This module is not currently running in 2024 to 2025.
This module will introduce a selection of short narrative fiction in French drawn from the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. It will reflect on the techniques and forms used by a number of authors and inquire whether short fictions tend to display common features. The authors chosen use the form in a wide variety of ways, from illustrating a philosophical position to dramatising an ethical dilemma or even questioning the conventions of fiction themselves. The texts will be considered with some reference to concepts drawn from general theory of narrative.
Total Contact Hours: 20
Essay (2,000 words) – 40%
Presentation (15 minutes) – 20%
Examination (2 hours) – 40%
Indicative Reading:
Diderot, Supplément au Voyage de Bougainville (any edition)
Flaubert, Un cœur simple (any edition)
Maupassant Boule de Suif (any edition), Le Horla (any edition)
Nerval, Sylvie (any edition)
Voltaire, L'Ingénu (any edition), Candide (any edition)
See the library reading list for this module (Canterbury)
On successfully completing the module students will be able to:
- Demonstrate a critical understanding of a range of narrative fiction from the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries;
- Demonstrate their analytical skills relating to the study of narrative technique and structure;
- Demonstrate their analytical skills relating to close reading and evaluation of literary texts;
- Demonstrate their reading speed in French.
University of Kent makes every effort to ensure that module information is accurate for the relevant academic session and to provide educational services as described. However, courses, services and other matters may be subject to change. Please read our full disclaimer.
