Module FREN3301: TRAVEL AND THE STARS IN SIXTEENTH-CENTURY FRANCE

Department: Modern Language and Cultures (French)

FREN3301: TRAVEL AND THE STARS IN SIXTEENTH-CENTURY FRANCE

Prerequisites

• French Language 2 (FREN2051) or French Language 2 and Year Abroad (FREN2071) or an equivalent qualification to the satisfaction of the Chairman/woman of the Board of Studies in MLAC or his/her representative.

Corequisites

• Modern European Languages, Combined Honours and all Joint Honours and 'with' programmes: French Language 4 (FREN3041). Other: see Chairman/Chairwoman of the Board of Studies in MLAC or his/her representative.

Excluded Combination of Modules

• None.

Aims

• To offer an advanced course in sixteenth-century French literature, focusing on an important theme in the period.
• To introduce students to sixteenth-century representations of other realms, namely the New World, the cosmos, and fictional places which reflect the discovery of the New World as well as concerns about the old.
• To develop students' critical and analytical skills in relation to genres ranging from the essay to the travel narrative to the (poetic or prose) fiction.
• To develop students' reading skills in sixteenth-century French verse and prose.

Content

• This module will examine sixteenth-century representations of other realms, namely the New World, the supralunary realm, and fictional worlds. The works studied will be: Jean De Lery's account of his voyage to Brazil; Montaigne's essays discussing its inhabitants ('Des cannibales' and 'Des coches'); Rabelais's Quart Livre which depicts an imaginary voyage; Peletier Du Mans's poetic fiction of a cosmic voyage inspired by love; and, Maurice Sceve's Delie, a collection of love poetry in which themes of space and voyage play an important role. The module will consider the representation of these other spaces, their relationships to more familiar ones, and their impact upon human identity.

Learning Outcomes

• Students will acquire a knowledge about sixteenth-century depictions of the cosmos (including the supralunar and sublunar realms, and the New World).
• They will acquire or develop their knowledge of some canonical French authors (Montaigne, Rabelais, Sceve), as well as discovering a couple of less well-known ones.

• Students should be able to offer analyses of a diverse range of works, and to relate them judiciously to overarching questions of space and encounter.

• Students will develop their critical and analytical skills.
• They should demonstrate an ability to reflect upon material independently, and to structure their arguments clearly.
• In addition, they will develop their essay-writing and commentary skills.

Modes of Teaching, Learning and Assessment and how these contribute to the learning outcomes of the module

• The course will consist of a weekly lecture and fortnightly seminar, in which students will be divided into smaller groups. Lectures will provide information relating to sixteenth-century exploration of the New World, and sixteenth-century thought about the cosmos. Seminar work will develop close reading skills by focusing upon selected parts of works. The summative essay and summative commentary will enable students to demonstrate their understanding and develop their ideas about the important themes of space and voyage in sixteenth-century France.

Teaching Methods and Learning Hours

Summative Assessment

Formative Assessment:

None.

■ Attendance at all activities marked with this symbol will be monitored. Students who fail to attend these activities, or to complete the summative or formative assessment specified above, will be subject to the procedures defined in the University's General Regulation V, and may be required to leave the University