07305 - French Literature I

Learning outcomes

At the end of the course, students will have an adequate knowledge of French literature in relation to European literature; they will be able to read a literary text in French, both in textual and intertextual mode, with the necessary references to the history of French literary tradition. They will sharpen, as much as possible, their stylistic competences within their linguistic competences. They will have a passive knowledge of French.

Course contents

The course, which aims to offer a perspective on the most important mouvements and on the most significant figures of the 19th and 20th century, will be organized in two modules: the first, held by Prof. Bruna Conconi, will be dedicated to the French literary production of the 19th century; the second one, held by Prof. Michele Morselli, to the French production of the 20th century.

Readings/Bibliography

 

1. Literary History

   Lionello SOZZI (a cura di), Storia europea della letteratura francese. II. Dal Settecento all’età contemporanea, Torino, Einaudi, 2013 (only 19th and 20th century).

   or

   Jean-Yves TADIÉ (sous la direction de), La littérature française: dynamique et histoire, Paris, Gallimard, 2007 (only 19th and 20th century).

2. Readings

   Stendhal, Le rouge et le noir

   Gustave Flaubert, Madame Bovary

   Marcel Proust, Du côté de chez Swann

   Albert Camus, L’Étranger

3. Texts analized during classes (uploaded to the VIRTUALE platform) and the following articles/chapters of books uploaded to the VIRTUALE platform:

Martyn Lyons, Les nouveaux lecteurs au XIX^e siècle: femmes, enfants, ouvriers, in Guglielmo Cavallo e Roger Chartier (a cura di), Histoire de la lecture dans le monde occidental, Paris, Seuil, 1995, pp. 393-430.

Arnold Hauser, La generazione del 1830 and Il Secondo Impero, in Storia sociale dell’arte, Torino, Einaudi, 1982, vol. II, pp. 237-334.

Erich Auerbach, À l’hôtel de La Mole and Germinie Lacerteux, in Mimésis. La représentation de la réalité dans la littérature occidentale, Paris, Gallimard, 1968, pp. 450-513.

Sergio Cigada, Charles Baudelaire: antropologia e poetica, in Sergio Cigada (a cura di), Il simbolismo francese. La poetica, le strutture tematiche, i fondamenti storici, Varese, Sugarco, 1992, pp. 31-74.

Jean-Yves Tadié, Le Temps, in Proust et le roman: essai sur les formes et techniques du roman dans À la recherche du temps perdu, Paris, Gallimard, 1971, pp. 293-319.

Gérard Genette, La métonymie chez Proust, in Figures III, Paris, Seuil, 1972, pp. 41-63.

Erich Köhler, L’assurdo. Grandezza e miseria del dominio del possibile, in Il romanzo e il caso: da Stendhal a Camus, Bologna, Il Mulino, 1990, pp. 75-104.

Brian T. Fitch, La technique narrative e L’attitude du lecteur, in Narrateur et narration dans L’Étranger d’Albert Camus, Paris, Minard, 1968, pp. 13-45.

 

Non-attending students will prepare the final exam following the previous bibliography with the support of these additional readings:

• Antologia cronologica della letteratura francese. L’Ottocento, Milano, LED, 1998:

De l’Allemagne di Madame de Staël

Hernani di Victor Hugo

Les Destinées di Vigny

Le rouge et le Noir di Stendhal

Le Père Goriot di Balzac

Madame Bovary di Flaubert

Les Fleurs du mal di Baudelaire

Les Misérables di Hugo

Germinie Lacerteux dei Goncourt

L’assommoir di Zola

Boule de suif di Maupassant

A rebours di Huysmans

Illuminations di Rimbaud

Poésies di Mallarmé

Les Déracinés di Barrès

• Antologia cronologica della letteratura francese. Il Novecento, Milano, LED, 1999:

L’île des pingouins di France

Du côté de chez Swann di Proust

Le feu. Journal d’une escouade di Barbusse

Manifeste Dada di Tzara

Manifeste du surréalisme di Breton

Les Faux-Monnayeurs di Gide

Voyage au bout de la nuit di Céline

L’étranger di Camus

L’écume des jours di Vian

La modification de Butor

Moderato cantabile di Duras

Zazie dans le métro di Queneau

La route des Flandres di Simon

L’œuvre au noir di Yourcenar

Désert di Le Clézio

Teaching methods

Frontal lectures; participationis neverthelesshighly encouraged.

Assessment methods

The exam consists in an oral interview during which the methodological and critical skills acquired by the student will be evaluated. The student will be invited to discuss the texts covered during the course and to move within the sources and bibliographical material in order to be able to identify in them the useful information. The achievement of an organic vision of the issues addressed during the classes and their critical use, which demonstrate ownership of a mastery of expression and specific language, will be assessed with marks of excellence (28-30). Mechanical and / or mnemonic knowledge of matter, synthesis and analysis of non-articulating and / or correct language but not always appropriate will lead to discrete assessments (23-27); training gaps and / or inappropriate language - although in a context of minimal knowledge of the material - will lead to votes that will not exceed the sufficiency (18-22). Training gaps, inappropriate language, lack of guidance within the reference materials offered during the course will lead to failed assessments.

Students with SLD or temporary or permanent disabilities. It is necessary to contact the relevant University office (https://site.unibo.it/studenti-con-disabilita-e-dsa/en) with ample time in advance: the office will propose some adjustments, which must in any case be submitted 15 days in advance to the lecturer, who will assess the appropriateness of these in relation to the teaching objectives.

 

Exam sessions

During the 2026/2027 academic year, exam sessions are scheduled in the following months: September, October, December 2026; January, February, April, May, June, July 2027.

Teaching tools

Texts analized during classes will be uploaded to the VIRTUALE platform.

Office hours

See the website of Bruna Conconi

See the website of Michele Morselli