Poetry of Struggle and Protest
FRW 4350/6355
Spring 1999
- Dr. William Calin
Graduate Research Professor - Thursday
Periods 9-11 - Tuesdays
Periods 8-9 - Thursdays
Period 9 - Matherly 9
I. Theme of Course
Twentieth-century poetry in France is extraordinarily rich, as rich and dominant as in the other centuries of great French verse. However, compared to the novel, it receives significantly less attention. This is due partly to the fact that prose fiction has replaced verse as the accepted institutional manifestation of literature and literariness, partly to the phenomenon that many poets of modernism consciously create texts abstruse and arcane--as their reaction against a mass public and the alienating currents in modern life. This course will take into account the above current; however, it will concentrate on poets and poems which--more or less abstruse, more or less difficult--engage directly the political and social issues of our time. Roughly three (interlocking) themes or categories will be studied: reactions to modernity and modern life; World War II, the Resistance, and the other side; the French provinces, specifically those regions where poets write in a language (Breton, Occitan) other than French. We shall begin with The Waste Land, on the grounds that (1) it is a masterpiece that every speaker of English should know; and (2) it can be profitable to begin with hard poetry in one's own language.
II. Student Work & Expectations
- One ten-to-twelve page paper (FRW 4350) or One twelve-to-fifteen page paper (FRW 6355).
- Active participation in seminar discussion.
III. Texts
- T. S. Eliot, The Waste Land. Harcourt-Brace.
- St. J. Perse, Eloges, etc. [Anabase].
- L. Aragon, La Diane française. Seghers.
- R. Brasillac, Poèmes de Fresnes. Plon.
- A U.B.S. Packet.
Selections from:
P. Emmanuel. R. Hemon. P. Keineg. R. Nelli. J. Larzac.
IV. Calendar
January
- 5 Introduction
- 7 Eliot
- 12 Eliot
- 14 Eliot
- 19 Eliot
- 21 Perse
- 26 Perse
- 28 Aragon
February
- 2 Aragon
- 4 Aragon
- 9 Aragon
- 11 Aragon
- 16 Aragon
- 18 Emmanuel
- 23 Emmanuel
- 25 Emmanuel
March
- 2 Emmanuel
- 4 Brasillac
- 9 Secular Holiday
- 11 Secular Holiday
- 16 Brasillac
- 18 Hemon
- 23 Hemon
- 25 Reading Period
- 30 Keineg
April
- 1 Keineg
- 6 Nelli
- 8 Nelli
- 13 Larzac
- 15 Larzac
- 20 Conclusion
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
