Topics in Modern and Contemporary French Literature and Culture (355-0-20)
Topic
Sailor: Queer Agent of Empire?
Instructors
Tyler Lee Blakeney
Meeting Info
Kresge Centennial Hall 4-410: Mon, Wed 3:30PM - 4:50PM
Overview of class
Sailors played a paradoxical role in France's empire. On the one hand, they were the agents of empire, spreading French civilization throughout the world. On the other, they were often drawn from the lower classes of society, and from Brittany, a region of France that was itself a kind of colonized space, where residents mostly spoke Breton rather than French. The sailor was also closely associated with supposedly asocial behaviors: criminality, same-sex sexuality, rampant non-monogamous heterosexuality, and interracial relationships. In this class, we will explore these paradoxes of the figure of the sailor in French literature and film of the 19th and 20th centuries, through the works of Jules Verne, Pierre Loti, Jean Epstein, Ousmane Sembène, and R. F. Fassbinder.
Class Attributes
Advanced Expression
Literature and Arts Foundational Discipline
Literature & Fine Arts Distro Area
Global Perspectives on Power, Justice, and Equity
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.