FREN BC 1001x-BC1002y Elementary Full-Year Course

Basic elements of French grammar. Oral, writing, and reading skills. Students may take either or both of these courses at Columbia.
4 points

FREN BC 1102x Review of French Fundamentals

Oral and written review of basic grammar and syntax. Readings in modern French and Francophone literature.
Prerequisites: Primarily for students who need further instruction to qualify for the intermediate course. Credit cannot be granted for both FREN BC1002 and BC1102 (or its equivalent). Enrollment limited to 20 students per section.
3 points

FREN BC 1203x and y Intermediate I

Further development of oral and written communication skills. Readings in French literature.
Prerequisites: FREN BC1001, BC1002, BC1102, C1101 and C1102, or an appropriate score on the placement test.
3 points

FREN BC 1204x and y Intermediate II

Advanced work in language skills. Readings in French literature.
Prerequisites: FREN BC1203 or an appropriate score on the placement test.
3 points

FREN BC 1205y Intermediate Oral French

Intensive oral work, vocabulary enrichment, discussions on prepared topics relating to contemporary France and the French-speaking world, oral presentations. - I. Jouanneau-Fertig
Prerequisites: Enrollment limited to 12 students. This course does not satisfy the language requirement.
3 points

FREN BC 3006x and y Composition and Conversation

Discussions on contemporary issues and oral presentations. Creative writing assignments designed to improve writing skills and vocabulary development.
Prerequisites: Enrollment limited to 12 students.
3 points

FREN BC 3007y Commercial-Economic French

The socioeconomic language of contemporary French society. Practice of oral and written communications based on documents from the French press. Students who have completed the course may wish to take the Diplome du Francais des Affaires given by the Chambre de Commerce et d Industrie de Paris.

FREN BC 3008x Workshop on Contemporary France

Examination of contemporary France covering a wide range of topics (history, geography, politics, economics, society, culture). France's position in the European Union and the world will also be discussed.
Prerequisites: Preference given to upper-class students (juniors and seniors) with two courses of college French beyond the language requirement. Not offered in 2012-2013.
3 points

FREN BC 3011x or y History of the French Language

Transformation and evolution of the French languages from the early Middle Ages to the present are studied from a socio-historical perspective. Primary texts include literary, legal, political, scientific, administrative, liturgical, and epistolary documents. Includes consideration of French outside of France and variations on the continent in the 20th century. - L. Postelwate
3 points

FREN BC 3012x Advanced Grammar and Composition

Systematic study of morphology, syntax, and idiomatic expressions. Weekly writing assignments.
3 points

FREN BC 3013y Advanced Writing

Workshop format course to perfect writing skills in French. Writing formats that will be used over the semester include narration, portait, essai, dissertation, film and book reviews, and correspondence. - L. Postlewate
Prerequisites: The French language requirement and approval of the instructor. Enrollment limited to 12 students.
3 points

FREN BC 3014x Advanced Translation into English

Translation of various styles of prose and poetry from French to English. - A. Boyman
Prerequisites: Satisfaction of the language requirement or the equivalent.
3 points

FREN BC 3016x and y Advanced Oral French

Oral presentations and discussions of French films aimed at increasing fluency, acquiring vocabulary, and perfecting pronunciation skills.

FREN BC 3017y Rapid Reading and Translation

Using selected French texts from a variety of sources, this course aims at enhancing reading and comprehension skills through translation into English.

FREN BC 3019x Advanced Phonetics

Detailed study of all aspects of French pronunciation; theoretical linguistic concepts will be followed up with intensive oral drills. - A. Boyman
Prerequisites: Satisfaction of the language requirement or the equivalent. Enrollment limited to 12 students.
3 points

FREN BC 3021x Major French Texts I

Medieval, Renaissance, and Classical literature in their cultural context. - P. Usher
Prerequisites: Satisfaction of the language requirement or the equivalent. General Education Requirement: Literature (LIT).
3 points

FREN BC 3022y Major French Texts II

The Age of Enlightenment, Romanticism, Realism, and Symbolism. - D. Macklovitch
Prerequisites: Satisfaction of the language requirement or the equivalent. FREN BC3021 may be taken for credit without completion of FREN BC3022. General Education Requirement: Literature (LIT).
3 points

FREN BC 3023x The Culture of France I

Historical analysis of mentalites from the Middle Ages to the reign of Louis XIV through symbol, structure, and self-presentation.
Prerequisites: Satisfaction of the language requirement or the equivalent. General Education Requirement: Historical Studies (HIS). General Education Requirement: Literature (LIT). Not offered in 2012-2013.
3 points

FREN BC 3024y The Culture of France II

Major cultural and institutional events in France from the 18th century to the present. Topics include the revolutionary tradition, left-right and secular-religious conflicts over the identity of France: its history, its mission, its people and policies. - B. O'Keeffe
Prerequisites: Satisfaction of the language requirement or the equivalent. General Education Requirement: Literature (LIT). Not offered in 2012-2013.
3 points

FREN BC 3027y (Section 01) How to Doubt Everything: Montaigne, Skepticism, and the Renaissance

How do we doubt? Why do we doubt? And if we doubt what we think and what we should 'do,' then how can we know ourselves? These are (some of) this course's central questions, to be explored by careful reading and analysis of Montaigne's the Essais (1580-92). In French. - P. Usher
General Education Requirement: Literature (LIT).
3 points

FREN BC 3028y Performance in France

Sociohistorical survey of theatrical performance in France from the Middle Ages to the present. Course "texts" include liturgical drama, a variety of plays, ceremonies, sermons, cabaret and puppet theatre, as well as contemporary experimental performance. Discussion to include the politics and economics of French theatre in the broadest sense. - L. Postlewate
Prerequisites: Satisfaction of the language requirement in French or permission of the instructor. General Education Requirement: Literature (LIT). General Education Requirement: The Visual and Performing Arts (ART). Not offered in 2012-2013.
3 points

FREN BC 3029x or y Laughter in the Middle Ages and Renaissance

Explores both the traditional comic forms of early French literature (farce, sottie, fabliau, burlesque, grotesque) and comedic elements of serious genres such as chanson de geste, saint's lives, and romance. An investigation into the mentalites of the Middle Ages and Renaissance through an understanding of what made people laugh.
Prerequisites: Satisfaction of the language requirement or permission of the instructor. General Education Requirement: Literature (LIT). Not offered in 2012-2013.
3 points

FREN BC 3030x or y Medieval Theatre

Examines a variety of kinds of theatrical representations (liturgical drama, comic farce and "sottie," court entertainments, pageants, religious mystery plays). Lectures and readings will be in English; French majors do written work in French.
Prerequisites: Satisfaction of the language requirement or permission of the instructor. Not offered in 2012-2013.
3 points

FREN BC 3031x or y History, Literature and Culture of the Middle Ages

Development and evolution of literary expression in France from the Crusades through the High Middle Ages.
Prerequisites: Satisfaction of the language requirement or permission of the instructor. General Education Requirement: Historical Studies (HIS). Not offered in 2012-2013.
3 points

FREN BC 3032x or y Women and Writing in Early Modern France

Examination of cultural and literary phenomena in 15th through17th century France, focusing on writings by and about women.
Prerequisites: Satisfaction of the language requirement or permission of the instructor. Not offered in 2012-2013.
3 points

FREN BC 3033x or y Literature of the French Renaissance and the Baroque

Experimentation and discovery in the arts, in science and technology, and in the understanding of the human experience. Explores how the works of French poets, prosateurs, and playwrights reflect both the vibrancy and splendor of the time, as well as the struggle of an era preoccupied with death and rebirth.
Prerequisites: Satisfaction of the language requirement or permission of the instructor. Not offered in 2012-2013.
3 points

FREN BC 3034y French Baroque and Classical Literature

Interdisciplinary exploration of the literature and culture of the Grand Siecle.
Prerequisites: Satisfaction of the language requirement or permission of the instructor. Not offered in 2012-2013.
3 points

FREN BC 3035x Eighteenth-Century French Fiction

Readings of novels and novellas by Prevost, Rousseau, Diderot, Charriere, Laclos, and Sade, with a particular focus on issues of selfhood, gender, sexuality, authority, and freedom. - C. Weber
Prerequisites: FREN BC3021, BC3022, BC3023, BC3024, or the equivalent. General Education Requirement: Literature (LIT).
3 points

FREN BC 3036y The Age of Enlightenment/L'AGE DES LUMIERES

Dans ce cours, nous examinerons le phénomène qui domine-et révolutionne-le discours philosophique, religieux, anthropologique, sociologique, et politique au 18e siècle en Occident: les Lumières. Visant les dogmes jusque-là incontestables d'un Etat monarchique et d'une Eglise catholique autoritaires, ce mouvement réclame la liberté de la pensée et du culte; condamne l'intolérance ecclésiastique et le préjugé culturel aveugles; expose et déplore les inégalités sociales et sexuelles; examine les formes de gouvernement différentes, du despotisme tyrannique au contrat social proto-égalitaire; et subvertit par ses propos l'idéologie injuste et souvent hypocrite de l'ancien régime. Ainsi, les écrivains des Lumières préparent-ils le chemin aux Révolutions américaine et française de 1776 et de 1789, respectivement: deux points-tournant dans l'histoire du suffrage universel en Occident. A l'exception d'un texte de l'Allemand Immanuel Kant, nous nous bornerons à des écrits des principaux philosophes francophones des Lumières: Montesquieu, Voltaire, Diderot, et Rousseau; aussi bien qu'à deux romanciers "dystopiques": Charrière et Sade. A l'exception aussi de Kant (dont on lira l'essai traduit en anglais), tout le travail pour ce cours-la lecture, la discussion, les redactions, l'examen-se fera en français. - C. Weber
Prerequisites: FREN BC3021, BC3022, BC3023, BC3024, or the equivalent. General Education Requirement: Literature (LIT).
3 points

FREN BC 3037y Nineteenth-Century French Poetry

Readings of poems by Lamartine, Hugo, Baudelaire, Rimbaud, and Mallarmé. Focuses on the turn from Romanticism to Modernism in the 19th century. - A. Boyman
Prerequisites: Satisfaction of the language requirement or permission of the instructor. General Education Requirement: Literature (LIT). Not offered in 2012-2013.
3 points

FREN BC 3038x The Nineteenth-Century French Novel

Evolution of the novel, aesthetics of Romanticism, Realism, Naturalism, and Symbolism. Particular attention is paid to the formal problems of narrative, the rhetoric of sentiment, decadence, and issues of sexual identity. - P. Connor
Prerequisites: FREN BC3021, BC3022, BC3023, BC3024, or the equivalent. General Education Requirement: Literature (LIT). Not offered in 2012-2013.
3 points

FREN BC 3040x Twentieth-Century French Fiction

Topics will include the theory of the gratuitous act, literature and the rise of Fascism, war and the literature of commitment, erotic violence. - P. Connor
Prerequisites: FREN BC3021, BC3022, BC3023, BC3024, or the equivalent. General Education Requirement: Literature (LIT). Not offered in 2012-2013.
3 points

FREN BC 3041y Twentieth-Century French Thought

Thorough study of the major intellectual movements in France from Surrealism to post-structuralism. Particular attention given to theories of political commitment, texuality and deconstruction. Readings include works by Breton, Senghor, Sartre, Levi Strauss, and Derrida.

FREN BC 3042x or y Twentieth-Century French and Francophone Poetry

Analysis of some of the major poets in France and in Francophone countries emphasizing theories of the avant-garde and traditional interests in politics, race, and gender. Poets include Cendrars, Saint John Perse, C�saire, Depestre, Aragon, Risset, Albiach, Roubaud, and Tahar Ben Jelloun.
Prerequisites: FREN BC3021, BC3022, BC3023, BC3024, or the equivalent. General Education Requirement: Literature (LIT). Not offered in 2012-2013.
3 points

FREN BC 3043x or y Twentieth-Century French Women Writers

Writings by women will be analyzed in the changing philosophical and literary contexts of the 20th century: Simone de Beauvoir, Nathalie Sarraute, Marguerite Duras, H�l�ne Cixous, and others.
Prerequisites: Satisfaction of the language requirement or permission of the instructor. General Education Requirement: Literature (LIT). Not offered in 2012-2013.
3 points

FREN BC 3044y Theater of the Absurd

Close reading and occasional screening of major plays associated with the Theater of the Absurd. Philosophical and literary origins of the concept of the absurd; social and political context of its emergence; theatrical conventions of early performances; popular and critical reception. Authors include: Jarry, Adamov, Arrabal, Beckett, Genet, Ionesco, Maeterlinck, Sartre, Camus. - P. Connor
Prerequisites: FREN BC3021, BC3022, BC3023, BC3024, or the equivalent. Not offered in 2012-2013.
3 points

FREN BC 3056y Proust

In this course, we will read the whole of Marcel Proust's 7-volume novel, A la Recherche du temps perdu. One of the greatest novels of all time, the Recherche addresses issues of: romantic and familial love; hetero- and homosexuality; social class; anti-Semitism; social life and friendship; the persistence of memory; and the relationship between art and life. - C. Weber
Prerequisites: FREN BC3021, BC3022, BC3023, BC3024, or the equivalent.
3 points

FREN BC 3061x or y Marx in France

Examines the persistence and transformation of the sign "Marx" in multiple aspects of 20th-century French thought. Areas covered will include ethics, aesthetics, history, philosophy, and ideologies as of Surrealism through Négritude, existentialism, structuralism and post-structuralism.
Not offered in 2012-2013.
3 points

FREN BC 3062y Women in French Cinema since the 60s

This course traces the evolving nature of the relationship between women and society in French cinema from the New Wave of the 60's to the present. Attitudes of women and towards women will be examined in the light of the changing social, political, and intellectual context. - A. Boyman
General Education Requirement: The Visual and Performing Arts (ART).
3 points

FREN BC 3063x or y Critical Theory

Introduction to the conceptual foundations of structuralism and post structuralism or to what is known as French Theory. Readings include works by Saussure, Levi Strauss, Lacan, Foucault, Cixous, and Deleuze.
Prerequisites: Satisfaction of the language requirement or permission of the instructor. General Education Requirement: Reason and Value (REA). Not offered in 2012-2013.
3 points

FREN BC 3064x France on Film

Films on and of the period from the 1930s to the present, focusing on the interplay between history, ideology, and culture.

FREN BC 3065y Surrealism

An examination of the relationship between traditional & avant-garde literature and visual culture; the use of word-play & language games as tools of artistic expression; the thematization of the unconscious and dreams; the vexed relationship between aesthetics & politics; the poetics and politics of sexuality & gender. Authors and artists will include Andre Breton, Louis Aragon, Man Ray, Dorothea Tanning, and Salvador Dali. - C. Weber
Prerequisites: Reading ability in French required for all students. French majors must write their papers in French. General Education Requirement: The Visual and Performing Arts (ART).
3 points

FREN BC 3068y Jews in France from Dreyfus to Vichy

Jews in France from the Revolution to Vichy. Materials include newspapers, documentaries, films, historical texts and literary works.

FREN BC 3069x Blacks, Jews, and Arabs in Modern France

From negritude to World War II antisemitism, to contemporary French reactions to North African immigration.
Prerequisites: Reading ability in French required for all students. French majors must their papers in French. General Education Requirement: Cultures in Comparison (CUL). General Education Requirement: Literature (LIT). Not offered in 2012-2013.
3 points

FREN BC 3070x Negritude

Analysis of the theoretical and literary precursors of n�gritude; major figures of the movement; relations with the Harlem Renaissance; and the formulation of creolity by contemporary Caribbean writers and thinkers. Authors will include Gobineau, Maran, Price�Mars, Hughes, McKay, C�saire, Senghor, Damas, Fanon, Sartre, Glissant, and Chamoiseau. Taught in French.

FREN BC 3071x Major Literary Works of the French-Speaking World

Introduction to major works of fiction from the French speaking countries of the Caribbean, West Africa, North Africa and Indochina. Considers some of the principal authors of these regions, and examines the sociopolitical, historical, and aesthetic considerations that have influenced Francophone literary production in the twentieth century.

FREN BC 3072x Francophone Fiction: Unhomely Women of the Caribbean

Looks at the portrayal of women as unsettling figures in the Francophone Caribbean literary universe. Examining the uncanny heroines in the novels of both male and female writers, students will identify the thematic commonalities and specific configurative strategies that emerge in the fictional representation of women in the region. The symbolic import of zombies, schizophrenics, and other "disordering" characters will be analyzed as indicators of and reflections on broader social realities. - K. Glover
General Education Requirement: Literature (LIT). Not offered in 2012-2013.
3 points

FREN BC 3073x Africa in Cinema

Considerations of African-directed twentieth century films concerning French-speaking, sub-Saharan West Africa. Reflections on tradition and modernity, politics and popular culture, the status of women, youth problems, identity construction. Placement of African film within its own tradition. Class taught in English. - K. Glover
General Education Requirement: Cultures in Comparison (CUL). General Education Requirement: The Visual and Performing Arts (ART).
3 points

FREN BC 3074x or y Women in Francophone Africa: Historical and Cultural Perspectives

Emphasizes cultural and historical representation of Francophone women by both women and men. Works will include novels, films, and poems, by authors such as Semb�ne Ousmane, Mariama Ba, Amadou Kourouma, Camara Laye, Calixthe Beyala.
Not offered in 2012-2013.
3 points

FREN BC 3075x or y Major African Texts: Orality and Ecriture

Writing from the different parts of the continent. Focus on self-identity and the African experience as conveyed in a variety of genres: poetry, drama, the novel, and film.
Not offered in 2012-2013.
3 points

FREN BC 3077y (Section 01) La Jalousie dans la Litterature Francais

This course takes jealousy-in its psychosexual, socio-political, ontological dimensions, and in its formal implications-as a lens through which to view a series of seminal works of French literature from the Middle Ages to the 21st century. These works include: 12th-century Arthurian legend (Béroul); a late-medieval, proto-feminist short story (Navarre); 17th-century neo-classical tragedy (Corneille); 12th and 17th-century folkloric forms (Marie de France's lai and Perrault's fairy tale, respectively); the Enlightenment "philosophical" novel (Montesquieu); the 19th-century realist novel (Balzac); the early 20th-century modernist novel (Proust); and the nouveau roman (Robbe-Grillet). Two contemporary adaptations (Singer's 2008 novel based on the Navarre story, and Chabrol's 1996 film based on Proust's novel) will also be studied. In addition, a selection of highly condensed, relevant secondary readings (excerpts of 10 pages of less) will provide students with an introduction to an array of theoretical approaches to literary study: most notably, psychoanalysis, political philosophy, and literary theory. - C. Weber
3 points

FREN V 3420x or y Introduction to French and Francophone Studies I

Conceptions of culture and civilization in France from the Enlightenment to the Exposition Coloniale of 1931. Emphasis on the issue of universalism versus relativism and the ideological foundations of French colonialism. Authors and texts will include selections from the Encyclopedie, the Declaration des droits de l homme et du citoyen, the Code Napoleon, Diderot, Chateaubriand, de Tocqueville, Drumont.
Prerequisites: Satisfaction of French language requirement or permission of the instructor. General Education Requirement: Reason and Value (REA). General Education Requirement: Literature (LIT). Not offered in 2012-2013.
3 points

FREN W 3421y Introduction to French and Francophone Studies II

Universalism vs. exceptionalism, tradition vs. modernity, integration and exclusion, racial, gender, regional and national identities will be considered in this introduction to the contemporary French speaking world in Europe, the Americas and Africa. Authors include Aimé Césaire, Léopold Senghor, Maryse Condé, and Frantz Fanon. - K. Glover
Prerequisites: Satisfaction of French language requirement or permission of the instructor. General Education Requirement: Cultures in Comparison (CUL). General Education Requirement: Literature (LIT).
3 points

FREN W 3760x or y French Theory After 1968

Explores diverse schools of French literary theory and philosophy after 1968, including but not limited to Marxism, psychoanalysis, situationism, deconstruction, and post-structuralism. Authors studied include Foucault, Barthes, Althursser, Debord, Derrida, Lacan, Kristeva, Irigaray, Deleuze, and Baudrillary. All reading, writing, and discussion in French.
Prerequisites: Permission of the instructor. Enrollment limited to 12 students. Advanced undergraduates and graduate students only. Not offered in 2012-2013.
3 points

FREN G 4203y French Literature of the 16th Century I

Explores the French Renaissance, the time when French first became a national language as a moment of generic renewal (epic, tragedy, the novel, the essay, etc.) Authors to be studied include: d�Aubign�, Du Ba�f, De B�ze, Dolet, Du Bellay, Garnier, Jodelle, L�ry, Montaigne, Rabelais, and Ronsard, and others. - P. Usher
Corequisites: This is a Columbia graduate course open to advanced undergraduates with written permission from the instructor. Not offered in 2012-2013.
3 points

FREN BC 3080x Advanced Seminar: Baudelaire

This course focuses on the crucial role played by Baudelaire in the transition from Romanticism to Modernism in the mid 19th century. Through close readings of his poetry and his writings on art we will examine how he radically reconfigured questions of language, art, sexuality, and subjectivity. - A. Boyman
Not offered in 2012-2013.
3 points

FREN BC 3091y Senior Seminar Thesis

French majors will write their senior thesis under the supervision of the instructor. - P. Usher
4 points