Back
to Professor Mehta homepageCourse Description
In this course we will read and discuss French plays by twentieth-century dramatists including Jean Anouilh, Samuel Beckett, Aimé Césaire, Marguerite Duras, Jean Giraudoux, Eugène Ionesco, and Jean-Paul Sartre. Our approach to the texts will center on the social, political, and cultural contexts of the plays as well as representations of class, gender, and the role of language.
Texts (available in Campus Bookstore)
Giraudoux, Jean. La
guerre de Troie n’aura pas lieu
Anouilh, Jean. Antigone
Sartre, Jean-Paul. Huis
Clos
Beckett, Samuel. En
attendant Godot
Ionesco, Eugène. La
Cantatrice chauve
Duras, Marguerite.
Hiroshima mon amour
Jean Genet, Les
Bonnes
Aimé Césaire, Une
saison au Congo
A grammar reference.
A monolingual dictionary. Recommended: Le Robert Micro, Dictionnaire de la langue française, 1998.
A bilingual dictionary.
Course Schedule
FRN 3021/5021 meets two days a week
Class
Participation
Active participation in class and, therefore, regular
attendance is required. More than three
absences without an official excuse will automatically lower your class
participation grade. The class
participation grade will be based on attending class and active involvement in
class activities. This implies good
preparation and demonstration of interest in the material, the instructor’s
comments and the contributions of your fellow students.
Homework
You are responsible for reading the
assigned plays before every
class. You will be handing in short,
1-2 page summaries of your reading assignment every week. All homework must be TYPED and DOUBLE-SPACED
and should include accent marks.
You will write two essays of 2-4 pages over the course of the semester.
Midterm
The midterm will consist of two or three essay questions to be written in French.
Oral
Presentations
You will be expected to do two oral presentations over the course of the semester.
For the first presentation, you will lead a 5-10 minute discussion of one of
the reading assignments from the syllabus. The second presentation will take
place during the last week of classes when you will do a 5-10 minute
presentation of your final research paper (see below).
You will work on a final research paper (7-10 pages) that will be due at the end of the semester. You will set up an appointment with me after the Spring Break to discuss the details of your final paper.
Electronic Mail
Most of your probably already have a computer and have access to the campus network. You can communicate directly with me when you have a question. Take advantage of the opportunity to communicate freely in French.
Grades:
Homework and Class Participation: 25%
Papers: 20%
Oral Presentations: 20%
Midterm: 15%
Final Paper: 20%
Useful websites:
FRENCH MEDIA
www.lemonde.fr --
French newspaper, le Monde
www.liberation.fr
--French newspaper, Libération
www.rfi.fr-- French Radio
Station, Radio France Internationale
http://www.france-amerique.com
-- See “Actualité”
www.france.com -- See
“Agenda New York”
French News, Le
Journal, every evening from 7 – 7: 30 p.m. on WNYE, channel 25.
FOR FRENCH EVENTS IN NYC THE TRI-STATE AREA
Schedule of Assignments:
(This
schedule is subject to change)
Week 1
Introduction to the Course
Week 2
Jean Giraudoux, La
guerre de Troie n’aura pas lieu
Week 3
Jean Giraudoux, La
guerre de Troie n’aura pas lieu
Week 4
Anouilh, Jean, Antigone
Week 5
Jean-Paul Sartre, Huis-Clos
Week 6
Samuel Beckett, En
Attendant Godot
Week 7
Samuel Beckett, En
Attendant Godot (Vidéo)
Spring Break
Week 9
Midterm
Exam;
Ionesco, La Cantatrice chauve
Week 10
Ionesco, La Cantatrice
chauve
Week 11
Marguerite Duras, Hiroshima
mon amour
Week 12
Marguerite Duras, Hiroshima
mon amour (Vidéo)
Week 13
Jean Genet, Les
Bonnes
Week 14
Aimé Césaire, Une
saison au Congo
Week 15
Présentations
Conclusion
Books on Reserve at Manhattanville Library
Anouilh, Jean. Antigone.
Paris: La Table Ronde, 1946. PQ 2601 N67. A86 1946
Bablet, Denis, ed. Les Voies de la création théâtrale.
Paris: CNRS, 1970. PN 2053 V6. v. 2
Beckett,
Samuel. En attendant Godot. Edited by Germaine Brée and Eric
Schoenfeld. New York : Macmillan, 1968,
c1963. PQ2603.E378E5
1963
Beckett, Samuel. En
attendant Godot : pièce en deux actes. Paris: Éditions de Minuit, 1952.
PQ2603.E378E5
On Beckett: Essays and Criticism. Edited and with an introduction by S.E.
Gontarski. 1st Grove Press ed. New York : Grove Press, 1986. PR6003.E282Z784
1986
Bonnefoy, Claude. Entretiens avec Eugène Ionesco. Paris : Éditions Pierre Belfond, 1966 PQ2617.O6Z59
Bradby, David. Modern French Drama, 1940-1980. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press,
1984. PQ 556 B67 1984
Césaire, Aimé. Aimé Césaire. Présentation par Lilyan Kesteloot; choix de textes,
bibliographie, portraits, fac-similés.
Paris: P. Seghers, 1963, c1962. PQ2605.E74A6
1963
Césaire, Aimé. Une saison au Congo : théâtre. Paris : Éditions du Seuil, 1966. PQ2605.E74S2
Sartre,
Jean-Pau. Sartre on theater. Documents assembled, edited, introduced, and
annotated by Michel Contat and Michel Rybalka ; translated from the French by
Frank Jellinek. 1st American ed. New York : Pantheon Books, c1976. PQ2637.A82T513
Fowlie,
Wallace. Dionysus in Paris: A Guide to Contemporary French Theater. New
York: Meridien Press, 1960. PQ 556. F6
Genet, Jean. Les bonnes & Comment jouer Les bonnes.
Décines, Isère M. Barbezat, 1963. PQ2613.E53B6
1963
Genet, Jean. Oeuvres complètes. Paris: Gallimard, 1951. PQ2613.E53
1951
Genet, Jean. The
selected writings of Jean Genet.
Edited and with an introduction by Edmund White. 1st ed. Hopewell, NJ :
Ecco Press, 1993. PQ2613.E53A28
1993
Genet, Jean. Letters
to Roger Blin : Reflections on the
Theater. Translated by Richard
Seaver. New York : Grove Press, 1969. PQ2613.E53L43
Genet, Jean. Lettres à Roger Blin. Paris:
Gallimard, c1966. PQ2613.E53L4
Guicharnaud,
Jacques. Modern French Theatre From
Giraudoux to Genet. New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 1967. PQ
556. G8 1967.
Giraudoux, Jean. Théâtre
II. Paris: Bernard Grasset,
1959. PQ 2613 I 74. A19 1959.
Giraudoux,
Jean. La guerre de Troie n'aura pas lieu : pièce en deux actes. Paris : B. Grasset, 1935. PQ2613.I74G8 1935.
Ionesco,
Eugène. La cantatrice chauve; anti-pièce, suivie d’une scène inédite.
Interprétations typographique de Massin et photographique d'Henry Cohen d'après
la mise en scène de Nicolas Bataille et avec le concours des comédiens du
Théâtre de la Huchette. Paris: Gallimard, 1964. PQ2617.O6C3
Ionesco. Eugène. La cantatrice chauve. Paris: Gallimard, 1962, c1954. PQ2617.O6C3
Ionesco,
Eugène. Notes and counter notes;
writings on the theatre. Translated from the French by Donald Watson. New York,
Grove Press, PQ2617.O6N613
Ionesco, Eugène. Notes et contre-notes. Paris: Gallimard, 1962. PQ2617.O6N6
Ionesco,
Eugène. Théâtre. Préface de Jacques Lemarchand. Paris : Gallimard,
c1954-<c1981. PQ2617.O6A19
1954
Pronko,
Leonard. The World of Jean Anouilh.
Berkeley: University of California Press, 1961. PQ 2601 N67.Z73.
Sartre, Jean- Paul. Un
Théâtre de situations. Paris:
Gallimard, 1973. PQ 2637 A82. T5.
Sartre, Jean-Paul. Huis
Clos de Jean-Paul Sartre. Paris: Hachette, 1975. PQ 2637 A82.H838.
Sartre, Jean-Paul. Théâtre.
Paris: Gallimard, 1947. PQ 2637 A82. A19 1947 v. 1.
The Two Faces of Ionesco. Edited by Rosette C. Lamont and Melvin J.
Friedman Troy, N. Y.: Whitston Pub. Co., 1978. PQ 2617. O6Z8489.
Videos on Reserve at Manhattanville Library
Hiroshima, mon amour. [Videorecording]. Cambridge, MA : Polyglot Productions, 198-?. 1 videocassette (90 min.) : sd., b&w ; 1/2 in. AV PN1997.H569R4 198-
Waiting for Godot. [videorecording] by Samuel Beckett ; University of Maryland, College Park, Visual Press and Cameras Continentales present ; a performance of the San Quentin Drama Workshop. Smithsonian Institution Press Video Division [distributor], 1990. 2 videocassettes (137 minutes). AV PQ2603.E378E54 1990