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UC Center Program Courses - Spring 2006
PCC 123. Paris in Literature
Prof.
Peter Connor
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Lecture
Monday, 1:30-4:30 pm*
Section
Wednesday, 5-6pm
(Leigh Fullmer)
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*Please note that due to a number of bank holidays falling on Monday, three "make-up" classes were scheduled for the following days:
- Friday, March 24 - 1:30pm-4:30pm
- Friday, March 31 - 1:30pm-4:30pm
- Friday, May 12 - 1:30pm-4:30pm
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. February 20-24
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. February 27 - March 3
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. March 6-10
From Balzac to Zola: Rebellion to Naturalism
Reading:
- H. de Balzac, Père Goriot
- E. Zola, Thérèse Raquin
FIRST SHORT PAPER DUE (in section)
Week 4. March 13-17
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 5. March 20-24
Zola: Conclusion Reading:
Special Session: Friday, 24 March (1:30-4:30pm)
Week 6. March 27 - March 30th
Americans (and Others) in Paris (I)
MIDTERM EXAM - 1:30pm-3pm Reading:
- George Orwell, Selections from “Down and Out in Paris and London ” in Orwell and the Dispossessed, Penguin Books, 1998, pp. 115-131, 221-225 [CR]
Special Session: Friday, 31 March (1:30-4:30pm)
Reading:
- Laurence Sterne, Selection from A Sentimental Journey Through France and Italy, Oxford University Press, 1984, pp. 56-63 [CR]
- Ernest Hemingway, Selection from A Moveable Feast, Vintage, 2000, pp. 1-33 [CR]
- Alice Kaplan, Selections from French Lessons. A Memoir, University of Chicago Press, 1994, pp. 83-94, 104-122, 125-141 [CR]
Week 7. April 3-7
GUEST LECTURE
Prof. Camille Fort (Université d'Amiens):
“American and British Women in Paris during the 1920s ”
SPRING BREAK
Week 8. April 17-21
Baudelaire's Snapshots of Paris
Reading:
- Charles Baudelaire, Selections from Paris Spleen, New Directions, 1970, pp. 1-37, 52-79, 91-108 [CR]
- Walter Benjamin, “Paris, Capital of the Nineteenth Century” (1935 Exposé) in The Arcades Project, Harvard University Press, 1999, pp. 3-26 [CR]
Week 9. April 24-28
Surrealist Paris
Reading:
- André Breton, Nadja
- André Breton, “Manifesto of Surrealism” in André Breton: Selections, UC Press, 2003, pp. 143-167 [CR]
Week 10. May 2-5
NO CLASS (1st May Bank Holiday)
Week 11. May 9-12
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, “Unfinished Mourning (1944-1954)” in The Vichy Syndrome: History and Memory in France since 1944, Harvard University Press, 1991, pp. 15-49 [CR]
- Claude Chabrol, “L'Oeil de Vichy” [FILM]
Special Session: Friday, 12 May (1:30-4:30pm)
Paris and the Second World War (II) Reading:
- M. Ophuls, The Sorrow and the Pity [FILM]
- A. Renais, Nuit et Brouillard [FILM]
- 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]
SECOND SHORT PAPER DUE (in section)
Week 12. May 15-19
Paris and Historical Memory Reading:
- Patrick Modiano, Dora Bruder, UC Press, 1999 [CR]
TERM PAPER DUE
Week 13. May 22-24
FINAL EXAM
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