Module description
This module fulfils the dual function of introducing students to various canonical French texts and films and of introducing students to the study of narrative poetics, or 'narratology', an important mode of literary analysis which was largely developed in France. Beginning with a comparative analysis of the narrative techniques of a 19th-century short story by Guy de Maupassant and its film adaptation by the great director Jean Renoir, the module then turns to the medieval and early modern versions of the popular tale La Chestelaine de Vergi. Afterward, we will read the crucial 18th-century novel Manon Lescaut, the source for Puccini's opera of the same name; we shall then turn to Emile Zola's 19th-century novel Thérèse Raquin, studying both this text and its film adaptation by director Marcel Carné. Finally, we will examine a contemporary text remarkable for its narrative technique: Annie Ernaux's La Place. The diversity of the texts studied will allow students to acquire a working knowledge of the stakes and importance of narrative technique.
Assessment details
One 3-hour written exam
Educational aims & objectives
This module introduces you to a broad range of French narrative texts and to the fundamental principles of narratology.
By the end of the module you should have a basic understanding of concepts such as:
- story and plot
- character
- point of view
- focalisation
- chronology
- reliable and unreliable narrator
After having acquired the specialist vocabulary to analyse narrative techniques from different periods, you should be better able to make informed choices about your French options in subsequent years.
Teaching pattern
One lecture and one seminar each week
Suggested reading list
Unless otherwise noted, students are expected to purchase a copy of each core text, except the two films for which screenings will be arranged.
French versions
- Maupassant, ‘Une partie de campagne’. Download this text (6 pages). Jean Renoir, (6 pages). Jean Renoir, Partie de campagne (short film)
- La Châtelaine de Vergy (Folio)
- Prévost, Manon Lescaut (Garnier Flammarion)
- Emile Zola, Thérèse Raquin, ed. François-Marie Mourad (Paris: Flammarion, 2017)
- Annie Ernaux, La Place (Folio)
- ‘Thérèse Raquin’ (film) , directed by Marcel Carné, screening to be organised
English version
- Maupassant, “A country excursion”, Jean Renoir A country excursion (short film).
- The Chatelaine of Vergi, Translated by Alice Kemp-Welch, Cambridge (Ontario), In Parentheses (Old French Series), 1999.
- Prévost Manon Lescaut, translated by Angela Scholar, Oxford World’s Classics, 2008.
- Emile Zola Thérèse Raquin, translated by Robin Buss, Oxford World’s Classics, 2004.
- Annie Ernaux A Man’s Place [or Positions (alternate title)]. Translated by Tanya Leslie, Quartet Books/Seven Stories Press, 1991/1992.