Special Topics in Comparative Literature (488-0-1)

Instructors

Christopher Paul Bush
847/491-5493
1860 S. Campus Drive, Crowe Hall #2-135

Meeting Info

Kresge Centennial Hall 4-410: Tues 3:00PM - 5:50PM

Overview of class

Modern French Poetry and Poetics in the World

In this course we will study the global contexts and consequences of French poetry and poetics between the World Wars. We will read poems and critical writings by some of the most important French-language poets from the period, with an eye to their international origins, interests, and travels. At the same time, we will read works by their contemporaries, from around the world, who were based in Paris and/or were in dialogue with these writers.
Some of our themes will include the Great War; French colonialism; primitivism, orientalism, and the search for cultural alternatives; the transformation of experience by urbanization, transportation, and technological media; poetry's relationship to the visual arts; and, of course, the formal and aesthetic innovations of these poets.
Authors will include Apollinaire, Cendrars, Breton, and Césaire. Readings will be available in English as well as the original language, and students may choose to focus on a non-French writer for their research paper.

Class Materials (Required)

All readings will be provided via Canvas.