BA French and Chinese / Course details

Love, death, murder, incestuous feelings, passions, excess and jealousy are some of the themes woven into the fabric of the texts selected for this module. We will start the semester with one of the best known plays of the French dramatic repertoire, Phèdre (1677) by Jean Racine, a tragedy of forbidden love, fate and power; we will then study Carmen (1845) by Prosper Mérimée, a novella about outlaws, bad omens, passion and crime, which inspired the famous opera; and we will read a novel by Émile Zola, Thérèse Raquin (1867), a tale of desire and murder denounced as “putrid” literature. Introductory lectures will present the main themes, genres and periods, while seminars will focus on questions of moral responsibility, freedom, determinism, tragic heroism and tragic pleasure, or how we find pleasure in reading or watching the pain of others.  

This unit is available as free choice with knowledge of the target language.

• To provide an overview of tragic drama and tragic literature 
• To familiarize students with different forms of representation of love, death and tragic passions 
• To provide students with key concepts of tragedy (‘heroism’, ‘fate’, ‘determinism’, ‘moral responsibility’, ‘tragic pleasure’) 
• To be able to analyse and discuss main stylistic issues in key literary and dramatic texts

By the end of this course students will be able to: 

• Analyse and discuss key concepts related to tragedy and tragic passions 
• Demonstrate some knowledge of issues related to moral responsibility, freedom and determinism 
• Show some knowledge of three different literary genres from different periods 
• Develop critical skills to analyse literary and dramatic texts 

Week 1: Introduction to tragic theory and main themes
Weeks 2,3,4: Racine, Phèdre
Weeks 5,6, 7: Mérimée, Carmen
Weeks 8, 9,10: Zola, Thérèse Raquin
Week 11: Review sessions and formative assessment in preparation for the final exam

Week 1 is composed of three introductory lectures
Weeks 2-10: A combination of lectures and seminars totaling 3 hours per week 
Week 11 is dedicated to review sessions and formative assessment

Teaching in French and in English

Overview of Blackboard content:
All class presentations and extra material will be posted on Blackboard 

By the end of this course students will be able to:  

• Demonstrate a sound knowledge of issues related to freedom, moral responsibility, and tragedy 
• Understand historical variations in the representations of tragic passions by authors from different periods and literary traditions 

By the end of this course students will be able to: 

• Think critically about literary representations of passion, love, death, tragedy, freedom and responsibility 
• Analyse and synthesize a range of texts pertaining to the tragic genre 
• Develop a coherent and well documented argument   

By the end of this course students will be able to: 

• Think critically about literary representations of passion, love, death, tragedy, freedom and responsibility 
• Analyse and synthesize a range of texts pertaining to the tragic genre 
• Develop original ideas and engage with tragic theories  
• Improve public speaking and group participation 

By the end of this course students will be able to: 

• Develop original ideas and engage with literary and dramatic theories  
• Improve public speaking and group participation 

RE-SIT ASSESSMENT
Essay (coursework) 

Primary sources: 

Jean Racine, Phèdre 

Prosper Mérimée, Carmen 

Emile Zola, Thérèse Raquin  

Secondary sources: 

Marc Escola, Le tragique, Paris: Flammarion, 2002 

John D. Lyons, Kingdom of Disorder: The Theory of Tragedy in Classical France, West Lafayette: Purdue University Press, 1999 

Anthony Nuttall, Why Does Tragedy Give Pleasure, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2002  

George Steiner, The Death of Tragedy, London: Faber, 1961