FREN3551: Better Life in French and Francophone contexts

• French Language 4 (FREN3041)

• None

• To explore and analyse the concept of a better life in literary texts/philosophy/art/film/music.
• To give students insight into debates about what might constitute a better life as well as the stakes of these debates.
• To encourage students to reflect on what constitutes a good life
• To further familiarise the students with key texts/films/authors/musicians in French-speaking culture.
• To develop transferable skills in engaging with and communicating about theoretically informed cultural analysis.

• Literature, philosophical/theoretical texts, visual art, film, music (from the Middle Ages to the twenty-first century) which raises questions about the purpose, meaning or significance of life, or of the better life. Set texts/objects/films/music may vary from year to year in accordance with the research specialisms of the tutors each year, since this is a team-taught, research-led module.
• Students will gain an overview of historically crucial periods and culturally significant developments in French and/or Francophone contexts and thought.

Subject-specific Knowledge:

• By the end of this module, students should have enhanced understanding of:
• Debates about the meaning of life and its betterment in French and/or Francophone cultural history.
• key texts/objects/films and their contexts.
• broader debates around the significance of life and its betterment.

Subject-specific Skills:

• By the end of this module, students should have enhanced their:
• Ability to analyse texts/films/objects in their cultural, political and philosophical contexts with particular attention to debates about the significance of life and ways to improve it.
• Independent research skills, developed through two research-led summative projects.
• Ability to discuss primary materials and concepts in French and/or English, both orally and in writing.

Key Skills:

• By the end of this module, students should have improved their:
• Range of fluency and expression in French and/or English.
• Ability to formulate arguments coherently on the basis of appropriate and relevant evidence, and to present them in written form.
• Ability to pursue a guided programme of self-directed study, leading to the production of extended pieces of written work which demonstrate engagement with relevant research literature.

• Teaching will involve a combination of plenary lectures and seminars.
• Lectures will provide information about context and introduce methodological and theoretical issues.
• In seminars, students will have the opportunity to present and discuss the central questions arising from their consideration of a range of materials.
• In both oral discussion and in summative assessed work, students will demonstrate their ability to formulate clear arguments, and use both contextual, theoretical, and methodological knowledge in order to access and elucidate a corpus of literary, historical, philosophical, visual, and/or filmic texts.

Formative assessment during seminars builds on independent study by students working individually or in pairs or small groups. In the seminars, students are expected to give short oral presentations, based on a set of diversified questions (such as reflecting on theoretical challenges, analysing secondary materials, presenting primary work outside the syllabus etc.) and reading materials, and where appropriate accompanied by written handouts and/or other visual aids. Oral feedback is provided regularly in the course of the seminar discussion.

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