotiated, and appropriated both on an everyday basis and in writing.
Course Description
A variety of genres are analysed including poetry, prose poetry, journalistic prose, prose fiction, the diary, experimental forms such as the 'ethnotexte', and film, as well as a range of literary and cultural movements from realism to hyperrealism, encompassing fantasy, future, and the simple everyday. The course promotes an interdisciplinary approach by incorporating architecture, painting, cultural history, and film. The texts studied will be Charles Baudelaire, 'Tableaux Parisiens' in Les Fleurs du mal and Le Spleen de Paris; Émile Zola, Le Ventre de Paris; André Breton, Nadja, Agnès Varda, Cléo de 5 à 7; Annie Ernaux, Le Journal du dehors.
Assessment Information
Written Exam 0%, Coursework 100%, Practical Exam 0%
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Disclaimer
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