Language Courses | R&C Courses | Upper-Division Courses | Graduate Courses
Language
Elementary French, first semester
1
Spring 2016
S. Chavdarian
Readings:
Chez nous: Branché sur le monde francophone, 4th edition; Chez nous: Branché sur le monde francophone, Student activities manual, 4th edition; Chez nous: Branché sur le monde francophone, Answer Key, 4th edition; Recommended: Morton, English Grammar for Students of French
Course Description:
This course is conducted entirely in French. Introduction to Francophone cultures through speaking, listening, reading, and writing in French, with French as the exclusive means of communication. Emphasis is placed on developing student ability to create and to communicate with basic French structures and vocabulary. Linguistic and cultural competency is developed through oral exercises, individual and collaborative reports, class discussions, and the use of various media resources. Reading and writing are developed through both in-class and independent reading projects using the French Department Library, as well as through compositions and other written assignments. The program integrates all aspects of foreign language study through a process-oriented approach in compliance with ACTFL‘s Oral Proficiency and the 5Cs of the National Standards for Foreign Language Learning for the 21st Century. Cultural competency is also reinforced by exposure to French and Francophone worlds through various oral/aural exercises, written assignments, film clips and various media resources. The students will gain a historical perspective on French and Francophone cultures.
Prerequisites:
No previous French experience required. This course is also appropriate for students with one quarter of college-level French, 2 years of high school French, or less. For additional placement information please see Lower Division Placement Guidelines. See also French Placement FAQs.
Additional information:
Course not open to native or heritage speakers of French. All sections are conducted entirely in French, with no more than 20 students per section. See the Schedule of Classes to obtain the course control number (CCN) for your desired section.
Elementary French, second semester
2
Spring 2016
S. Chavdarian
Readings:
Chez nous: Branché sur le monde francophone, 4th edition; Chez nous: Branché sur le monde francophone, Student activities manual, 4th edition; Chez nous: Branché sur le monde francophone, Answer Key, 4th edition;
Ionesco “La Leçon”, “La Cantatrice Chauve”, OR “Rhinocéros”-specific play to be determined by the instructor the first week of classes. Do not purchase ahead of time.
Recommended: Morton, English Grammar for Students of French
Course Description:
Continuing development of students’ awareness of Francophone cultures, knowledge of fundamental structures of French, and their appropriate socio-linguistic application in both spoken and written communication. Class conducted entirely in French. Speaking ability is developed through oral exercises, individual and collaborative reports, class discussions and debates. Reading and writing are developed through both in-class and independent reading projects using the French Department Library, compositions and various written assignments. Students are introduced to French analytical writing through an exploration of various topics relating to contemporary French and Francophone societies. The course also includes the reading of authentic literature in the form of a modern play. The program integrates all aspects of foreign language study through a process-oriented approach in compliance with ACTFL‘s Oral Proficiency and the 5Cs of the National Standards for Foreign Language Learning for the 21st Century. Cultural competency is also reinforced through individual oral reports, class debates on issues affecting contemporary world societies, and the use of appropriate media resources including radio and television news, film clips, and cultural programs. Students will have the opportunity to do comparative studies on French and American cultures in terms of both personal and national identity. The class meets five days a week; it is conducted entirely in French, with no more than 20 students per section; plan on daily oral and written exercises.
Prerequisites:
French 1 at UC Berkeley or 1 semester (or 2 quarters) of college-level French at another university or 3 years of high school French or consent of the instructor.
For additional placement information please see Lower Division Placement Guidelines. See also French Enrollment FAQs.
Additional information:
Course not open to native or heritage speakers of French. All sections are conducted entirely in French, with no more than 20 students per section.
Intermediate French
3
Spring 2016
V. Rodic
Readings:
Required: Réseau: Communication, Intégration, Intersections, 2nd Edition, Pearson (Textbook, Student activities manual, and Answer key, access to My French Lab, and complimentary Oxford New French Dictionary); select outside readings
Please note: The program uses the second edition only. All of the required materials (textbook, student activities manual, answer key and MyFrenchLab) will be available in package form at the Cal Student Store. In most cases, purchasing a package turns out to be cheaper than buying the components separately. Oxford New French Dictionary is included in package.
Recommended: Morton, English Grammar for Students of French
Course Description:
This course is conducted in French. This is an intermediate language and culture class that aims to consolidate and expand the skills of listening comprehension, speaking, reading and writing in French while introducing students to texts from the French and Francophone cultures. The course aims to promote cross-cultural understanding through the use of authentic materials such as literary works and journalistic texts, multimedia, film, pop songs, and television/radio broadcasts, and other cultural artifacts. Topics covered include family, education, gender roles, urban and suburban life, traditions, politics, individual and national identities and cultural icons. The course invites comparisons between American and other cultures and those of the French and Francophone worlds through individual reflection, class discussion, work in small groups, and other collaborative formats. In addition to a review and refinement of grammar and vocabulary in a culturally rich context, students also experiment with their written expression through a variety of formats, including journals, creative writing and independent projects using the Internet, as well as textual analysis in French.
Prerequisites:
For students with one of the following: 4 years of high school French; a passing grade in French 2 at UC Berkeley; 2nd or 3rd semester college French; 3rd or 4th-quarter college French; a 3 on the AP French exam. Students who have lived for an extended time in a French-speaking environment should consult with Vesna Rodic, the Acting Second Year Coordinator. For additional placement information please see Lower Division Placement Guidelines. See also French Enrollment FAQs.
Additional information:
Course not open to native or heritage speakers of French. Satisfies College of Letters and Science breadth in International Studies (IS). All sections are conducted entirely in French, with 19 students per section.
Advanced Intermediate French
4
Spring 2016
V. Rodic
Readings:
Réseau: Communication, Intégration, Intersections, 2nd Edition, Pearson (Textbook, Student activities manual, and Answer key); Jean-Paul Sartre, Huis-clos, (Gallimard, 2000). ISBN-10: 2070368076 and ISBN-13: 978-2070368075; selected outside readings
Recommended: My French Lab access; Morton, English Grammar for Students of French
The program uses the second edition only. All of the required materials (textbook, student activities manual, answer key and MyFrenchLab) will be available in package form at the Cal Student Store. In most cases, purchasing a package turns out to be cheaper than buying the components separately. Oxford New French Dictionary is included in package.
Recommended: Morton, English Grammar for Students of French
Course Description:
This course is conducted entirely in French. French 4 is an advanced intermediate language and culture class that aims to refine the skills acquired in French 3 or equivalent courses and to enhance students’ familiarity with French and Francophone literature. Emphasis is placed on the strengthening of oral and written expression in order to promote linguistic and cultural competences through an extensive grammar review and exploration of texts, visual and audio sources, multi-media, and other cultural artifacts. Topics covered include immigration and multiculturalism, France’s relations with other countries in Europe and around the world, Francophone cultures, identity, politics, the arts, and film. Various genres and visual and written forms are covered, including short stories, plays, poems, and films, studied in their literary and cultural contexts (history, philosophy, music, art). Throughout the semester, students share ideas in collaborative small groups and whole class discussion, continue to work on independent projects using the Internet, and explore new formats for writing in French, including expository writing, journalistic and creative writing activities, as well as visual and textual analysis in French.
Prerequisites:
For students with one of the following: a passing grade in French 3 at UC Berkeley; 4th-semester or 5th-quarter college French; a 4 or 5 on the AP French exam. Students who have lived in a French-speaking environment should take the French 102 Placement Exam and consult with Vesna Rodic, the Acting Second Year Coordinator. For additional placement information please see Lower Division Placement Guidelines. See also French Enrollment FAQs.
Additional information:
Course not open to native or heritage speakers of French. Satisfies the College of Letters & Science breadth requirement in International Studies (IS). All sections are conducted entirely in French, with no more than 19 students per section.
Intermediate French
13
Spring 2016
R. Kern
Readings:
Selected Readings.
Course Description:
This course develops students’ ability to speak and understand French in both conversational and formal contexts, enlarges vocabulary, and enhances familiarity with contemporary French culture. Activities include oral presentations, debates, collaborative projects, language journals. Class conducted entirely in French.
Prerequisites:
A passing grade in French 2 at UC Berkeley or four years of high school French. If you have questions about placement, see the Lower Division Placement Guidelines.
Additional information:
Enrollment is limited to 18 students. Cannot be repeated for credit. Course not open to native or heritage French speakers. If you have questions regarding French 13 enrollment, see our French Enrollment FAQs.
Advanced Conversation
14
Spring 2016
R. Kern
Readings:
Selected Readings.
Course Description:
Listening, reading and discussion of French sociocultural realities including economics, politics, popular culture, and family life at the beginning of the 21st century. Oral presentations, debates, collaborative projects, regular journal entries and assignments. Class conducted entirely in French.
Additional information:
Enrollment is limited to 18 students. Cannot be repeated for credit. Course not open to native or heritage French speakers.
Practical Phonetics and Listening Comprehension
35
Spring 2016
N. Timmons
Readings:
Abry and Chalandon, 350 exercices; course materials
Course Description:
This multimedia web-assisted course concentrates on pronunciation and listening comprehension skills. Because it concentrates on the first task confronted upon arrival in a French-speaking country (to understand and be understood), it has traditionally been considered very helpful before going to France for study, work, or travel. Training in Practical Phonetics focuses on the traditionally more difficult areas for speakers of English, with priority given to errors that affect comprehensibility by natives. Training in Listening Comprehension includes both global comprehension activities and attention to discrete points –such as sound elisions or consonant assimilation– which make French difficult to understand. Use of a wide variety of text, audio and video documents, including radio and television. Students learn the International Phonetic Alphabet for reading purposes. Theoretical concepts are introduced as necessary. This course is conducted entirely in French.
Prerequisites: A passing grade in French 3 at UC Berkeley, or the equivalent. If you have questions about placement, see the Placement Guidelines on French Department website.
Additional information: Course not open to native or heritage speakers of French. Priority enrollment for declared French majors. This course satisfies College of Letters and Science breadth in Social and Behavioral Sciences. This course is a requirement for the French major.
Reading and Composition (R&C)
Interlocution -- The Act of Talking In and Through Literature
R1A (Section 1) : English Composition through French Literature in Translation
Spring 2016
S. Postoli
Readings:
Rosenwasser & Stephen, Writing Analytically
Augustine’s Confessions (excerpts)
Montaigne’s Essays (excerpts)
William Shakespeare’s Midsummer Night’s Dream
Victor Hugo’s The Last Day of a Condemned Man
Charles Baudelaire’s “To the Reader” & other poems
Albert Camus’s The Fall
Eugène Ionesco’s The Bald Soprano
Assia Djebar’s Algerian White (excerpts)
Svetlana Alexievich’s Voices from Chernobyl (excerpts)
Course Description:
Literary expression provides multiple modalities of speaking and being spoken to, from the obvious monologue and dialogue to the asides of clever dramatic characters and impassioned addresses of politically engaged authors. Interlocution also implies the presence of both a voice and of an audience or listener, and, as we will see, there are many forms that both these entities can take.
The texts that we will be reading not only have interlocution as a common theme, but furthermore highlight multiple manifestations of it — across genres, forms, styles, and other narrative devices. Looking at the varying methods and degrees to which talking is employed by authors across different periods, we will see how it informs or defines a particular genre or style; how it functions within it; as well as how it can become problematic in instances where communication is abused, subverted, or rendered impossible.
Additional information:
French R1A satisfies the first half of the Reading and Composition Requirement. Classes are conducted in ENGLISH.
"True” Stories, Opinionated Narrators, and Other Complications -- Approaches to Narrative Form
R1A (Section 2) : English Composition through French Literature in Translation
Spring 2016
K. Levine
Readings:
Letters from a Peruvian Woman, Françoise de Graffigny
A Lost Lady, Willa Cather
“Prologue,” “Yonec,” “Chievrefeuille,” Marie de France
Oxford Tristan folie, anonymous
“A Hundred Ballads of a Lover and a Lady,” Christine de Pizan (excerpt)
“A&P,” John Updike
“Snow,” John Crowley
“The Empties,” Jess Row
“The Function of Literature,” Umberto Eco
Portrait of a Lady, Henry James (excerpt)
Other readings:
Writing Analytically, David Rosenwasser and Jill Stephen
Course Description:
In this course, we will read a variety of fictional texts in order to explore the ways in which stories can be told. Our starting point will be the whys and hows of writing and reading: why would an author decide to withhold information from the reader? How does a reader perceive a first-person narrator vs. a third-person one? We’ll analyze many forms – short narratives, some poetry, an epistolary novel, a novella, and several short stories – from many different times, places, and traditions, starting with texts from medieval France and ending with a short story set in futuristic America. As we look at how authors choose to convey their stories and how those choices affect our understanding of their narratives, we will also consider strategies for presenting our own arguments about literature.
This course is an R1A, the first part of two courses intended to introduce students to literary analysis, critical reading, and analytical writing. Writing assignments will include posting to bCourses and formulating discussion questions as well as brainstorming, peer-editing, drafting, revising, and re-writing formal essays.
Additional information:
French R1A satisfies the first half of the Reading and Composition Requirement. Classes are conducted in ENGLISH.
Here Be Dragons -- Early Modernity and the Known World
R1B (Section 3) : English Composition through French Literature in Translation
Spring 2016
L. Louie
Readings:
Graham Robb, The Discovery of France; Bernard le Bovier de Fontenelle, Conversations on the Plurality of Worlds [Entretiens sur la pluralité des mondes]; Dave Eggers, The Circle; Other readings (including poems by Joachim Du Bellay and Clément Marot, essays by Michel de Montaigne, and excerpts from The Travels of Marco Polo) will be made available in a coursepack.
Course Description:
According to popular belief, medieval mapmakers marked unknown territory with the speculative phrase, “Here Be Dragons.” The term “Early Modern” (which usually designates the period after the Middle Ages and before the Enlightenment) might suggest to us that the people of this period were moving away from a medieval understanding of the unknown world as populated by dragons, and moving toward objectively greater geographic, anthropological, and cosmological understanding. However, in this class we will think about how this period, often viewed as a time of discovery, was also a time when different parts of France remained foreign to each other, while differences of religion, language, and gender took on new significance. We will think about how these internal divisions inform medieval and Renaissance literary accounts of novelty and foreignness, from the New World all the way to the moon. We will ask questions such as: How does new information become fact? How do old ideologies, expectations, and methodologies shape our understanding of the new? What is the relationship between literary and scientific knowledge? In what ways might our present-day understanding of the world be understood as pre-modern?
This course focuses on literary analysis and the composition of well-argued essays, building upon the skills learned in R1A. We will also be discussing how to conduct scholarly research on literary and historical topics, and how to use scholarly sources in academic writing. The writing process will be broken down into manageable components, including extensive rewriting and feedback, and we will practice different academic genres including the abstract, the annotated bibliography, and the research paper. Active participation in class discussions and an assigned reading group is required.
Additional information:
French R1B satisfies the second half of the Reading and Composition Requirement. Classes are conducted in ENGLISH
France And The U.S.A. -- Cross Cultural Encounters In Literature And Film
R1B (Section 1 or 2) : English Composition through French Literature in Translation
Spring 2016
M. Koerner
Readings:
Gertrude Stein, Paris, France
Ernest Hemingway, A Moveable Feast
James Baldwin, Giovanni’s Room
Simone de Beauvoir, America Day By Day
Jean Baudrillard, America
Course Description:
This reading and composition course focuses on the relationship between French and American culture – and the way each country has been perceived by the other – through a survey of writers and filmmakers who have made this relationship a central theme of their work. Over the course of the semester we will analyze literary texts written by Americans living in Paris, narratives written by French intellectuals travelling in the United States, as well as documentaries and feature films produced in both countries. What values, possibilities and forms of sociality have Americans associated with French culture, or more specifically the city of Paris? How have ideas about “America” circulated, both positively and negatively, among French thinkers, social critics and artists? In exploring the relationship between France and the United States, we will pay special attention to the ways issues of race, ethnicity, gender and sexuality complicate our understanding of the way each culture appears to the other.
Writing assignments will focus on the close analysis of texts and images, developing critical skills in thinking comparatively and historically, and producing compelling research questions for further inquiry and investigation. In addition to in-class writing exercises students should expect to write three short response essays (2-3 pages), an extended analysis of one literary text or film (4-5 pages), and a final research paper (8-10 pages).
Texts and films to be studied include:
Gertrude Stein, Paris, France; Ernest Hemingway, A Moveable Feast; William Gardner Smith, The Stone Face; James Baldwin, Giovanni’s Room; Alexis de Tocqueville, Democracy in America (excerpts); Simone de Beauvoir, America Day By Day; Jean Baudrillard, America; Jean-Luc Godard, Made in the U.S.A.; Agnes Varda, Black Panthers; Vincente Minnelli, An American in Paris; Greta Schiller, Paris Was a Woman
Additional information:
French R1B satisfies the second half of the Reading and Composition Requirement. Classes are conducted in ENGLISH
Upper-Division Courses
Writing in French, 3 sections
102
Spring 2016
S. Maslan; R. Shuh or M. McLaughlin
Readings:
Course Reader; other readings as assigned by Instructor, may differ by section.
Course Description:
This course introduces students to different modes of proposing and furthering a point of view or argument (whether in a critical essay, through dramatic metaphor, or in plays or short stories). To this end, we read passages from a variety of works, such as critical essays, novels, and plays, in order to study their use of language, their structure, and their tactics of persuasion. Through readings on problems of language and the visual arts, we explore the ways in which words and images structure thought, communication and interactions of individuals and societies. Great attention is paid, both through the readings and through extensive written work, to questions of interpretation as well as to the logical and coherent development of reading and writing skills leading to correct and effective expression in French.
Prerequisites:
Completion of French 4 at Berkeley or the equivalent. Students who have taken the equivalent of a third-year college level French course elsewhere may also enroll in French 102; Additional placement questions may be directed to the course instructor.
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
Histoires de jardins -- Le jardin dans l’imaginaire littéraire français et francophone
103B : Language and Culture
Spring 2016
R. Shuh
Readings:
Textes (à titre provisoire):
La Châtelaine de Vergy
Ronsard: poésies
Molière: George Dandin
Rousseau: Les Rêveries du promeneur solitaire
Voltaire: Candide
Sand: Indiana
Baudelaire: poésies
Colette: Sido (extraits)
Anne Hébert: Le Premier Jardin
Gabrielle Roy: Un jardin au bout du monde
Course Description:
Lieu d’origine, de pouvoir, d’évasion; espace de rencontre, d’amour et de subversion, souvent pensé au féminin, le jardin est saturé de sens depuis ses origines judéo-chrétiennes. Nous nous proposons de suivre les détours de ce motif à travers plusieurs époques de la littérature française et francophone.
Si le jardin à la française a connu son plus grand rayonnement sous Louis XIV, époque où il incarne un modèle de pouvoir et de savoir, il n’en reste pas moins que le jardin revêt une grande variété de formes et de significations au fil des siècles: du clos médiéval au jardin fleuri de la Renaissance, des promenades mondaines à l’état de nature, du paysage romantique à la musique aux Tuileries du XIXe siècle, du lieu maternel à l’espace de réflexion sur la colonisation du Nouveau Monde.
Dans sa représentation littéraire, cet espace guidera notre exploration de textes variés (récits, poèmes, nouvelles, romans, essais). Il nous permettra également d’explorer ses incarnations concrètes (les jardins de Versailles ou l’histoire des Tuileries par exemple) et ses représentations dans d’autres arts (peinture rococo ou impressionniste, cinéma). Nous nous intéresserons tout autant à sa dimension philosophique—comment le jardin permet une réflexion sur la place de l’être humain dans la nature.
Prerequisites:
Students must have either previously completed French 102 or its equivalent, or be concurrently enrolled in French 102. For additional placement information please see Placement Guidelines.
Love, Humor and Satire in an Age of War and Plague
114A : Late Medieval Literature
Spring 2016
D. Hult
Readings:
See Description.
Course Description:
The Black Plague, the Hundred Years’ War, serve as the gruesome backdrop for one of the richest periods of creation in the aristocratic tradition of courtly poetry and romance, extending from the mid-fourteenth to the late fifteenth century. Were the light and frivolous fictions of love and seduction merely an escapist fantasy, a way of thinking of things other than death and disease, or is there a darker side to these fictions? In the course of the semester, we will study lyric and narrative works by some of the best known court authors of the period: Guillaume de Machaut, Christine de Pizan, Charles d’Orléans, Alain Chartier, and François Villon, as well as some anonymous works reflecting the growing importance of a bourgeois economic and literary sensibility: the satiric Quinze Joyes du mariage and the brilliant late medieval comic play, the Farce de Maître Pierre Pathelin. Class discussion and readings in French. No previous knowledge of Medieval French is required or expected, though we will read some works in the original
Prerequisites:
French 102 or equivalent.
Additional information:
Knowledge of Old French not required; readings in modern French translation. This course satisfies 1 French Major course requirement in the “Literature” (112-126) category or 1 French Major course requirement in the Elective category. This course also satisfies 1 Historical Period Requirement in the French major. Priority enrollment for declared French majors.
Satisfies College of Letters and Science breadth in Arts and Literature.
Short Forms and Very Short Forms
121B : Literary Themes, Genres, Structures
Spring 2016
S. Guerlac
Readings:
Selected Readings; see Description.
Course Description:
Increasingly writers are exploring short forms – sometimes Very short forms. There have been many inspirations for this: romantic esthetics of the fragment, the phenomenon of the post card, avant -garde contestations of conventional art practices and markets, 20th esthetic traditions of minimalism, an esthetics of the everyday, the impact of media such as photography, tv (channel surfing and interruption by ads) and especially the internet (twitter) as well as the generally precarious state of the world.
We will examine a range of short forms – prose poems, short stories, meditations, récits and micro-récits (“twitterature,” “nanotexts”) — to see what they accomplish and how they work. To gain some historical perspective we will examine precursors from the classical and pre-romantic contexts before turning to modern works. Here we will emphasize the prose poem, Surrealist experiments in automatic writing, as well as short form fictions and auto -biographical writing in the 20th and 21st centuries. We will consider critical reflections on the fragment ( Blanchot) and the haiku (Barthes) and we will end with contemporary experiments in blogging and “twitterature.” Themes that will particularly interest us as they pertain to modern short forms are: human- animal relations, photography and the everyday.
Readings will include works/selections by authors such as Blaise Pascal (Pensées) François de La Rochefoucauld (Maximes) Jean de La Bruyère (Caractères) Jean-Jacques Rousseau (Rêveries) Charles Baudelaire (Spleen de Paris) Auguste de Villiers de l’Isle-Adam (Contes cruels), André Breton (Les Champs magnétiques) Francis Ponge (Le Parti pris des choses) Nathalie Sarraute (L’Enfance) Maurice Blanchot (L’Entretien Infini) Roland Barthes (L’Empire des Signes) Eric Chevillard (Sans L’Orang-Outan; L’Autofictif) Silvia Baron Supervielle (Lettres à des photographies) Jean-Phillipe Toussaint (L’Appareil Photo) Annie Ernaux (L’Usage de la photographie) Marie Darrieussecq (“Connaissance des Singes”) Emmanuel Hocquard (Méditations photographiques sur l’idée simple de nudité) and Patrick Moser (Le Chat qui vous ressemble) .
Prerequisites:
French 102 or consent of instructor.
Additional information:
This course satisfies one “Literature” or one “Elective” in the French major; satisfies one Historical Period requirement in French major. Satisfies College of Letters and Science breadth in Arts and Literature. Priority enrollment for declared French majors.
French for Teaching and Related Careers
138
Spring 2016
R. Kern
Readings:
Lightbown and Spada, How Languages are Learned, Fourth Edition. Oxford UP, 2013; French 138 readings on bspace.
Course Description:
This course will introduce students to the field of second language acquisition, considering specific issues in learning and teaching French. What is “grammar” and how does it relate to our everyday use of language? What is the significance of language errors? How do “spoken” and “written” norms differ? What roles do a student’s native language, as well as motivation, memory, and personality play in the learning of a foreign language? How do social factors affect language learning? What is the nature of the relationship between language and culture, and how can culture be taught through language? We will study theoretical models of second language acquisition, as well as a variety of approaches to the teaching of French as a foreign language. Students will learn how to observe and analyze teaching and will get practice in preparing and teaching a micro-lesson.
Prerequisites:
French 35 and 102 or consent of instructor.
Additional information:
This course satisfies 1 “Elective” course requirement in the French Major. Priority enrollment for declared French majors.
Translation Methodology and Practice
148
Spring 2016
M. McLaughlin
Readings:
Hervey, Sándor and Ian Higgins, (2002) Thinking French Translation
Course Description:
The discipline known as ‘translation studies’ is a relatively new field and yet it has much to offer the practicing translator. This course brings together aspects of translation theory and translation methodology in order to develop our skills as translators. During the course we will translate both from French into English and from English into French, paying particular attention to the linguistic differences between the two languages that pose problems for translators. One of the main methodological questions addressed by the course is how the practice of translation varies according to genre: from the translation of poetry, through scientific translation to subtitles and dubbing, as well as translation and new media.
Prerequisites:
French 102 or equivalent, or consent of instructor.
Additional Information:
This course satisfies 1 “Culture” or 1 “Elective” course requirement in the French Major. This course satisfies College of Letters and Science breadth requirement in Social and Behavioral Sciences. Priority enrollment for declared French majors.
Psychoanalysis and Literature
172A
Spring 2016
S. Tlatli
Readings:
A reader will be available.
Course Description:
Le but de ce cours est d’explorer la naissance et le développement de la psychanalyse, ainsi que l’évolution de l’hypnose, depuis le dix-huitième siècle jusqu’à la période contemporaine. Son objectif est triple: il est premièrement, historique; il s’agit de découvrir la naissance et le développement de la psychanalyse dans le contexte de la psychiatrie française du dix-neuvième siècle influencée par Charcot. Il est deuxièmement, théorique: ce cours permettra de comprendre les principaux concepts de la psychanalyse et de la psychiatrie. Enfin, il est littéraire: il s’agira d’étudier, à travers une étude du mouvement surréaliste et de contes fantastiques, tels que ceux de Maupassant et Edgar Allen Poe, l’influence de la psychanalyse sur la literature.
Prerequisites:
French 102 or consent of instructor.
Additional Information:
This course satisfies 1 “Culture” or 1 “Elective” course requirement in the French major. Satisfies College of Letters and Science breadth in Social and Behavioral Science, or in Arts and Literature.
Music and Literature
174
Spring 2016
D. Moroney
Readings:
See Description.
Course Description:
This course examines various ways in which French composers have set the French language to music, with specific attention to the unique musical solutions they came up with. Topics covered include: classical vers mesurés; French responses to Protestant metrical psalmody; sixteenth- and seventeenth-century airs de cour; the development of French opera in the reign of Louis XIV; the emergence of women song composers in Paris (1650-1730) and the question of how these songs articulate a different artistic voice from songs written by men; French resistance to Italian dominance in musical styles in the early eighteenth century, leading to François Couperin’s Les Goûts-Réünis (1724).
Knowledge of music or an ability to read musical notation are not required. More important is the ability to listen carefully to music and to think about the relation between the sounds and rhythms of the words and the sounds and rhythms of the notes, leading to an understanding of how musicians could draw inspiration from the nature of French prosody and poetry, and how their music could amplify the rhetoric of declamation.
The course is also open to Music Majors who have a basic understanding of French. The readings will be in both French and English.
Prerequisites:
For students in French major or French minor intending to write their essays in French: French 102 or consent of instructor. No prerequisites for students taking the course as an “Outside Elective” in the French major, or for students taking course for general interest.
Additional information:
The readings will be in both French and English. Lectures and discussion will be in English. Knowledge of music or an ability to read musical notation are not required. This course satisfies 1 “Culture” or 1 “Elective” course requirement in the French major or French minor if written work is done in French. If written work is done in English, this course can satisfy 1 “Outside Elective” course requirement in the French major, with prior approval of French Undergraduate Major Adviser; satisfies one Historical Period requirement in French major.
Satisfies College of Letters and Science breadth in Arts and Literature. Priority enrollment for declared French majors.
Sex, Gender, and Desire in French Cinema
177B : History and Criticism of Film
Spring 2016
D. Young
Readings:
See Description.
Course Description:
This course approaches French cinema through the lens of three of its perennial themes: sex, gender, and desire. We will start by considering some of the ways iconic French stars have produced and reflected shifting gender ideals from the ‘20s through to the present. We will consider how what film theorist Laura Mulvey calls the “male gaze” has traditionally shaped cinema aesthetics in France, and then look at how films by women and/or queer film-makers have in recent decades challenged sexual and gendered norms. More generally, we will ask: how have French and francophone film-makers translated desire, in all its variety, into cinematic form? How has the medium of cinema shaped cultural imaginaries of sex, gender, and desire throughout the 20th and 21st centuries? Please note: the course touches on topics of a potentially sensitive nature and includes some sexually explicit materials. Indeed, one of our questions is why sexual explicitness has come to play such an important role in French film aesthetics and politics in recent years, from Catherine Breillat’s Romance (1999) to Abdellatif Kechiche’s La Vie d’Adèle (2013) and Gaspar Noe’s controversial Love (2015). Alongside a weekly film screening, we will read works of theory and criticism by authors including Geneviève Sellier, Noël Burch, Ginette Vincendeau, and Roland Barthes. Class discussion will be in French and English.
Prerequisites:
French 102 or equivalent; French 170 or equivalent is recommended, or consent of instructor. Film studies students should consult with instructor about language prerequisites
Additional Information:
This course satisfies 1 “Culture” or 1 “Elective” course requirement in the French major. This course also satisfies College of Letters and Science breadth in Arts and Literature. Priority enrollment for declared French majors.
weekly screening (required): Tuesdays, 5-7 pm, 142 Dwinelle
Pourquoi Godard?!
178A : Studies in French Film
Spring 2016
U. Dutoit
Readings:
Godard (le cinema), François Nemer. découvertes Gallimard (2006)
Course Description:
Parcours avec, chez, Jean-Luc Godard (Anne-Marie Mieville) de sauve qui peut (la vie)1980 à Adieu au Langage 2013.
Parcourse with, in, Jean-Luc Godard territory, from Everyman for Himself, 1980 to Goodbye to Language, 2013.
Prerequisites:
French 102 or equivalent; French 170 or equivalent is recommended, or consent of instructor. Film studies students should consult with instructor about language prerequisites
Additional Information:
This course satisfies 1 “Culture” or 1 “Elective” course requirement in the French major. This course also satisfies College of Letters and Science breadth in Arts and Literature. Priority enrollment for declared French majors.
weekly screening (required): Wed. 4-6, B-4 Dwinelle
“Les animots”: The Culture of the Creature in Early Modern France
180B : French Civilization
Spring 2016
N. Durling
Readings:
Aristotle, History of Animals; Pliny, Natural History (selections); Ovid, Metamorphoses (selections) ; Marie de France, Lais, Fables ; Montaigne, “Apologie pour Raimond Sébond,” Marguerite de Navarre, Heptaméron ; Du Bellay, Ronsard, (selected poems) ; Perrault, Contes de la mère l’oye ; La Fontaine, Fables ; J. Derrida, L’animal que donc je suis
Course Description:
Interest in the role of animals in early European culture has intensified in the past decade, opening fresh perspectives on the literary representation of fauna in the 16th and 17th centuries. This development allows us to compare and contrast the traditional role of animal-as-symbol in the Middle Ages (in myth, beast fable, exempla, heraldry) with an increasingly nuanced understanding of animals-as-teachers in the Renaissance and beyond. In this course we will study the ways in which the depiction of animals changes over time, first reading a selection of foundational texts from antiquity and tracing their influence in medieval literature, then examining the sometimes alarming (tricksters, hybrids, scapegoats), often alluring (companions, spiritual guides) depiction of animals in early modern French culture.
Prerequisites:
French 102 or consent of instructor.
Additional Information:
Satisfies 1 “Culture” or 1 “Elective” requirement in the French major. Satisfies 1 Historical Period requirement in French major. Satisfies College of Letters and Science breadth in Arts and Literature or in Social and Behavioral Sciences or in Historical Studies. Priority enrollment for declared French majors.
Graduate Courses
The Romance of the Rose and the Tradition of Medieval Allegory
210A : Studies in Medieval Literature
Spring 2016
D. Hult
Readings:
See Description
Course Description:
This course will combine a detailed reading of the Roman de la Rose and its critical heritage with a study of the medieval tradition of allegorical writing. Annex texts will include those written by some of the great predecessors of Guillaume de Lorris and Jean de Meun, including selections from Saint Augustine, Macrobius, Boethius and Alain de Lille. The latter few weeks of the course will concentrate on extended passages from the fourteenth-century Ovide moralisé, which not only illustrates the move to translation in the later Middle Ages, but also exemplifies a type of exegetical reading, issuing from the theological tradition, applied to a manifestly secular (and frankly immoral) text, Ovid’s Metamorphoses. Additional topics will include the rhetorical mode of personification, verbal and visual modes of allegorical representation, Biblical exegesis, and symbol vs. allegory. Work for the course will include a class presentation and a substantial research paper or alternate written assignment. Class will be conducted in English and no knowledge of medieval French is presupposed, though reading knowledge of modern French will be helpful, as the Rose will be read in a dual-language edition, with facing page Old French and modern French translation. Since the class will center on close readings, a certain amount of class time will be reserved for discussion of linguistic and translation issues.
Rabelais and his Friends -- Humanism, the Humanities, and the Fate of Reading
220A : Studies in 16th-Century Literature
Spring 2016
T. Hampton
Readings:
Rabelais, Pantagruel; Gargantua; Tiers Livre; Quart livre (ed. Demerson, Paris, Le Seuil, “Points”).
Course Description:
This seminar will offer an extended engagement with the work of the greatest writer of prose narrative in the European Renaissance, François Rabelais. Through a reading of the work of Rabelais and several of his humanist contemporaries (Erasmus, Marot, Dolet, Marguerite de Navarre) we will pay special attention to the changing strategies of reading and interpretation that shape the genesis of modern “literature” in the sixteenth century. We will read primary texts in dialogue with a number of essays about both the history of reading practices and hermeneutics. Of central interest will be how certain features of the discourse we call “literature,” as well as certain humanistic discipines familiar to us today, are sketched out as responses to early modern political and theological disputes. Among the quetions to be asked: Can one read with the body? Is muteness discursive? Can invisible writing be literary?
Diderot and Rousseau
240A : Studies in 18th Century French Literature
Spring 2016
S. Maslan
Readings:
Rousseau, Les Confessions, Essai sur l’origine des langues, Emile, Discours sur l’origine de l’inegalité parmi les hommes, Lettre à M. d’Alembert sur les spectacles; D. Diderot, Oeuvres esthétiques, La Religieuse, Le Supplément au voyage de Bougainville; Derrida, De la Grammatologie; Starobinski, Jean-Jacques Rousseau
Course Description:
This seminar will be an immersion in the writings of two central thinkers of modernity: Denis Diderot and Jean-Jacques Rousseau. We will study the ways in which they rethought the foundations of social life, of subjectivity, of politics, of painting, of theater, and of language. We will seek to understand both the artistic and political radicalness of their ambitions. We will consider the ways in which these two iconic figures—their friendship and their rupture—came to figure at once the Enlightenment and the counter-Enlightenment.
We will also pay close attention to the importance of these two figures to the development of theory from the 1960s through the present. Why was Rousseau the most important touchstone for deconstruction? Why does Rousseau occupy such a crucial position in the development of post-structuralism? And why was Diderot, who might seem to be the very epitome of a post-modernist writer, less central, yet of perpetual fascination to theory and criticism?
In addition to the books listed, we will read essays by Paul De Man, Fredric Jameson, Philippe Lacoue-Labarthes, Claude Levi-Strauss, Michael Fried, Robert Darnton, Dena Goodman, Jurgen Habermas, and more.
La littérature francophone et ‘le droit à la mort’
251 : Francophone Literature
Spring 2016
S. Tlatli
Readings:
See Description.
Course Description:
Dans ce séminaire, nous interrogerons la relation entre la psychanalyse, l’écriture de l’histoire et la littérature post-coloniale. Nous nous intéresserons en particulier au lien entre la pulsion de mort élaborée par Freud et sa relation avec la littérature, et l’écriture de l’histoire dans le roman francophone. Nous lirons des oeuvres de issues du Maghreb aussi bien que des Antilles, telles que: L’amour, la Fantasia, Oran, Langue morte, Le blanc de l’Algérie, d’Assia Djebar, Le cadavre encerclé de Kateb Yacine, La Traversée de la Mangrove, de Maryse Condé, La Tragédie du roi Christophe, Cahier d’un retour au pays natal, d’Aimé Césaire. Sur le plan théorique, nous analyserons les essais de Maurice Blanchot, Michel de Certeau, Achille Mbembe et Jacques Derrida sur le rapport entre la pulsion de mort, l’histoire et l’écriture. Au nombre des essais théoriques que nous lirons, on peut compter: “La littérature et le droit à la mort” de Maurice Blanchot, “Freud et la scène de l’écriture”, “Mal d’archives de Derrida, De la post-colonie, d’Achille Mbembé, Histoire et psychanalyse, entre science et fiction, de Michel de certeau.
What is the (literary) history of sexuality?
260B : Studies in 20th-Century Literature
Spring 2016
M. Lucey
Readings:
Michel Foucault, Histoire de la sexualité 1: La volonté de savoir. Gallimard-Tel. ISBN: 978-2070740703.
Hervé Guibert, A l’ami qui ne m’a pas sauvé la vie, Gallimard Folio. ISBN: 978-2070385034.
Hervé Guibert, Le protocole compassionnel, Gallimard-Folio, 1992. ISBN: 978-2070387311.
Guillaume Dustan, Oeuvres 1. P.O.L. ISBN: 978-2818014660.
Beatriz Preciado. Testo Junkie. J’ai Lu. ISBN: 978-2290036020.
Mathieu Lindon. Le procès de Jean-Marie Le Pen. Gallimard-Folio. ISBN: 978-2070408931.
Mathieu Riboulet, Les oeuvres de miséricorde, Verdier. ISBN: 9782864326878.
Rachid O. Analphabètes. Gallimard. ISBN: 978-2070139101.
Abdellah Taia. Un pays pour mourir. Seuil. ISBN: 978-2021219753.
Fatou Dioume. Celles qui attendent. J’ai Lu. ISBN: 978-2290031988.
Virginie Despentes. Vernon Subutex 1. Grasset. ISBN: 978-2246713517.
Course Description:
If “What is the history of sexuality?” will be one of the central questions we will be asking throughout the semester, two others will be “How does literature figure in the history of sexuality?” and “What other kinds of history are part of the history of sexuality, or what other histories is the history of sexuality part of?” Our primary texts will be French and francophone literary texts from about 1990 to the present. We will read excerpts from Foucault’s seminars and his History of Sexuality to get us going, and we will read enough different texts from the field of queer studies or sexuality studies to give us a sense of how that field has developed in the North American academy since the 1990s.
Advanced First Year
302 : Teaching French in College
Spring 2016
S. Chavdarian
Readings:
Kern, Literacy and Language Teaching — Applied Linguistics
Course Description:
Provides an understanding of the teaching methods used in French 2, to help instructors effectively implement techniques specifically designed for the French language classroom at Berkeley. This course provides a forum for discussing issues in language pedagogy, and experience in creating and adapting instructional materials and designing tests for use in the UC Berkeley French language program. GSIs are also required to attend a pilot class, taught by Seda Chavdarian, on select dates and as indicated on the lesson plans.
Prerequisites: French 301
Additional information: This course is required for all GSIs teaching French 2 for the first time in the Berkeley French Department. This course is offered in the Spring semester only.
Advanced Level
303 : Teaching in French
Spring 2016
V. Rodic
Readings:
Course Reader
Course Description
Provides an understanding of the teaching methods used in French 3 and 4, to help instructors effectively implement techniques specifically designed for the French language classroom at Berkeley. French 303 provides a forum for discussing issues in language pedagogy, and experience in creating and adapting instructional materials and designing tests for use in the UC Berkeley French language program. Also provides training in webdesign and preparation for the job market. One two-hour meeting per week.
Prerequisites: French 301 and 302.
Additional information: This course is required for all GSIs teaching French 3 or 4 for the first time in the Berkeley French Department.