FREN3421: Fin-de-siecle bodies: Decadence and Naturalism

• French Language 2 (FREN2051) plus one or more from: FREN2011, FREN2021, FREN2031, FREN2061 OR an equivalent qualification to the satisfaction of the Chairman/Chairwoman of the Board of Studies in MLAC or his/her representative.

• Modern European Languages, Combined Honours and all Joint and 'with' programmes: French Language 4 (FREN3041) or French Language 4 Following Year Abroad (FREN3351). Other: see Chairman/Chairwoman of the Board of Studies in MLAC or his/her representative.

• None

• To explore the importance of the body in late nineteenth-century French literature, considering how literary representations of corporeality are related to the contemporary politicisation of the body;
• To examine how various literary movements engage with contemporary medical and scientific paradigms;
• To assess various theories of embodiment in literature, as well as theories of gender and sexuality.

• In late nineteenth-century France, the body took on heightened political importance. Defeat in the Franco-Prussian War of 1870-71 had exacerbated enduring concerns about the quantity and quality of the French populace, and France itself was represented as a body maimed by the German annexation of its Eastern provinces. Fin-de-sicle French literature engages with this politicisation of the body in various ways: for Naturalism, the writer's role was analogous to that of the physician, being to study the body politic and diagnose its ills; the Decadent movement, by contrast, subverted the contemporary concern with health and virility, revelling in portrayals of disease, deviance, and debauchery. This module explores a range of texts from the 1870s-90s, considering the various roles played by representations of corporeality, as well as the importance of embodiment to the conception of textuality itself. While based on close analysis of literary material, it will also involve consideration of a variety of theoretical frameworks for analysing the body in literature.

Subject-specific Knowledge:

• Critical knowledge and understanding of a range of texts and images, offering an insight into late nineteenth-century culture;
• A grounding in the social history of the early Third Republic of France;
• An understanding of various theorisations of literary representations of the body.

Subject-specific Skills:

• Critical analysis and close readings of a variety of literary genres;
• Ability to think across disciplines, drawing links between cultural material and social history.

Key Skills:

• Critical and analytical thinking
• Essay-writing and oral presentation
• Structuring of arguments
• Independent learning and research

• Lectures and seminars; assessment will be by two summative essays.
• These assessments reflect the intended learning outcomes, namely critical understanding of texts based on close reading, and a broader cultural awareness.
• Teaching will be in English.
• The module will be taught intensively in either Term 1 or Term 2 on a 'short fat' basis

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