AIMS AND LEARNING OUTCOMES

Attendance and active participation in the proposed training activities (lectures and online activities) and individual study will enable the student to:

- know the general lines of the development of the French culture of the Ancien Régime;

- know the general lines of the history of the Ancien Régime literature;

- be able to read and understand short texts in French;

- use basic analytical methods and tools to interpret the works of the main authors;

- contextualize literary productions in culture and in the historical period of reference.

PREREQUISITES

Being able to read and understand a French literary text.

TEACHING METHODS

Teaching will take place online with a weekly meeting in synchronous mode (lessons on Teams), and with the provision of content and materials on the Aulaweb platform. Group and flipped classroom activities are planned.

Students who participate in the lessons, online activities and group work may receive a bonus of up to two points on their final exam grade.

SYLLABUS/CONTENT

PROGRAM A FOR ATTENDING STUDENTS (frequency monitored: 75% of attendance)

The course will focus on the presentation of some aspects of the development of the French culture and civilization of the Ancien Régime. The most important cultural elements that constituted the specificity of French culture will be presented: the centralization of power and public life, the expansion of overseas France, the control of cultural production. Constant reference will be made to the reading of theoretical texts and literary texts.

Works that will be studied in detail:

Mme de Lafayette, La Princesse de Clèves 

Molière, Le Bourgeois gentilhomme  

Marivaux, L'île des esclaves

Voltaire, Candide

PROGRAM B FOR NON ATTENDING STUDENTS
History of the French Literature and culture during the Ancien Régime (1600-1789) on one of the manuals listed in the bibliography. Reading of 6 integral works.

RECOMMENDED READING/BIBLIOGRAPHY

All slides used during lessons and other teaching materials will be available on aulaweb. In general, the notes taken during the lessons and the material on aulaweb are sufficient for the preparation of the exam.

The books listed below are suggested as supporting texts for attending students, the manual is mandatory for other students.

Manuals in Italian:

• G. Macchia e altri, La letteratura francese, ed. BUR, 5 volumi.
• Brunel Pierre, Bellenger Yvonne, Couty Daniel, Storia della letteratura francese, vol.1+2, Cideb ed.
• Storia europea della letteratura francese, Torino, Einaudi, 2013, volume 1 (Dalle origini al Seicento) e volume 2 (Dal Settecento all'età contemporanea)
• Antologia cronologica della letteratura francese, Milano, LED-CEA, (5 vol.)
• Letteratura francese, a cura di M. Landi, vol. 1. Dalle origini al Settecento, Mondadori, 2021.

Manuals in French:

• X. Darcos, Histoire de la littérature française, Hachette, 2019
• Histoire de la France littéraire, Paris, PUF, 2006
• D. Bergez, Précis de littérature française, Paris, A. Colin, 2010.
• Histoire de la littérature française, GF Flammarion, 1996