Seminar : comparative literature [ LROM2755 ]

A set of documents related to the seminar will be posted on ICampus : http://www.icampus.ucl.ac.be/

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A new question of comparative literature will be analyzed each year. The topic will be selected from one of the subfields of the discipline (comparative poetry, literary and cultural relations, literary theory). The question may potentially be derived from topics students are investigating for their thesis (in the case that enough students' interests overlap in terms of thematic, linguistic, theoretical and/or methodological dimensions).

- Introduce students to the methodologies and principles of the discipline through the analysis of a particular question of comparative literature.
- Provide students with an understanding of the essential structures and challenges of comparative literature and prepare them to undertake their own advanced research in the field of comparative literary studies.
- Encourage students to research questions related to national literature, as well as to expand their knowledge of foreign literature (Europe, Africa, America, Asia).
- Help student defining a research topic (by choosing a body of literature and a consistent methodological framework) and to analyze it using a critical approach and a comparative perspective.
 

 The evaluation of this seminar presents two parts:

1) An Ongoing evaluation of the student participation to the seminar.

In this context, will be retain:

a) Regular class attendance and participation;

b) Participation to the 'extra' activity related to the seminar.

2) A collective written paper that students should achieve, referring to the following instructions:

a) Students constitute groups of three people, and register themselves on ICampus ("Groupes" item);

b) The comparison will consider at least an African novel and a Caribbean novel from the required readings. One of the novels will be Monénembo's Peuls or Confiant's L'Hôtel du Bon Plaisir. Students are free to choose the other novel(s) among the remaining required readings;

c) Students define all together their problematic (if possible during the provided methodological class), then they consult each other in order to plan their work;

d) The paper will be written in French, and be between 15 and 20 pages long. It will be submitted at least the first day of each exam session (June and September). The work must be sent by mail to the teacher in PDF format. A paper copy is also required.

The final evaluation will take into account the attention given to written and spoken French.

 Students will be encouraged to become familiar with the main lines of research in comparative literature as to place their current and future research within this context. Students are encouraged to contribute to the collective reflection engaged during the seminar, and especially to talk about their readings. Seminar suspensions are also provided in order to make each student able to read the novels related to the seminar. This active participation will also lead to the redaction of a collective paper, in which students will compare African and Caribbean novels, referring to the professor instructions.

The francophone contemporary novel from African and Caribbean areas will be the focus of the 2012-2013 course.
During the seminar, we will analyze how the novels produced both in African and Caribbean areas between 1980 and 2012, are particularly representative of the novel current trends. We will see how these narratives build another worldview, which, far from being limited to specific spaces and cultures, reflects a broader human experience of the contemporary.
The seven sessions of the seminar will take place during the first and the second semester.

 Theoretical and methodological readings (recommended)

1) Bessière, Jean, Le Roman contemporain ou la problématicité du monde, Paris, PUF, 2010.

Novels (required)

1) Chamoiseau Patrick, Les Neuf Consciences du Malfini, Paris, Gallimard, 2010 (Folio).
2) Confiant Raphaël, L"Hôtel du Bon Plaisir, Paris, Gallimard, 2010 (Folio).
3) Glissant Edouard, Tout-Monde, Paris, Gallimard, 1995 (Folio).
4) Kourouma Ahmadou, En attendant le vote des bêtes sauvages, Paris, Seuil, 1998 (Points).
5) MabanckouAlain, Mémoires de porc-épic, Paris, Seuil, 2006 (Points).
6) Monénembo Tierno, Peuls, Paris, Seuil, 2004 (Points).

Generally, novels may also be read in the original language, according to the language skills of each student. In this academic year 2012-2013, all the selected novels are however written in French.