Topics in Modern and Contemporary French Literature and Culture (355-0-20)

Topic

Sailor: Queer Agent of Empire?

Instructors

Ty Blakeney

Meeting Info

Kresge Centennial Hall 2-331: Tues, Thurs 9:30AM - 10:50AM

Overview of class

Sailor: Queer Agent of Empire?

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 Edouard Corbière, Pierre Loti, RW Fassbinder, and Claire Denis.

Registration Requirements

Prerequisite: FRENCH 271-0, FRENCH 272-0, or FRENCH 273-0, or consent of instructor.

Class Materials (Required)

None to purchase

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.