Topics in Literature and Culture (390-0-20)

Topic

Existentialism and Theatre

Instructors

Scott P Durham
8474914660
1860 S. Campus Drive, Crowe Hall #2-141

Meeting Info

Kresge Centennial Hall 4-410: Mon, Wed 12:30PM - 1:50PM

Overview of class

This course, taught in French, will have a dual focus—on Existentialist thought, and on the theatre with which it was in dialogue. We will begin by examining Existentialism as the dominant trend in French philosophy and social thought in the period from the end of the Second World War to the early 1960s, focusing specifically on how such authors as Sartre, Beauvoir, and Fanon address the ethical, social and political questions central to Existentialism. We will then turn to the most important literary phenomenon of that moment in French literary history: the astonishing re-invention of French theatre by such playwrights as Sartre, Beckett, and Genet. We will explore not only how these authors all take up and rework elements of Existentialist thought, but also how, in critiquing Existentialism's fundamental assumptions, both Beckett and Genet anticipate in different ways the thought of such post-Existentialist thinkers as Deleuze and Foucault.

Class Materials (Required)

Beckett, En attendant Godot

Foucault, L'ordre du discours

Genet, Les paravents

Genet, Les bonnes

Sartre, Sartre, Les mouches

Sartre, L'existentialisme est un humanisme

Class Attributes

Literature & Fine Arts Distro Area

Enrollment Requirements

Enrollment Requirements: Prerequisite: Students must have completed FRENCH 271-0, FRENCH 272-0, or FRENCH 273-0. Other students may register with instructor permission.