Fall 2021

Undergraduate Courses 

Man, Woman, Other: Across and Beyond the Gender Binary in French and Francophone Cultures
43A : Aspects of French Culture
Fall 2021
Class No: 32521
222 Wheeler
MWF
W. Burton
10:00-10:59 AM
This course introduces students to writing and film about and by gender-variant (transgender, intersex, or nonbinary) people in French and francophone cultures from the Middle Ages to the present.

Stories about gender variance and transgression have circulated in French and francophone cultures since the medieval period. Sometimes they have been the vehicle for philosophical and scientific debates (nature versus nurture, free will versus determination). In religious and spiritual contexts, they have been used as metaphors for human diversity or divine transcendence. They have also played symbolic roles in discourses of emancipation, from anticolonialism to feminism.

While we investigate these themes, we will also attend to issues of anachronism and power in these works. How can contemporary ideas and terms guide our recovery of LGBTTQI+ lives from history—or hinder it? What is at stake when apparently cisgender writers take non-cisgender people as their subject matter? How are their stories similar to or different from ones written by the "interested parties"?

Additional information

Readings and films might include work by Balzac, the Chevalier/Mademoiselle d'Éon, Anne Garréta, Céline Sciamma, Xavier Dolan.

All readings in English; movies subtitled in English.

Image: Odilon Redon, Les yeux clos, 1890.

Reading and Writing in French, 3 sections
102
Fall 2021
R. Shuh, D. Hoffman
Readings:

Course Reader; other readings as assigned by Instructor

Course Description:

French 102 is the gateway course to the upper division in French. Students build on the solid foundation in the language and culture acquired in French 1-4 by broadening and deepening their ability to read and write about French texts in an academic context.

Students read a selection of works from different media and genres including short stories, poems, plays, letters, essays, paintings and films. Through close reading, students develop their analytical ability in French, paying particular attention to the different kinds of choices that writers make, and how these choices contribute to the making of meaning. Students also develop their skills as writers of academic French, focusing both on the content of their written work and on its form.

By the end of the course, students are ready to meet the reading and writing requirements of upper division courses in the French department.

Prerequisites:

French 4 at UC Berkeley. Students who have taken the equivalent of a third-year college-level French course elsewhere may enroll in French 102, and should contact the French Undergraduate Advising Office at frendept@berkeley.edu to confirm placement.

Additional information:

French 102 is the sole prerequisite to all UCB French courses numbered 103 and above. Course open to non-native speakers of French only. Course conducted in French. Satisfies 1 course requirement in French major or French minor.

French Colonialism; The Creation of the French Empire
103A : Language and Culture
Fall 2021
Class No: 21616
TTh
T. Tlatli
11:00-11:59 AM
L’objectif de ce cours est l’analyse de la question coloniale en France, depuis la création de
l’empire colonial, pendant le dix-neuvième siècle, jusqu’aux débats récents du vingt-et-unième
siècle sur le post-colonialisme. Après un panorama historique, nous focaliserons nos analyse sur
la question du Maghreb colonial. Au nombre des questions que nous discuterons, on peut noter:
la propagande coloniale, l’engagement des écrivains et des philosophes dans la lutte contre le
colonialisme, l’utilisation systématique de la torture pendant la guerre d’Algérie, ainsi que le
statut de la femme dans l’univers colonial. Parmi les auteurs que nous étudierons il faut noter:
Albert Camus, Jean-Paul Sartre, Albert Memmi et Frantz Fanon. Un “reader” sera disponible à
“Copy Central”.

The French Enlightenment and its Afterlife
118B : Eighteenth Century Literature
Fall 2021
Class No: 30210
TTh
S. Maslan
12:30-1:59 PM
At the end of the eighteenth century Immanuel Kant tried to answer the question, what is Enlightenment? He came up with this answer: The Enlightenment was the time during which and the process by which human beings finally emerged from their own self-imposed childhood. The Enlightenment meant shaking off traditional authorities-- kings, priests, fathers—and refusing to acknowledge the legitimacy of handed-down ideas. Everything was up for grabs: ideas about politics, religion, sex, the family, and the nation. Both the content of beliefs and the methods by which beliefs were formed came up for scrutiny as writers and thinkers turned their studies away from the supernatural and the metaphysical toward the natural, the physical, and the social. People publicly debated
questions such as: what is freedom of expression? What is, or should be, the relation between religion and the State? What do secularism or freedom of religion really mean? What do we mean when we talk about freedom and equality?

Moreover, Enlightenment was a public process. Reading, thinking, writing,
criticizing was something no one person could accomplish by him or herself. “Dare to know” was the watchword Kant retrospectively assigned to the readers and writers of the Enlightenment. Recently, this heroic account of the Enlightenment has come under attack. For Horkheimer and Adorno, the Enlightenment was the origin of the kind of instrumental reason that led to fascism. More recent scholars accuse the Enlightenment of having constructed a “universal man” who is nothing but a camouflage for white, western, male power. Other critics of the Enlightenment complain that it made our society too secular and too licentious—that it dissolved the basis for morality itself by challenging authority. In this class we will try to decide for ourselves. The Enlightenment was also shaped by the censorship rigorously exercised by the monarchy; we will discuss censorship and the repression of writers. We will revisit many of the classic works of the French eighteenth century, trying to take Kant’s injunction as our watchword as we seek to discover the relation between our own complicated societies and the legacy of the Enlightenment. We will read plays, novels, and philosophical texts.

Readings will include: Voltaire, L’Ingénu; Montesquieu, Les Lettres persanes;
Graffigny, Lettres d’une péruvienne; Rousseau, Les origines et les fondements de l’inégalité, Diderot, Le Supplément au voyage de Bougainville; Laclos, Les Liaisons dangereuses; Beaumarchais, Le Mariage de Figaro.

The Cultures of Franco-America
142AC
Fall 2021
Class No: 30213
TTh
S. Maslan
3:30-4:59 PM
(Please note: This course fulfills the Berkeley campus American Cultures (AC) requirement. The course will be taught in English, and knowledge of French is not required).

In this course, we will consider a broad range of literary and cultural texts that emerge out of the long history of the French in North America and of Americans in France. Our readings will include novels, poetry, and short stories—including the earliest known work of African American fiction, written in French and published in Paris in 1837. Alongside these literary texts produced by French writers in America and American expatriates in France, we will consider travel narratives and missionary accounts describing interactions between European and Native American populations; historical, ethnographic, and political writings; foodways and other popular cultural forms such as music, comic strips, films, and television programs.

Throughout the semester, our discussions will focus on the politics of representation— we will work to understand the processes through which categories of “race” are shaped over time through the interplay between Anglo- and Franco-American cultures and ideologies, even as these categories are challenged from the perspectives of minority populations. As we trace these processes of racialization, we will be particularly attentive to intersections between “race” and class, gender, and sexuality; at the same time, we will consider the ways in which all of these categories of identity are inflected by language, by regional and national forms of belonging and exclusion, and by the presence of “mixed-race” communities.

Over the course of the semester, our readings will include selections from the following texts/authors: The Jesuit Relations, François René de Chateaubriand, Alexis de Tocqueville, Hippolyte Castra, Armand Lanusse, Victor Séjour, Kate Chopin, Louisiana Story (dir. Robert Flaherty), Jean Arceneaux, J’ai été au bal (dirs. Blank & Strachwitz), James Baldwin, Gwendolyn Bennett, Langston Hughes, Josephine Baker (cinematic performances), William Gardner Smith, M.F.K. Fisher, Samuel Chamberlain, Julia Child, Michael Pollan.

Prerequisites:
No knowledge of French is required. All lectures and discussions in English.

Additional information:
Satisfies UC Berkeley American Cultures requirement; satisfies 1 “Outside Elective” in the French major; satisfies one course requirement in the French minor.

Introduction to French Linguistics
146A : Introduction to French Linguistics
Fall 2021
Class No: 23614
TTh
M. McLaughlin
11:00-12:30 PM
This course provides an introduction to the linguistic analysis of Modern French. You will develop the basic skills of linguistic analysis in order to understand how the French language works. We consider four different levels: the phonology (sounds), the morphology (internal structure of words), the syntax (ordering of elements within the phrase) and the lexis (vocabulary). The course places considerable emphasis not just on the system but also on places where there is variation: we will consider, for example, why the negative particle ne is often dropped in spoken French, why some speakers use on instead of nous and how speakers decide between tu and vous in a given context. We use real linguistic data as much as possible, so you will find yourself analyzing transcripts of conversations, excerpts from films or short scientific texts.

Women in French Literature
150B
Fall 2021
Class No: 30214
TTh
M. Lucey
9:30-10:59 AM
Not all women writers have wanted to be thought of as such. Some have just wanted to be thought of as writers. Others underscore that they write from a woman’s—or a feminist—point of view. Others explicitly or implicitly make the case that there is no singular woman’s point of view from which to write. We will read one work each by three French authors, Simone de Beauvoir (1908-1986), Nathalie Sarraute (1900-1999), and Marie NDiaye (b. 1967), as we explore all these possibilities. In the case of Simone de Beauvoir, we will read the first volume of her long feminist, political, and philosophical novel, Les Mandarins (1954). We will read Nathalie Sarraute’s formally innovative autobiographical text, Enfance (1983). Finally, we will read Marie NDiaye’s prize-winning 2009 novel Trois femmes puissantes. Along with these works, we will study the careers of these three remarkable writers and thinkers, and by way of our reading we will learn about the history of contemporary France, the legacies of French colonialism, the history of modern French thought, developments in French literary history, and the history of French feminism. Formally and stylistically, Les Mandarins, Enfance, and Trois femmes puissantes are remarkably different from each other, and will allow us to ask questions like: What is a feminist novel? What is a philosophical novel? How can an autobiography challenge our sense of both identity and history? What is the role of literary form in helping us grapple with the political and ethical questions of the contemporary moment?

French 102 required

The Algerian war of Independence -1954-1962-
161B : A Year in French History
Fall 2021
Class No: 30215
MWF
T. Tlatli
2:00-2:59 PM
Dans ce cours, nous explorerons en profondeur l’importance majeure de la guerre d’Algérie
(1954-1962) sur différents plans: historique, politique et surtout, littéraire. Nous analyserons
l’impact de cette guerre sur des écrivains importants tels que Feraoun, Dib et Camus. Dans un
deuxième moment, nous analyserons les répercussions de la guerre d’Algérie comme une clé
pour interpréter la société et la politique française contemporaine du vingt et unième siècle. La
question thématique principale que nous explorerons est celle de la continuité entre le passé
colonial de la France et la vie politique et sociale contemporaine. Le passé colonial de la France
hante-t-il encore son présent? Un “reader” sera disponible à “Copy Central”.

Introduction to French Cinema
170 (Section 1) : French Films
Fall 2021
Class No: 26556
B4 Dwinelle
TTh
M. Sidhu
2:00-3:29 PM
REQUIRED TEXTS:
Jean-Pierre Jeancolas, Histoire du cinéma français, 4e édition (Armand Colin)

III. COURSE DESCRIPTION:
French 170 explores the rich history of French-language cinema in terms of larger issues in French and Francophone cultures and politics. We will examine some of the major movements in French film style from poetic realism to the Nouvelle Vague. In addition to the study of seminal French-language films, we will also read works of film theory, which ask how film is a distinctive medium of expression and can take up issues of gender, class, and race. This class also provides an introduction to the study of the moving image.
Students will learn how to analyze a film closely through examining how all the film elements work together to produce meaning.
This course is a prerequisite for French 177 and 178, though students who have taken French 177 or 178 may take this course. This class is open to both French and Film majors, though a knowledge of French is required (Film students will not be assessed on their competency in French). Students counting this course towards the major or minor in French must submit all written work in French. Class discussions are in French.
Additional information:
All films will be available for streaming. Students will watch films independently before class on Thursday.
The in-person screenings on Tuesday at 4 will not take place this semester.

Field Study
197 (Section 1)
Fall 2021
Class No: 17957
D. Hoffmann
Course Description:

Tutors enrolled in this course will be responsible for 2 hours per week of remote, drop-in tutoring for students enrolled in French 1 and French 2. Student tutors will also be responsible for attending meetings with the course supervisor and for maintaining regular email communication with their supervisor. 2 units.

Additional Information:

Students must have a minimum 3.0 GPA in UCB French coursework. Priority enrollment for students declared or intended in the French Major or Minor.

Students are encouraged to enroll by the end of Phase 2. Space permitting, eligible students may enroll in French 197 up through Friday of the first week of instruction.

Enrolled students will be contacted by the Instructor in Charge during the first 2 weeks of instruction to review program information and to set up tutoring and meeting schedules.

This course does not satisfy major or minor requirements.

Field Study
197 (Section 2)
Fall 2021
Class No: 17958
V. Rodic
Course Description:

Tutors enrolled in this course will be responsible for 2 hours per week of remote, drop-in tutoring for students enrolled in French 3 and French 4. Student tutors will also be responsible for attending meetings with the course supervisor and for maintaining regular email communication with their supervisor. 2 units.

Additional Information:

Students declared in French major or minor preferred. Students must have a minimum 3.0 GPA in UCB French coursework. Completion of one semester of French-immersion study abroad is recommended but not required. Intended majors and eligible French minors may also enroll on a space-available basis.

Students are encouraged to enroll by the end of Phase 2. Space permitting, eligible students may enroll in French 197 up through Friday of the first week of instruction.

This course does not satisfy major or minor requirements.

Graduate Courses

Proseminar
200
Fall 2021
Class No: 21590
4226 Dwinelle
F
M. McLaughlin
1:00-1:59 PM
This course gives new graduate students a broad view of the French Department faculty, the courses they teach, and their fields of research. In addition, it will introduce students to some practical aspects of their graduate career, issues that pertain to specific fields of research, and questions currently being debated across the profession.

Écrire la langue: The History of French Metalinguistic Writing
206 : Special Topics in French Linguistics
Fall 2021
Class No: 30216
Dwinelle 4226
Th
M. McLaughlin
1:00-3:59 PM
This course charts the history of writing about the French language from the medieval period to the current day. We will explore both canonical texts such as treaties, books of remarks and language columns by authors such as Du Bellay, Vaugelas and Rivarol, alongside less well-studied texts which represent a wider range of people, places, and types of text. Studying the history of
metalinguistic texts lets us address a series of essential questions about the metalinguistic genre, about language, and about society.

What can we learn about the metalinguistic genre itself including how it should be defined, what its internal divisions are, and the text types it includes? How can metalinguistic texts inform our understanding of variation and change in the French language, and vice versa? And how do metalinguistic texts construct and reflect language attitudes and ideologies? At a more general level, we will also have the chance to explore whether there are areas of research outside French linguistics which stand to gain from scholarship on
French metalinguistic texts.

Reading knowledge of French is essential since a considerable amount of both the primary and the secondary material will be in French. However, students will be able to write final papers that deal with metalinguistic texts relating to other languages.

Francophone Literature and the Shameful State
251 : Francophone Literature
Fall 2021
Class No: 30217
4226 Dwinelle
T
K. Britto
2:00-4:59 PM
Alternative facts, kleptocratic regimes, vulgar authoritarians who claim to speak in the
voice of the people even as they orchestrate spectacles of opulence and violence—for
generations, francophone authors have grappled with these and other aspects of
postcolonial rule. In this seminar, we will read a number of literary texts that narrate
uneasy passages from the colonial period through the era of independence and on into
variously configured neocolonial states and totalitarian regimes. In the first part of the
semester, we will focus primarily on novels from the 1970s and 1980s, all of which
register deep disillusionment with postcolonial nationalism. In the second part of the
semester, we will consider a group of more recent novels that extend the critique of
nationalism even as they take on contemporary dynamics of globalization, debt, and
private indirect government. Throughout our discussions, we will focus on the literary
forms and stylistic practices that characterize these texts, paying particular attention to
questions of narrative structure, generic affiliation, and the experimental use of language
and writing to represent the tortuous speech of the dictator, as well as the possibility of its
undoing. We will also pay close attention the always-excessive body of the dictator, and
to the bodies of subjects upon whom power is violently imposed (but who may continue
to circulate even after death as images, as ghosts, as scraps of writing). In addition to
selected secondary material, readings are likely to include: Aimé Césaire, La tragédie du
roi Christophe; Maryse Condé, Heremakhonon (En attendant le bonheur); Sony Labou
Tansi, La vie et demie; Ousmane Sembène, Le dernier de l’Empire; Henri Lopes, Le
Pleurer-Rire; Aminata Sow Fall, L’ex-père de la nation; Ahmadou Kourouma, En
attendant le vote des bêtes sauvages; Mongo Beti, Trop de soleil tue l’amour; Boubacar
Boris Diop, Kaveena; Yasmina Khadra, La dernière nuit du Raïs.

Le roman comme expérience: Littérature, savoirs, engagement, 1940-1990
265B : Modern Studies
Fall 2021
Class No: 30218
4226 Dwinelle
W
W. Burton
1:00-3:59 PM
In this course, we will study several francophone novelists' responses to the dominant political and scientific interpretations of "literature" during the postwar period. Those interpretations were associated with Sartre's call for politcal commitment (engagement) and structuralist theories of culture, more or less inspired by Lévi-Strauss. Each in its own way, these two interpretative systems subordinated literature to their own (political, scientific) ends. The debates sparked by Sartre and Lévi-Strauss would last for decades and extend beyond the borders of metropolitan France. Our course will ask: How did novelists navigate between the competing claims that politics and science laid on literature?

We will study a group of authors who took up this challenge by producing a "double corpus" composed of novels (or narratives) and essays. These texts belong to diverse movements that span a half-century and several continents: the Nouveau Roman, semiotic theory, and decolonial, postcolonial, and feminist literatures. At the same time, the writers and their work were linked to one another through a web of intertextual reference and collaborations.

One of these works' central preoccupations was the autonomy of literature as a discipline. The course proposes that their double corpus sought to "protect" the literary field from scientific and political incursions. As we read, we will ask: How did the mixture of novel and essay permit our authors to contest the epistemological claims of the sciences and to propose countermodels of knowledge? Did this mixture help them articulate a rejection of engagement or to rearticulate the latter in another form? Finally, how can we understand the relationship between a given writer's novels and essays? Is a general theory of the "double corpus" during the postwar period possible?

Authors: Nathalie Sarraute, Alain Robbe-Grillet, Roland Barthes, Hubert Aquin, Yambo Ouologuem, Monique Wittig, Nicole Brossard.

The course privileges close reading of essays and novels by our authors, but we will occasionally look at supplementary historiographic or critical work.

All readings in French, except those written in English. Discussions and work in French
or English, according to student interest.