Admission requirements
BA French Language and Culture or BA in another modern language.
Students from other tracks of Literary Studies or Media Studies are welcome provided they have a good reading and listening proficiency in French. In that case, the oral presentation and paper will be in English or Dutch. Please contact the teacher beforehand for admission.
Description
This (French taught) course is about the multifaceted French memory of World War II and its representations in literature and cinema. As a theoretical basis, we will study different kinds of memory: testimonial memory, memory and trauma, second generation memory or ‘postmemory’. Starting with a novel by an eyewitness (Simon), we will see how soldiers and civilians experienced the German invasion in May 1940. With his film Lacombe Lucien and his novel La ronde de nuit, Modiano was one of the first to dare speak about French Collaboration. From the 1970s on, Vichy and Collaboration were no longer taboo subjects. The second half of the course will focus on the memory of nazi persecution and the concentration camps. Here too, there is not one single memory, but several ones. We will first study the narratives of two witnesses: Resistant survivor Robert Antelme and Anna Langfus, a Polish-Jewish getto survivor. Then we will see how this first generation memory compares with that of postwar descendants of Jewish survivors, for whom memory becomes a borrowed memory or ‘postmemory’ (Raczymow). The course ends with a contemporary “récit d’enquête” by a third generation descendant (Kormann). A key question all along this course is how memory through literary fiction, testimony and film differs from current forms of memory.
Course objectives
thorough knowledge and insight into the studied literary texts and films
knowledge of the historical and cultural context of the works studied
knowledge and insight into current theories of cultural memory
the ability to do independent research in this field, using theory and secondary literature
ability to analyze a relevant subject of one’s choice and to present one’s findings in an oral presentation and written assignments
for students of the Educative Master: ability to apply the acquired knowledge to the practise of teaching.
ability to share analytical and theoretical arguments during class discussion.
Timetable
The timetables are available through My Timetable.
Mode of instruction
Lecture and seminar
Assessment method
Midterm assignment (1500-2000 words): 20 %
Oral presentation : 20 %
Final paper (approx. 5000 words) : 60 %
Additional requirement: the grade of the final paper should be at least 5,5.
Resit
Only for the final paper.
Inspection and feedback
How and when an exam review will take place will be disclosed together with the publication of the exam results at the latest. If a student requests a review within 30 days after publication of the exam results, an exam review will have to be organized.
Reading list
Charlotte Delbo, Aucun de nous ne reviendra (Poche Minuit)
Marguerite Duras, Hiroshima mon amour (Gallimard Folio)
Jean-Claude Grumberg, L’atelier (Etonnants Classiques ou une autre édition)
Michèle Maillet, L’étoile noire (Pocket)
Patrick Modiano : La ronde de nuit (Gallimard Folio) et Dora Bruder (Gallimard Folio).
Irène Nemirowsky, Suite française (Gallimard Folio ou Folio Plus Classiques) (nous lirons uniquement la partie « Tempête de juin »)
Registration
Enrolment through MyStudyMap is mandatory.
General information about course and exam enrolment is available on the website
Contact
For substantive questions, contact the lecturer listed in the right information bar.
For questions about enrolment, admission, etc, contact the Education Administration Office: Arsenaal
Remarks
Attention, dans Nemirovsky, Suite francaise, lire la partie « Tempête de juin » avant le début des cours.