French literature: Seminar

Students will read several works of French literature from the 17th to the 20th centuries in groups. Each session will include a lecture about a particular author, the rough plot of the author’s work, the background of the work, and some points of interest followed by a class discussion.

European literature, French literature, Francophone literature, group work

Each group will present on the works listed for each class below.

While the plan for the course is as follows, the schedule may change in response to the students' level of understanding.

Class 1: Orientation, course goals, study plans, etc.
Class 2: Perrault's Little Red Riding Hood, deciding the groups
Class 3: Perrault's Bluebeard
Class 4: Molière's Tartuffe
Class 5: Abbé Prévot's Manon Lescaut
Class 6: Beaumarchais's The Marriage of Figaro
Class 7: Bernardin de Saint-Pierre's Paul and Virginie
Class 8: Balzac's Old Man Goriot
Class 9: Georges Sand's La Petite Fadette (Little Fadette. A Domestic Story)
Class 10: Flaubert's Madame Bovary
Class 11: Maupassant's Boule de Suif (Ball of Lard)
Class 12: Radiguet's The Ball of Count Orgel
Class 13: Cocteau's Les Enfants Terribles (The Holy Terrors)
Class 14: Saint-Exupéry's The Little Prince
Class 15: Camus's The Stranger, course survey

Syllabus (Japanese site only)