ENG 4110/crosslisted with FRT 3520. You are now entering Tatiland...

Jacques Tati

"In a world of increasing conformity, the modern eccentric can be seen as a contemporary hero and guardian of individualism.” (Schulman) The course as designed examines Tati’s career and contribution, his cinematic antecedents and heirs. Topics cover France’s culture at the time of the production of his films i.e. post-world war II France of the late 40s, 50s and 60s. Readings, discussion and analysis will bear on contemporary literature and cultural production, the everyday life, the use of space and architecture in film, the use of technology, the function of music and sound or silence in film, comedies, the representation of the male hero in French cinema, rural cinema and what I propose to read as a “Tati moment.”

Tentative Required Reading:
        1.    A comprehensive course pack including essays by André Bazin, Philip Brophy, Kristin Thompson, Lee Hilliker, John Fawell, Lucy Fischer, Henri Lefèbvre, Peter Schulman, Pierre Sorlin and Jacques Tati. (etc.)

  2.   Michel Chion. The films of Jacques Tati. Trans. Toronto: Guernica, 2003
        3.   David Bellos. Tati: His Life and art. London: Harvill, 1999. PN 1998. 3 T374 B45
        4.    Kristin Ross. Fast Cars, Cleans Bodies. Decolonization and the reordering of French culture. MIT Press, 1995.

  5. Raymond Queneau. Witch Grass (Le Chiendent) Recommended reading.

  6. Georges Perec. Things: A Story of the Sixties. (Les Choses) David R. Godine, Publisher. 1990.

Requirements:  Bi-monthly reading quizzes, 3-4 reaction papers and a comprehensive final exam or 15-20 pp. research project.. Creative projects are accepted as well. All research/creative projects should be proposed and discussed no later than week #9.