Professeur Garett R. Heysel French 412 Garett R. Heysel
heysel@lycoming.edu
Office (570) 321-4211
Whenever we read a text, watch a film or experience a play we approach texts from some very personal and specific perspectives. We analyze and interpret differently precisely because various elements of a novel, play or film strike us differently. Regardless of our ways of "reading" a text, as students of French literature, we are each inspired, motivated or "hooked" not only by what the texts show or say, but significantly too by the context in which we read them i.e. our own backgrounds, interest, understanding, or perhaps, identification with the author, playwright, filmmaker or characters. We do not read in a void and to be sure, our approaches to understanding literature seem to reflect discourses, preoccupations and desires of the time in which we live. The same may be said of the authors, protagonists and characters in the texts selected for this course. Literary currents and styles ranging from romanticism to realism and naturalism to symbolism span the 19th century in France. Through close and critical examination of a small selection of 19th century French texts, this course proposes two interrelated objectives: 1) to identify and understand the various passions, desires, conflicts and motivations that shape and engender the texts at hand, and 2) to relate and make sense of these issues from our own early 21st century perspective. Consequently, the specific aims of this course include: | |
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