Desire, Deception, Disenchantment: Five French Novels in Translation and on Screen
RL&L 227
Spring 2021 not offered
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This course aims to study five French novels from the 17th to the 20th centuries in translation, alongside and against their respective cinematic adaptations. We will begin with Lafayette's The Princess of Cleves (1678), one of the Western world's first psychological novels, and then move on to Choderlos de Laclos' epistolary novel Dangerous Liaisons (1782). We will then read Gustave Flaubert's Madame Bovary (1856), Albert Camus' The Stranger (1942), and Marguerite Duras's The Lover (1984). Films will include: Jean Delannoy's 1961 adaptation of Lafayette's novel, Christophe Honoré's The Beautiful Person (2008), a modern-day adaptation of the story, and Rémy Sauder's 2011 documentary on how the novel is being used in a French school in Marseille; three adaptations of Laclos's novel: Roger Vadim's cutting-edge Les Liaisons dangereuses 1960, Miloš Forman's 1989 Valmont, and Stephen Frears's 1998 acclaimed Dangerous Liaisons; three adaptations of Madame Bovary: Vincent Minnelli's film (1949), Claude Chabrol's adaptation from 1991 starring Isabelle Huppert, and Sophie Barthes's version (2014); Luchino Visconti's adaptation of Camus' The Stranger (Lo straniero, 1967); and Jean-Jacques Annaud's The Lover (1992). These novels and their adaptations will allow us to think about notions of canon formation; genre and narrative; the uses of history in fiction; censorship, controversy, and crime; gender, class, race, and (post)colonialism; translation; and how these texts have been and continue to be read, used, adapted, and transformed from their time of publication up to the present day. |
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| Credit: 1 |
Gen Ed Area Dept:
HA RLAN |
| Course Format: Lecture / Discussion | Grading Mode: Graded |
| Level: UGRD |
Prerequisites: None |
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Fulfills a Requirement for: (FRST-MN)(FRST) |
Major Readings:
NOVELS:
Lafayette, THE PRINCESS OF CLEVES
Laclos, DANGEROUS LIAISONS
Flaubert, MADAME BOVARY
Camus, THE STRANGER
Duras, THE LOVER
FILMS:
Delannoy, THE PRINCESS OF CLEVES
Honoré, THE BEAUTIFUL PERSON
Sauder, NOUS, PRINCESSE DE CLEVES
Vadim, LES LIAISONS DANGEREUESES 1960
Forman, VALMONT
Frears, DANGEROUS LIAISONS
Minnelli, MADAME BOVARY
Chabrol, MADAME BOVARY
Barthes, MADAME BOVARY
Visconti, THE STRANGER
Annaud, THE LOVER
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Examinations and Assignments:
weekly reaction papers, one group presentation/student-led discussion, two short peer-reviewed papers (3-4 pages), and final exam. |
Additional Requirements and/or Comments:
All texts will be in translation but students are welcome to read in the original. The films will have English subtitles and will be made available on Moodle. Students should expect to watch one or two films and to read around 75 pages per week. Students must see the films in advance of the course meetings in which they will be discussed. |
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