| Academic year: | 2008-2009 |
| Course code module | FLWJS00070 |
| Semester: | 1st semester |
| Credits: | 4 |
| Study load (hours) | 112 |
| Theory (hours): | 30,00 |
| Practice/Exercises(hours): | |
| Other (hours): | |
| Part-time program: | |
| Instructor(s) | Kathleen Gyssels
|
| Language of instruction: | French |
| Semester exam information: | exam in the 1st semester |
| Contract restriction information: | |
1. Prerequisites
*Algemene competenties
This class is open to all students of the Minor Jewish Studies, and with the permission of the professor to students following the Ba3 and Master French. There will be a handout and syllabus handed over by the professor.
It will offer a first “encounter” with Francophone Jewish literature and during the class we will emphasize the work of André Schwarz-Bart (1928-2006). We will try to see what a long list of terms such as univers concentrationnaire, humour yiddish, double bind, métissage, etc. mean in this diasporic novel.
We will also introduce other Francophone Jewish writers such as Régine Robin, and postcolonial authors (Assia Djebar) who have addressed both the issues of colonialism and of anti-Semitism.
Students following French Literature (Ba 3 level and Master French) are welcome to take this class too.
*Sequentiality
2. Objectives (expected learning outcomes)
Students must be able to comment on what makes a typical "Holocaust" novel in terms of style, content, form and themes. Students must be able to do research on any chapter of this historical, encyclopedic novel on East-European Jewish communities and link their research to the fictional text.
Evaluation will be based on participation in the classroom (1/4), exercises and written comments (1/4) and finally a paper which will be presented orally in front of the class.
3. Course content
With The Last of the Just, originally published in 1959, the Jewish-Polish author André Schwarz-Bart (1928-2006) has succeeded in portraying what Jewry, and more specifically East-European Jewry, looked like before the reign of the Nazis. We will discuss this masterpiece in dialogue with Charlotte Wardi, Milchman and Rosenberg, Langer, and other critics. We will look closely at the French reception of this encyclopedic novel.
In spite of having been awarded the Prix Goncourt the author seemed quite forgotten and has been excluded from both Shoah literature and
Caribbean
literature.
The class will also deal with the broader context of Canadian migrant literature and with new forms of experimental writing, such as conducted by the French-Polish author George Perec (OULIPO) in his masterpiece W ou le souvenir d’enfance and La Disparition.
4. Teaching method
Direct contact: Seminars (possible question and answer sessions)
5. Assessment method
Exam: Oral, with written preparation
Continuous assessment: Exercises(Interim) tests
Written assignment: With oral presentation
6. Compulsory reading – study material
Each student should have his or her own copy of the novel discussed at length during this seminar. I recommend to use all the same French edition from "Points".
7. Recommended reading - study material
Reading
material
André Schwarz-Bart,
Le Dernier des Justes
, Paris, Seuil, 1959, Coll. “Folio”
8. Tutoring
Students can always contact the professor to discuss specific questions or talk about their "paper" as final task for this class. Please contact K. Gyssels by e-mail (kathleen.gyssels@ua.ac.be)