FREN 440: FRANCOPHONE CULTURES THROUGH FILM 4046

FREN 440: FRANCOPHONE CULTURES THROUGH FILM
4046 WESCOE HALL, T/R 11:00 AM – 12:15 PM
SPRING 2014
Professor: Mary Mba
Office: 2044A Wescoe Hall
Office Hours: T/R 12:15 pm – 1:15 pm
Email: [email protected]
Office Phone: 864.9069
Course Description
This course is a historical survey of Francophone cultures through film. Starting with the colonial era,
students will be introduced to the French socio-political and cultural expansion across the world, with a
special focus on sub-Saharan Africa, North Africa, and the Caribbean. In addition to a meticulous and
thoughtful viewing of selected movies by prominent directors, this course will acquaint students with a
solid background in the history of la francophonie. Via lectures, class discussions and presentations,
students will review some of the main key concepts related to the colonization and decolonization
processes. They will be introduced to postcolonial and contemporary francophone societies and cultures,
and finally bridge over the Hexagone to be exposed to the cinemas of the Francophone diaspora and la
mixité française. The course will address topics such as history, gender, voice, politics, culture,
education, mobility, and identity. It will be conducted in French.
Required Films:
The films will not be shown in class except in very rare circumstances where the films are not
readily available, they are homework and should be viewed either in EGARC (4th Floor Wescoe
Hall), or on a preset day of the week and time (i.e. Mondays and at 4:15pm in the French library,
Wescoe 2066)
These films have been placed on reserve and should be viewed on site.
EGARC (Ermal Garringer Academic Resource Center) hours are as follows:
o Monday through Thursdays: 7:50 am – 7:00 pm
o Friday: 7:50 am – 4:30 pm
o Saturdays: Closed
o Sundays: 3:00pm – 7:00 pm
Required Movies:
Euzhan Palcy, Rue Cases-Nègres (Sugar Cane Alley, 1984)
Rachid Boucharaeb, Indigènes (Days of Glory, 2006)
Raoul Peck, Lumumba: La Mort du Prophète (Lumumba: Death of a Prophet, 1992)
Isaac Julien, Franz Fanon: Peau Noire, Masque Blanc (Franz Fanon: Black Skin, White Mask, 1996)
Bergan Schuller, Poto Mitan (Poto Mitan, 2009)
Ousmane Sembène, Faat Kiné (Faat Kiné, 2000)
Férid Bougherid, Un été à la Goulette (1996)
Jean-Françoi Pouliot, La Grande séduction, 2003) (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4tB7Z2_nlBM)
Mweze Ngangura, Pièces d’Identité (Identity Pieces, 1998)
Merzak Alouache, Salut Cousin! (Hey Cousin!, 1996)
(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yWNiDp_xOxQ)
Claire Denis, Chocolat (Chocolate, 1988) (http://viooz.co/movies/8063-chocolat-1988.html)
Régis Wargnier, Indochine (2009) (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RjHf_u5HuWQ) (sous-titré en
vietnamien)
You are responsible for reviewing each film in its entirety, and completing the assignments prior
to the beginning of class discussion.
Required Texts
(to be printed out and Xeroxed, and/or distributed in class)
 A selection of texts and documents – please see blackboard, “Assignment” folder, for updated list of
readings
 Boudraa, Nabil and Cécile Accilien, Francophone Cultures through Film, Newburyport: Focus
Publishing, 2014.
 Cinema, Colonialism, Postcolonialism: Perspectives from the French and Francophone Worlds. Ed.
Dina Sherzer. Austin: University of Texas Press, 1996.
Highly Recommended Texts (www.amazon.ca)
 A good French dictionary, i.e., Le Petit Robert
 A good French-English/English-French dictionary, i.e., The Harper Collins Robert
 Le Bercherelle des conjugaisons
Course Objectives
The course aims primarily at helping you
 Become more familiar with the cultures and societies of Francophone su-Saharan Africa, north
Africa and Caribbean;
 Enjoy watching and reflecting over Francophone history, politics, cultures, societies, and intellectual
ideas by looking into movies and scholarly essays;
 Expand your knowledge of geographical, historical, and artistic terms and fundamental critical
vocabulary for synthesis and analysis;
 Enhance your critical thinking, reading and reasoning;
 Learn to gather information via the library, electronic resources and reference books;
 Participate actively in the learning process through personal work, class discussion, collaboration
and teamwork.
The final grade will be determined by your performance in the following six areas, which I will weigh as
follows:
Grading Summary
1) Presentations ------------------------------------15%
2) Essays ---------------------------------------------20%
3) One Mid-Term Exam --------------------------15%
4) One Final Exam ---------------------------------25%
5) Quizzes -------------------------------------------10%
6) Class Participation/Attendance ---------------15%
Required work: Please see Blackboard, “Assignment” folder.
Attendance is essential. In accordance to KU absences policy, you are expected to attend all classes
and be on time (10mn/early departure = absence). Absences may be excused for the observance of a
religious holiday or for serious documented reasons. Please notify me of any planned absences at the
beginning of the semester. After 2 unexcused absences, each further unexcused absence will lower your
grade by 2 points, up to the 20 points allocated for attendance.
Make-Up Policy
The Exams, Presentations, Essays, Quizzes and Participation cannot be made up except in serious and
officially documented cases. In the event that you must miss an exam or class, please notify me as soon
as possible. If you miss a class, it is your responsibility to contact other students as needed to catch
up.
Final grades are assigned according to the University Grading Policy
Anticipated Grading Policy
100 – 94
A
93 – 90
A89 – 88
B+
87 – 84
B
83 – 80
B79 – 78
C+
77 - 74
73 - 70
69 – 68
67 – 64
63 – 60
59 – Below
C
CD+
D
DF
University policies related to academic matters (rules against academic dishonesty) are upheld in this
course.
Academic Integrity Statement
All students act with personal integrity, respect of other students’ dignity, rights and property, and help
create and maintain an environment in which all can succeed through the fruits of their efforts.
Issues of Academic Responsibility
Dishonesty of any kind will not be tolerated in this course. “Plagiarism and cheating are serious
academic offenses that should be brought to the attention of the Chairperson. Whenever a student is
caught cheating (whether copying from another student’s paper or plagiarizing printed or electronic
sources) the instructor will inform the Chairperson of the Department, who - upon consultation with the
instructor – will forward a ‘’CHARGE OF ACADEMIC MISCONDUCT FORM’ to the College of
Liberal Arts with a recommendation for the appropriate sanction.”
Assistance with Assignments: Students may use their textbooks, dictionaries, and grammar references
in preparing any assignments. However, with the exception of help from the student’s instructor and/or
in-class activities such as peer editing, any outside assistance (that is, tutors, friends, native speakers,
computer/internet translation programs, assignments submitted in previous courses, etc.) is NOT
allowed on homework/assignments being turned in for a grade. These things are considered cheating
and will result in a grade of zero on the assignment, as well as a charge of academic misconduct,
which may entail further sanctions. The student should be certain that all of the work submitted in
this course is his/her own.
Intellectual Property Issues related to KU Classrooms
Course materials prepared by the instructor, together with the content of all lectures and reviews
sessions presented by the instructor are the property of the instructor. Video and audio recording of
sessions without the consent of the instructor is prohibited. On request, the instructor will usually grant
permission for students to audio tape lectures, on the condition that that these audio tapes are only used
as a study aid by the individual making the recording. Unless explicit permission is obtained from the
instructor, recordings of lectures and review sessions may not be modifies and must not be transferred to
any other person, whether or not that individual is enrolled in the course.”
http://www.provost.ku.edu/policy/commercial_note_taking/
Disability Access Statement
The University of Kansas encourages qualified persons with disabilities to participate in its programs
and activities. If you anticipate needing any type of accommodation in this course or have questions
about physical access, please notify me right away at the beginning of the semester.
Tentative Schedule – Assignments
Starting from Thursday, February 6, 2014
February
Thursday 06: Indigènes
Avant le visionnage:
 FCTF, pp. 16-20 (histoire, profil et vocabulaire à apprendre)
 P. 20 Activités: 1-Vocabulaire
Tuesday 11:
Indigènes
 FCTF, Lire et préparer: pp. 27-30
 Présentation:
 “La France et ses liberateurs africains” Par Charles Onana Berlin, Exposition « Le
Tiers-Monde et la Seconde Guerre Mondiale »
Thursday 13: Lumumba: La Mort du Prophète
Avant le visionnage:
 FCTF, pp. 32-36 (histoire, profil et vocabulaire à apprendre)
 P. 36 Activités; 1- Vocabulaire.
Tuesday 18:
Lumumba: La Mort du Prophète
 FCTF, Lire et préparer: pp. 42-43
 Présentation:
 “Congomania in Academia”
Thursday 20: Frantz Fanon: Peau Noire, Masque Blanc
Avant le vissionnage
 FCTF, pp. 64-69 (histoire, profil et vocabulaire à apprendre)
 P 69 Activités; 1-Vocabulaire.
 Présentation:
 Black Skin, White Mask (chapter 1)
Tuesday 25:
Frantz Fanon: Peau Noire, Masque Blanc
 FCTF, Lire et préparer: pp. 74 – 76
 Présentation:
 The Wretched of the Earth (preface by Jean Paul Sartre)
 Essay, 4 – 5 pp. please see Bb for Essay question.
Thursday 27: Francophonie Contemporaine et question féminine
Poto Mitan
Avant le visionnage:
 FCTF, pp. 210 – 215 (histoire, profil et vocabulaire à apprendre)
 P. 215 Activités; 1-Vocabulaire
 Présentation:

March
Tuesday 04:
“Le Colonial Féminin: Women Directors Interrogate French Cinema” in
Cinema, Colonialism, Postcolonialism: Perspectives from the French and
Francophone Worlds. Ed Dina Sherzer. (chapter 5)
Poto Mitan
 FCTF, Lire et préparer: pp 220-221
 Présentation:
 “Equité de genre, justice et sécurité en Haïti:
Thursday 06: Faat Kiné
Avant le visionnage
 FCTF, pp 182-187 (histoire, profil et vocabulaire à apprendre)
 p. 187 Activités, 1 – Vocabulaire.
 Presentation:
 “Post-Tricolor African Cinema” in Cinema, Colonialism, Postcolonialism:
Perspectives from the French and Francophone Worlds. Ed Dina Sherzer.
(chapter 10)
Tuesday 11:
Faat Kiné
 FCTF, Lire et préparer: pp. 192 – 194
Thursday 13: Midterm Exam
Tuesday 18:
Spring Break
Thursday 20: Spring Break
Tuesday 25:
Indochine (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RjHf_u5HuWQ) (sous-titré en vietnamien)
Avant le visionnage
 FCTF, pp 196 – 201 (histoire, profil et vocabulaire à apprendre)
 p. 201 Activitès 1 – Vocabulaire
 Présentation:
 “Filmic Memorial and Colonial Blues: Indochina in Contemporary French
Cinema” in Cinema, Colonialism, Postcolonialism: Perspectives from the
French and Francophone Worlds. Ed Dina Sherzer. (chapter 7)
Thursday 27: Indochine (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RjHf_u5HuWQ) (sous-titré en vietnamien)
 FCTF, Lire et préparer, pp 201 – 209
April
Tuesday 01:
Immigration et exile
La Grande seduction (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4tB7Z2_nlBM)
Avant le visionnage
 FCTF, pp 168-172 (histoire, profil et vocabulaire à apprendre)
 p. 172 Activitès 1 – Vocabulaire
Thursday 03: La Grande seduction (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4tB7Z2_nlBM)
 FCTF, Lire et préparer pp. 173-179

Tuesday 08:
Présentation:
 “Identité des québécoises francophone”
Salut Cousin! (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yWNiDp_xOxQ)
Avant le visionnage
 FCTF, pp. 140-144 (histoire, profil et vocabulaire à apprendre)
 p. 145 Activités; 1 – Vocabulaire.
Thursday 10: Salut Cousin! (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yWNiDp_xOxQ)
 FCTF, Lire et préparer: pp. 162 – 167
 Présentation:
 “Coping strategies of female immigrants from the Maghreb in France”
Tuesday 15:
Pièce d’Identité
Avant le visionnage
 FCTF, pp. 152-156 (histoire, profil et vocabulaire à apprendre)
 P. 157 Activités; 1 – Vocabulaire.
 Essay, 4-5 pp., please see Bb for essay question
Thursday 17: Pièce d’Identité
 FCTF, Lire et préparer: pp. 162 – 167
 Présentations:
 “L’Histoire du Congo belge vue par les coloniaux
 “Moroccan Migrant organizations and Congolese Migrant organizations
in Belgium”
Tuesday 22:
Chocolat (http://viooz.co/movies/8063-chocolat-1988.html)
 Documents sur Le Cameroun
 Document sur Chocolat
 Activité du film TBA
 Présentation:
 “ ‘Le français petit nègre’ and the Construction of Social Identity in
Colonial and Postcolonial Africa”
Thursday 24: Un été à la Goulette
Avant le visionnage
 FCTF, pp. 97-100 (histoire, profil et vocabulaire à apprendre)
 P. 100 Activités; 1 – Vocabulaire.
 Présentation:
 « Tunisie et Maroc, de la colonisation à la mondialisation »
Tuesday 29:
Un été à la Goulette
 FCTF, Lire et préparer: pp. 101 – 111
 Présentation :
 “Discriminations et violences contre les femmes en Tunisie”
May
Thursday 01: Review
Tuesday 06:
Conclusion to the course
Thursday 08: Study Day
Friday 16:
Final Exam
 @ 10:30 am -1:00pm in Wescoe 4046