MA / MPhil Courses in French

Not All Courses Are Offered in Any Given Academic Year.

For descriptions of courses within particular series, please click on the links below:

F60 Series: Francophone Language

• F60A Advanced French Phonology

• F60B Advanced Morphosyntax

• F60C Advanced Translation

• F60D Methods of Second and Foreign Language Teaching (same as L61D)

F61 Series: Caribbean Literature in French

• F61A Contemporary French Caribbean Drama

• F61B Modern Cultural and Critical Theory: Dialectical Theories (same as E60A)

• F61C Women Writers of Africa and The Caribbean

• F61D Antillanité to Creolité: the Contemporary French Caribbean Novel

• F61E Post-Negritude French Caribbean Poetry

F62 Series: African Literatures in French

• F62A The Contemporary Francophone West African Novel

• F62B Contemporary West African Poetry and Drama

• F62C West African Film

F68 Series: Reading Courses

• F68A Individual Reading Course

• F68B Individual Reading Course

COURSE DESCRIPTIONS

F60A ADVANCED FRENCH PHONOLOGY

Major areas of French pronunciation such as the distribution of nasal vowels and mid-vowels, glide distribution, liasion, schwa deletion and intonation are examined in the light of the more recent approaches to the analysis of French speech. Examination of these areas takes into account regional varieties of the language and the teaching of French as a foreign language.

Assessment:

1 assignment 25%
1 oral presentation 25%
1 three-hour paper 50%

Required Texts: 

Casagrande, Jean The Sound System of French
Léon, Pierre and P. Bhatt Structure du français moderne
Tranel, Bernard The Sounds of French: an Introduction

Recommended:

Mazel, Jean Phonétique et phonologie dans l'enseignement du français
Mettas, Odette La prononciation parisienne

F60C ADVANCED TRANSLATION

This course examines translation methodologies and techniques applied to mostly non-literary translation. Discussion of glossary building will take into account some of the more frequent areas of contact between the Anglophone and Francophone Caribbean: tourism, maritime affairs, history conferences, the fight against illegal drugs, etc.

Assessment:

One in-course translation, French to English 50%
One 3-hour exam 50% (theory, techniques, problem areas in translation: French / English / French)

Required Texts:  

Catriona Picken The Translator's Handbook
J. Delisle L'Analyse du discours comme méthode de traduction
D. Seleskovitch Interpréter pour traduire

Recommended: 

Peter Newmark A Textbook of Translation
---. Approaches to Translation

F61B MODERN CULTURAL AND CRITICAL THEORY:
DIALECTICAL THEORIES

(Same as E60A )

F61C WOMEN WRITERS OF AFRICA AND THE CARIBBEAN

This course focuses on the prose fiction of Francophone women writers of Africa and the Caribbean. In chronological terms, it covers the literature of the 1970's to 1990's, and attempts to situate each writer in her particular social and historical context. Attention is paid to the issue of gender, and particularly to the ways in which marginalization by gender overlaps with or is distinct from marginalization by race or class.   

The groundbreaking anthologies Her True-True Name (ed. Pamela Mordecai and Elizabeth Wilson) and Green Cane and Juicy Flotsam (ed. Carmen C. Esteves and Lizabeth Paravisini-Gebert) will be used extensively in conjunction with the prescribed texts. In addition to the exploration of the common thematic concerns of these canonical writers, consideration will be given to the problematic 'female aesthetic', and particularly to the women writers' position vis-à-vis the choice of the language of literary creation. The inclusion of Edwige Danticat on the list of prescribed authors is a reminder that Caribbean /black identity is constructed from home and abroad, and from diverse linguistic positions.

Assessment:

Class participation and presentation 20%
One term paper 30%
Final 3-hour exam 50%

Required Readings:  

Ba, Mariama Une si longue lettre
Condé, Maryse Les derniers rois mages
Danticat, Edwige Breath, eyes, memory
Schwarz-Bart, Simone Ti Jean L'horizon
Sow Fall, Aminata La Grève des Battu
Warner-Vieyra, Miriam Juletane

F61D ANTILLANITE TO CREOLITE: THE CONTEMPORARY FRENCH CARIBBEAN NOVEL

This course attempts to trace significant developments in the fiction of the French West Indies, with particular emphasis on two literary movements which have played major roles in the reconfiguration of Caribbean identity since the Négritude era: Antillanité and the more recent Créolité. The period considered is essentially the 1980's and 1990's, and the course begins by highlighting the seminal work, both creative and critical, of the primary theoretician of Antillanité, Edouard Glissant; considerable attention is paid to Le discours antillais (1981). Some consideration is given to the soocial and ideological framework which influenced a generation grappling with the challenge of self-definition at a time when the Manichean simplicity of the racial discourse of Négritude seemed to be somewhat dépassé. The polemical Créolité movement is studied both through the creative writings of its principal proponents, and through its provocative manifesto Eloge de la créolité. The course also seeks to point to the danger of attempting to categorize this evolving literature into tidy 'movements', firstly by including writers who cannot be defined by reference to any convenient label, and secondly by discussing the critical debates in which the members of the Créolité movement have been involved. Considerable attention is of course paid to the issue of language, and to the emerging use of 'créole' as subversive literary tool.

Assessment: 

Oral presentation 20%
Term Paper 30%
Final 3-hour exam 50%

Required Texts: 

Chamoiseau, Patrick Chronique des sept misères
---. Texaco
Condé, Maryse La migration des coeurs
Confiant, Raphaël Eau de café
Glissant, Edouard La case du commandeur
---. Le quatrième siècle
Maximin, Daniel L'Isolé Soleil
Pineau, Gisèle La Grande Drive des esprits