History of French Literature from the Middle Ages to the French Revolution

Teacher(s)

Delsaux Olivier (compensates Van Hemelryck Tania); Guiderdoni Agnès; Van Hemelryck Tania (coordinator); Zanone Damien;

Language

French

Prerequisites

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Main themes

Chronological survey of all French literature of the period under consideration. The course takes care to supply historical reference points (continuities, relationships, changes, distinct shifts) and to show literature in relation to its cultural, political, social and religious contexts. It alternates between the presentation of overall features (identification of literary currents, development of literary genres) and the presentation of specific texts.

Aims

At the end of this learning unit, the student is able to :
1	Situate literature in its different contexts (historical and formal); master the main lines of its development.

The contribution of this Teaching Unit to the development and command of the skills and learning outcomes of the programme(s) can be accessed at the end of this sheet, in the section entitled “Programmes/courses offering this Teaching Unit”.

Content

The course is divided into three parts, each one given by one of the co-leaders (Mme Van Hemelryck for the Middle Ages, Mme Guiderdoni for the 16th and 17th centuries, M. Zanone for the 18th century). It operates from the perspective of a literary history that is culturally and politically contextualised. After an introductory session on each period, the subject matter is approached through literary genres (theatre, the novel, poetry and others); the conceptual and vocabulary tools needed to analyse each of them are highlighted. More specifically, students' attention is drawn to the material conditions of the production and diffusion of the works in question. There is also an examination of the critical issues involved in the periodisation of literature and, consequently, of the methods of literary history.

Teaching methods

Formal lectures with a variety of teaching support (reading extracts of literary works, PowerPoint slides).

Other information

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Bibliography

Une liste de lectures d'oeuvres littéraires est fournie, actualisée chaque année.
En 2019-2020, les lectures obligatoires sont les suivantes :
Moyen Âge
- La Chanson de Roland, édition et traduction Ian Short, Paris, Le Livre de Poche, 1990 ISBN 9782253053415 [livre électronique disponible http://www.livredepoche.com/la-chanson-de-roland-collectif-9782253053415]
- Chrétien de Troyes, Yvain ou Le chevalier au lion, traduction David Hult, Paris, Le Livre de Poche, 2017 ISBN 9782253183228 [livre électronique disponible : http://www.livredepoche.com/yvain-ou-le-chevalier-au-lion-chretien-troyes-9782253183228]
- Guillaume de Machaut, Le Livre du Voir Dit, édition de Paul Imbs et traduction de Jacqueline Cerquiglini-Toulet, Paris, Le Livre de Poche, 1999 ISBN 9782253066705

XVIe et XVIIe siècles
- Rabelais, Gargantua, n'importe quelle édition en français moderne.
- Du Bellay, Les Regrets, Flammarion, coll. "Etonnants classiques", 2013.
- Corneille, L'Illusion comique et Le Cid, n'importe quelle édition.
- Madame de Lafayette, La Princesse de Clèves, n'importe quelle édition.

XVIIIe siècle
- Prévost, Manon Lescaut (sous le titre Histoire du chevalier des Grieux et de Manon Lescaut (Le Livre de Poche)
- Marivaux, Le Jeu de l'amour et du hasard (GF) ; La Dispute (Librio)
- Diderot, Jacques le Fataliste (Le Livre de Poche)
- Rousseau, Jean-Jacques, Rêveries du promeneur solitaire (GF)

 

Faculty or entity

ROM