Department of French Studies

 

Undergraduate Courses - Module Content

Please note:

This new/revised programme will start in September 2010

Module codes will soon be added/updated

 

First Year

FR4xxx FRENCH LANGUAGE & CIVILISATION

One weekly lecture will aim at providing first-year students with an overview of the main historical events and figures which have contributed to the shaping of France as a nation throughout the centuries. A second weekly lecture will focus on France’s current social and political organisation. The acquisition of formal grammatical skills will be the focus of a third weekly lecture which will be complemented by a weekly small-group tutorial dedicated to grammar and translation exercises.

FR4xxx FRENCH LANGUAGE & LITERATURE I

On the basis of the work done in the first semester, the objective of this first-year module is the further development of practical language skills with the aim of encouraging confidence and greater fluency in the spoken language. Students will also be introduced to contemporary French literature and basic skills of literary analysis through the detailed study of a variety of short texts of prose fiction with the aim of developing their knowledge of social and cultural aspects of modern France.

 

Second Year

FR4xxx THE FRENCH & LOVE

Cultural approaches to love differ significantly from one country to another. France is often described as the country of love and seduction par excellence. This second-year module offers to explore the origins and evolution of this stereotypical perception of the French lover through the study of a number of literary texts representative of different historical periods. The key role of art in general and literature in particular in the formation and/or transmission of social codes will be studied along with the complex mechanisms involved in the constitution of cultural stereotypes.

FR4xxx FRENCH LANGUAGE & LITERATURE II

This second-year module comprises a literary and a language element. The literary element examines a selection of texts in French from the 18th century, introducing students to some of the key thinkers and concepts underpinning the French Enlightenment. The language element consists of a consolidation of first year linguistic competence through further development of oral skills via conversation classes and laboratory-type exercises and through further development of written skills.

FR4xxx WRITING THE MODERN SELF

Ever since Rousseau’s Confessions, an enduring fascination with the first person singular has led French writers to attend in diverse ways to the investigation of subjective reality and its complex determinants. As new critical methods spawned by structuralism generated an interest in the workings of narrative and questioned the established parameters of literary genres, so autobiography, with its combination of fact and fable, found its place in an expanded canon and drew serious critical attention to other forms such as memoirs, essays, biographies and diaries. The rising tide of interest in the autobiographical reflects the wider impact of the human sciences and their various attempts to locate the sources of identity in the dynamics of personal relations. In questioning old categorisations and divisions of experience into individual and collective, public and private, personal and historical, the prestige of autobiography reflects new ways of placing le vécu (lived experience) at the heart of human understanding and cultural endeavour.

FR4724 FRENCH EXPRESSION I

Translation from and into French and development of practical language skills. Discussion of a range of subjects relevant to social and cultural trends in contemporary France as exemplified in appropriate articles taken from French magazines and newspapers; general conversation.

 

Third Year B.A.

OC4310 and OC4320 Off Campus Programme

B.A. students follow the Off Campus Programme for both semesters of the third year. This is comprised of international study placement and / or relevant work placement. French students, who wish to study abroad, are advised by department staff on the availability of appropriate courses. Guidance is also provided for those who wish to use the opportunity to begin research work for final-year dissertations in French.

 

Third Year B.Ed. and Fourth Year B.A.

FR4717 FRENCH LANGUAGE & LITERATURE III (B.A. only)

(a) Consolidation of 2nd year language skills via reinforcement of aural and oral skills and development of written skills particularly in the area of translation. (b) Catholic dogma and heresy; the interaction of Greek and Roman mythology with 17th century tragedy; the life and works of Corneille/Racine; detailed study of some prime texts, placing special emphasis on structure, language and character analysis.

FR4xxx REASON & SENSIBILITY (B.A. only)

The 18th and 19th centuries in France were a period of accelerated modernisation, aggravated social tensions, and literary and artistic innovation. This module proposes a discovery, through its literature, both of the French Enlightenment and of contemporary counter-currents. Representative texts will be chosen for scrutiny from among a range of works by key thinkers of the period. Each writer brings a different vision of life to bear in his text, but all attempt to make sense of the human condition and of a turbulent social context within which the individual is goaded into thought, reaction and the assumption of moral responsibility. This module explores the convergence of two defining pillars of the Enlightenment – reason and sensibility – and assesses their legacy in terms of such societal changes as the growth of secularist individualism, the development of rationalism and cultural relativism, the vogue for literary sentimentalism and the emergence of public opinion.

FR4718 FRENCH EXPRESSION II

An advanced course in French grammar and translation; investigation of language registers; analysis of literary style. Discussion of a range of subjects relevant to social, political and cultural trends in contemporary French society; reading of short unseen passages in French; general conversation based on extracts taken from a selection of French newspapers and magazines.

 

FR4xxx CRIME & JUSTICE

This module aims to introduce students to some of the main historical events and figures which contributed to the shaping of the modern concept of justice in France during and immediately after the enlightenment period. The module will focus primarily on French thinkers and writers, such as Montesquieu, Voltaire and Hugo, whose works played a key role in the evolution of attitudes to matters of crime and justice,. The module will examine some striking examples of injustice and the reactions that they triggered and will deal notably with the issues of social and sexual discrimination, racism, religious and political extremism, torture and capital punishment.

FR4707 & FR4708 DISSERTATION OPTION IN FRENCH (B.A. only)

An opportunity for personal work / study, with limited supervision, on an approved topic of special interest to the student; an opportunity to develop research and presentation skills.