French Literature and the Sacred: From the Middle Ages to the Twentieth Century
FRW 6938
Fall 2007
- Dr. William Calin
Graduate Research Professor - Monday Per. 9-10
- Wednesday Per. 9
- CBD 316
I. Theme of Course
We will look at the tradition of sacred literature, crucial to our understanding the history of Western culture yet often neglected in contemporary literary studies. Scrutiny of Christian-oriented books and the function of the writer in this context; the meeting of and tension between the sacred and the secular, including anti-Christian satire; in the twentieth century, in response to modernity, a more varied, problematic response with Muslim and Jewish voices, texts in French from outside the Hexagon, and texts in the great regional languages. Most importantly, we will read these works as literature, from a number of modern critical perspectives, including Freudian, Jungian, Marxist, reader response, gender-related, and intertextual.
II. Student Work & Expectations
- One fifteen page paper.
- Active seminar discussion.
III. Texts
- Chanson de Roland
- Poésie baroque
- Voltaire, La Pucelle (selections)
- Georges Bernanos, Sous le soleil de Satan
- François Mauriac, Le Noeud de Vipères
- Cheikh Hamidou Kane, L'Aventure ambiguë
- Élie Wiesel, La Nuit
IV. Schedule
August
- Aug. 27 Introduction
- Chanson de Roland
September
- Sept. 3 Secular Holiday
- 5 Chanson de Roland
- 10, 12 Chanson de Roland
- 17, 19 Chanson de Roland
- 24, 26 Poésie baroque
October
- Oct. 1 Poésie baroque
- 3, 8 Reading Period
- 10 Poésie baroque
- 15, 17 Poésie baroque
- 22, 24 Voltaire, La Pucelle
- 29, 31 Bernanos, Sous le soleil de Satan
November
- Nov. 5, 7 Bernanos, Sous le soleil de Satan
- 12 Secular Holiday
- 14 Mauriac, Le Noeud de Vipères\
- 19, 21 Mauriac, Le Noeud de Vipères
- 26, 28 Kane, L'Aventure ambiguë
December
- Dec. 3, 5 Wiesel, La Nuit3
V. Contact Information
- Office: 236 Dauer Hall
- Office Hours: Monday and Wednesday Per. 8
- Office Phone: 392-2016 x 238
- Home Phone: 373-3739
- Courriel: wcalin@rll.ufl.edu
