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UC Center Program Courses - Fall 2006
PCC 123. Paris in Literature
Prof.
Peter Connor
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Lecture
Mon 1:30-4:40pm
Section
Wed 10:00-11:00am
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This course looks at the representation of Paris in French literature of the modern period. Readings have been chosen to introduce students to Paris’s multiple and changing identities. Each week is devoted to a theme which will allow us to discuss different myths associated with Paris, with France and with the French. Beginning with Balzac’s powerful representation of the city as the locus of power, corruption and social inequality, we will trace key developments in the way French novelists, poets and filmmakers have conceptualized their capital city. We will in the course of the semester become familiar with some of the important literary movements of the modern period: realism (Balzac), naturalism (Zola), surrealism (Breton) etc. [Literature, Comp Lit, Urban Studies, History, French] 6.0 credits.
COURSE MATERIALS
- Honoré de Balzac, Père Goriot
- Emile Zola, Thérèse Raquin
- André Breton, Nadja
- Course Reader ([CR] hereafter)
COURSE REQUIREMENTS
Attendance at lectures, section and site visits is mandatory. It is essential that students attend all classes and participate actively. One unexcused absence is tolerated, but additional ones will result in a lowered final grade.
Reading assignments are critical. Students are expected to read the material as it is assigned and come to class prepared.
Grading
- Participation in class discussion and section & one oral exposé 25%
- Two short papers (3-4 pages) 25 %
- Mid-term exam 25 %
- Final Exam 25%
COURSE SCHEDULE
Week 1. Sep 11-15
Introduction to Paris in Literature; Balzac’s Paris (I)
Introduction and overview of major themes. Presentation of Balzac
Reading:
- H. de Balzac, Père Goriot
- P. Connor, “Introduction” to Barnes and Noble edition of Père Goriot [CR]
Week 2. Sep 18-22
Balzac’s Paris (II)
Reading:
- H. de Balzac, Père Goriot
- David F. Bell, “Balzac and the Modern City: Mapping Paris in Old Goriot” in Approaches to Teaching Balzac’s Old Goriot, Modern Language Association of America, 2000, pp. 81-89 [CR]
Week 3. Sep 25-29
The Inward Turn: Baudelaire’s Paris
Reading:
- Charles Baudelaire, Selections from Paris Spleen, New Directions, 1970, pp. 1-37, 52-79, 91-108
FIRST SHORT PAPER DUE (in section)
Week 4. Oct 2-6
Paris, Capital of the 19 th Century
Reading:
- Walter Benjamin, “Paris, Capital of the Nineteenth Century” (1935 Exposé) in The Arcades Project, Harvard University Press, 1999, pp. 3-13 [CR]
Week 5. Oct 9-13
Paris, Capital of Shopping Reading:
- Charles Baudelaire, “The Painter of Modern Life” in Baudelaire: Selected Writings on Art and Literature [CR]
Week 6. Oct 16-20
The Parisian Soul According to Zola
Reading:
- E. Zola, Thérèse Raquin
- W. J. Berg & L.K. Martin, “Toward Naturalism: Early Life, Work and Theories” in Emile Zola Revisited, University of Wisconsin, 1992, pp. xiii-xv, 1-13 [CR]
Week 7. Oct 23-27
MIDTERM EXAM
FALL BREAK
Week 8. Nov 6-10
Surrealist Paris
Reading:
- André Breton, Nadja
- André Breton, “Manifesto of Surrealism” in André Breton: Selections, UC Press, 2003, pp. 143-167 [CR]
Week 9. Nov 13-17
Americans (and Others) in Paris
Reading:
- Laurence Sterne, Selection from A Sentimental Journey Through France and Italy, Oxford University Press, 1984, pp. 56-63 [CR]
- George Orwell, Selection from “Down and Out in Paris and London” in Orwell and the Dispossessed, Penguin Books, 1998, pp. 115-131, 221-225 [CR]
- Ernest Hemingway, Selection from A Moveable Feast, Vintage, 2000, pp. 1-65 [CR]
- Alice Kaplan, Selection from French Lessons. A Memoir, University of Chicago Press, 1994, pp. 83-94, 104-122, 125-141 [CR]
- Gertrude Stein, Selection from “Gertrude Stein Before She Came to Paris” in The Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas, Penguin, 2001, pp. 77-79 [CR]
Week 10. Nov 20-24
Paris and the Second World War (I)
Reading:
- Marguerite Duras, “The War” in The War. A Memoir, New Press, 1986, pp. 3-68 [CR]
- Henry Rousso, “The Broken Mirror (1971-1974)” in The Vichy Syndrome: History and Memory in France since 1944 , Harvard University Press, 1991, pp. 98-131 [CR]
Week 11. Nov 27 - Dec 1
Paris and the Second World War (II) Reading:
- Henry Rousso, “Obsession (after 1974): Jewish Memory” in The Vichy Syndrome: History and Memory in France since 1944, Harvard University Press, 1991,
pp. 132-167 [CR]
SECOND SHORT PAPER DUE (in section)
Week 12. Dec 4-8
Paris and Historical Memory Reading:
- Patrick Modiano, Dora Bruder, UC Press, 1999 [CR]
TERM PAPER DUE
Week 13. Dec 11-15
FINAL EXAM
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