Short Narrative Fiction in French - FREN5460

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Module delivery information

This module is not currently running in 2024 to 2025.

Overview

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.

Details

Contact hours

Total Contact Hours: 20

Method of assessment

Essay (2,000 words) – 40%
Presentation (15 minutes) – 20%
Examination (2 hours) – 40%

Indicative reading

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)

Learning outcomes

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.

Notes

  1. ECTS credits are recognised throughout the EU and allow you to transfer credit easily from one university to another.
  2. The named convenor is the convenor for the current academic session.
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