Reading Cultures in French (211-0-20)
Topic
Black France
Instructors
Doris Garraway
847/491-8255
1860 S. Campus Drive, Crowe Hall #2-134
Meeting Info
Kresge Centennial Hall 2-415: Wed, Fri 12:30PM - 1:50PM
Overview of class
This course builds French proficiency and reading comprehension through an exploration of the demographic rise, cultural identity, and creative writing of people of African descent in twentieth- and twenty-first century France. Though hardly a cohesive or homogeneous minority, the visibility and unique patterns of migration and marginalization experienced by blacks in France have spawned a number of globally influential cultural and political movements and theories of identity, difference, inequality, and postcoloniality. Through a selection of short fiction, poetry, and essays by some of the most celebrated writers publishing in French today, we will reflect on the imperial history of the French Republic and the profound ways in which modern France has been made, constructed, and imagined by its most visible and historically disempowered minority. Works by Ousmane Socé, Aimé Césaire, Léon-Gontran Damas, Leopold Senghor, Frantz Fanon, Alain Mabanckou, Fatou Diome, and Léonora Miano. Primary readings and discussions in French, with some secondary materials in English.
Teaching Method
Short lectures, discussion.
Evaluation Method
Participation, short writing assignments, brief oral presentation, discussion leading.
Class Materials (Required)
Reading Expectation: 60-75 pages per week
Class Attributes
Literature and Arts Foundational Discipline
Literature & Fine Arts Distro Area
Global Perspectives on Power, Justice, and Equity