Travel Literature in French Prof. C. Mouflard Spring 2015 French

Travel Literature in French
Spring 2015
Prof. C. Mouflard
French 313
French 313: Le voyage, la rencontre: Travel Literature and Film in French.
Spring 2015. Professor Mouflard.
Email: [email protected]/ Phone: (518) 388-6760
KARP 001, MWF – 11:45-12:50pm
Office Hours: MWF 2-3pm
Course objectives:
- Gain an overview of the themes developed in contemporary travel literature and film in
French
- Explore the notions of national identity, gender and sexual identity in regards with the
history of colonization and immigration in France
- Analyze pertinent texts and films, and conduct online research
- Improve skills of critical analysis in both reading and writing in French
- Complete a writing journal, a video or photo essay, a midterm and a final paper
Course overview:
From Montesquieu’s Lettres Persanes to Tintin’s adventures on the moon, this course explores
the concept of travelling in all its forms: the thirst for adventure in a foreign land, the forced
voyage of exile and immigration, the mere capacity to move beyond one’s comfort zone, and
even space travel… All voyages involve a search and an encounter, either with others or with
oneself. In this course you will study a wide variety of texts, cartoons, and films by French and
Francophone artists that will give you insight into the cultural differences and particularities that
are unveiled through the theme of travelling.
This course is built around these overarching questions that you will seek to answer over the
course of the term: What does the theme of travel reveal about the text’s historical and
sociocultural context? What types of travel (space, time, exile, etc.…) can we identify? What
identities are developed through the theme of travel? Can we discern different patterns of the
“récit de voyage” according to these identities?
Course expectations:
In order to help you succeed in this course, I (the professor) undertake to:
- begin and end class on time
- be available during office hours
- provide you with clear deadlines and expectations regarding the homework
- ensure that grading is fair and timely
- respond to brief email queries within a reasonable timeframe (Mon-Fri); and respond to
longer queries by phone or in person
Your success depends on your commitment to:
- attend class regularly
- complete all readings and assignments well before class
- come to class prepared to engage in active and productive conversations with the other
students and the instructor
- turn off your phones during class time, only use your laptops to consult assigned readings
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Travel Literature in French
Spring 2015
Prof. C. Mouflard
French 313
Attendance:
Your presence in class and your active oral participation are essential in this course. Repeated
absences and/or lack of participation will impact your grade negatively. Absences must be
excused by an official note (medical or family emergency). You may miss class two times
without these absences affecting your grade. If you have more than two unexcused absences,
your final grade will be dropped by half a letter grade for every class missed. Example: a B
becomes a B- with the 3th unexcused absence, a C+ on the 4th, etc.
On writing in French:
You may not use any form of automatic translation, and you may not copy and paste directly
from a French text or website. You may use dictionaries, grammar and conjugation books as you
please. Since a portion of your papers’ grade will be dedicated to the correct choice and usage of
the French language, it is essential that you write your papers on your own. You are strongly
encouraged to write a first draft of your midterm and final paper and bring it to your professor
(or the language assistant) for suggested corrections in view of your final copy. Short in-class
writing assignments: I will correct your French but I will not grade it unless it shows no effort for
proper conjugation and spelling.
Assignments:
- For each reading or film, you will have to answer a series of 5-10 questions in French that
will guide your reading/viewing of the text, and will be discussed in class.
-
Each film needs to be watched by the end of the week for which it is due. Films are on
reserve at Schaffer library.
-
The 3 tasks will be submitted on Nexus, by the end of the day on the Friday it is due, and
will be graded on 20 points: they are questions of reflection and require you to be
attentive in class as well as in your readings (2 pages).
-
Throughout the term, you will write a journal/travel log of an imaginary voyage you will
be taking on your own. By the end of week 1, you will need to have picked an identity, a
destination, a time of year, the length of your trip, and its purpose. By week 2, you will
need to have decided what you brought on this trip and why: each object must have a
particular significance in this voyage. Further instructions will be given in class. You will
upload your progress on Nexus at the end of each week, and follow guidance for
correcting your mistakes in French (1 – 1.5 page per week, no more than 5 corrections).
-
The use of photographs in the journal is strongly encouraged, as this work will prepare
you for your mid-term and final exams. Your midterm exam will be a photo and/or videoessay, with a narration of 2-3 pages that you will upload on Nexus. It will recount the
first part of the voyage you have started in your journal. At the end of week 5, you will
briefly present your project to the class in the form of a roundtable discussion, open to
questions and suggestions. Your final project (photos + a scripted narration of 5-6 pages
from your journal) needs to be finished by the end of week 9 as it will be formally
presented to the class during week 10. At the end of Finals Week, I will collect your
finished journal, and will grade it along with your oral presentation.
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Travel Literature in French
Spring 2015
Prof. C. Mouflard
French 313
Grading:
In-class participation and preparedness: 20%
Tasks (3): 15%
Mid-term essay (2-3 pages+ photo/video essay, participation in roundtable discussion): 20%
Final presentation (5-6 pages, photo/video, oral presentation): 20%
Journal: 25%
Honor Code:
Union College recognizes the need to create an environment of mutual trust as part of its
educational mission. Responsible participation in an academic community requires respect for
and acknowledgement of the thoughts and work of others, whether expressed in the present or
in some distant time and place. Matriculation at the College is taken to signify implicit
agreement with the Academic Honor Code, available at honorcode.union.edu
<http://honorcode.union.edu/>. It is each student's responsibility to ensure that submitted
work is his or her own and does not involve any form of academic misconduct. Students are
expected to ask their course instructors for clarification regarding, but not limited to,
collaboration, citations, and plagiarism.
Note for Request for Accommodation of Needs:
I encourage anyone with any special, documented needs, visible or non-visible, to contact me
directly, in person, via telephone, or via email should you need specific accommodation.
Required texts:
Cheikh Amidou Kane: L’aventure ambigüe
Fatou Diome: Le ventre de l’Atlantique
Gisèle Pineau: Un papillon dans la cité
Additional resources available on Nexus/ distributed in class:
Montesquieu Les lettres persanes
Voltaire L’ingénu
Marcel Aymé Le passe-muraille
Alain Mabanckou: Bleu-Blanc-Rouge
Bernard Werber: Le livre du voyage
Hergé: Les Aventures de Tintin, Le Lotus Bleu
Films on course reserve at the library:
Tintin: Objectif Lune + On a marché sur la lune watch for 04/03 (week 2)
Olivier Nakache: Les Intouchables watch for 04/24 (week 4)
Claire Denis: Chocolat watch for 05/01 (week 5)
Yamina Benguigui: Inch’Allah Dimanche watch for 05/22 (week 8)
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Travel Literature in French
Spring 2015
Prof. C. Mouflard
French 313
Schedule (students will be notified of any changes in advance)/ also on Nexus
Première partie: Fantastic voyages/ Encountering the Other
Week 1: The First Voyages and Encounters
03/30 Introduction
04/01 Read Voltaire L’ingénu (answer questions)
04/03 Read Montesquieu Les lettres persanes (answer questions)
* journal entry 1 due
Week 2: Fantastic Voyages
04/06 Read Marcel Aymé: Le Passe-Muraille (answer questions)
04/08 Read Hergé: Tintin: Le Lotus Bleu (answer questions)
04/10 Film: Tintin: Objectif Lune et On marché sur la lune (watch film/ answer questions)
* journal entry 2 due
***Task #1 due
Week 3 The Bildungsroman/ Le récit initiatique (1)
04/13 Read Kane, Première partie, I-V, p. 13-73 (answer questions)
04/15 Read Kane, Première partie, VI-IX, p. 74-118 (answer questions)
04/17 Read Kane, Deuxième partie, p.121-191 (answer questions)
* journal entry 3 due
Week 4 The Bildungsroman/ Structure du récit (2)
04/20 Fin discussion Kane
04/22 Workshop on travel journal: bring copies of your TJ to class.
04/24 Film: Les Intouchables (watch film/ answer questions)
*journal entry 4 due
***Task #2
Deuxième partie: Forced voyages in exile and immigration – “I” is the Other
Week 5: Discoveries of Foreign Lands
04/27 Albert Camus: L’Exil et le royaume (2 nouvelles - PDF) (answer questions)
04/29 Film: Claire Denis Chocolat (watch film/ answer questions)
05/01 ***Brief oral/photo/video presentation of midterm essay: roundtable in class
Upload MIDTERM ESSAY: scripted narration of 2-3 pages from travel journal + photo/video
essay on Nexus
Week 6: Voluntary Exiles
05/04 Fatou Diome Le Ventre de l’Atlantique Chapitres 1-3 (answer questions)
05/06 Fatou Diome Le Ventre de l’Atlantique Chapitres 4-6 (answer questions)
05/08 Steinmetz Day (no class) Le Ventre de l’Atlantique Chapitres 7-10 (email summary of
these 4 chapters)
*journal entry 5 due
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Travel Literature in French
Spring 2015
Prof. C. Mouflard
French 313
Week 7: Postcolonial Immigration (1)
05/11 Le Ventre de l’Atlantique Chapitres 11-14 (short in-class writing exercise)
05/13 Gisèle Pineau: Un Papillon dans la cité (answer questions)
05/15 Gisèle Pineau: Un Papillon dans la cité (answer questions)
*journal entry 6 due
Week 8: Postcolonial Immigration (2)
05/18 Workshop on travel journal: bring copies of your TJ to class.
05/20 Tahar Ben Jelloun (1, p.9-43) (answer questions)
05/22 Tahar Ben Jelloun (2, p. 43-85) (answer questions)
*journal entry 7 due
***Task 3
Week 9: Algeria and France, la fin du voyage
05/25 No class Yamina Benguigui Inch’Allah Dimanche (watch film/ submit one-page answer
on Nexus)
05/27 Film discussion
05/29 Tahar Ben Jelloun (3, p.85-fin)
*journal entry 8 due
Week 10: Final presentations in class
06/01: *** Presentation of final project w/ photo/video + turn in 5-6 pages scripted narration
06/03: *** Presentation of final project w/ photo/video + turn in 5-6 pages scripted narration
06/05: Student conferences, individual work on perfecting travel journal during class and office
hours.
Finals week: Upload final copy of travel journal before Thursday June 11th at 5pm.
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