OVERVIEW

French Literature and Photography from the Nineteenth Century to the Contemporary.

The course aims to offer a critical overview of the relationship between the development of literary forms and those of visuality, in particular photography, from the 19th century to contemporary times. Reflections on the visual, on the literary representation of reality and on intermediality will guide the approach to the works examined.

AIMS AND CONTENT

LEARNING OUTCOMES

The course aims to introduce students to the development of French literature in modern and contemporary times. Priority will be given to reflection on the relations between literature and other forms of artistic creation: photography, painting, cinema. Knowledge of the dynamics of the development of literary movements and the works of authors, in relation to the historical context, will also be promoted through the analysis of literary texts.

AIMS AND LEARNING OUTCOMES

The teaching is part of the course of study in the subject area, providing the basis for a comparative reflection on literary history in relation to history and the history of art, through fundamental knowledge of the relationship links.

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

- know the general outlines of the literary history of the period in question with particular regard to the narrative genre;
- distinguish the characteristics of the major literary movements; 
- recognise the works of the great authors of French literature;
- contextualise literary productions in the culture and historical period of reference;
- recognise and identify the characteristics of photographic representation in texts.

PREREQUISITES

Any

TEACHING METHODS

Lectures with the support of digital technologies.

The following modes will be used during the course: Flipped classrom, Task based learning, Cooperative learning and Peer evaluation. Group and individual work will be offered to students. The frequency will be monitored. 

SYLLABUS/CONTENT

French literature and photography from the 19th century to the present day.

Literature, photography and the image in the Romantic era
Realism and photography: Balzac
Zola and photography: naturalism and visuality
Belle époque: Rodenbach and the photo-text
Literary Cubism, poetry and photography: Apolinaire, Cendrars
The Surrealist movement and photography: Breton
Photographic traces in Proust's Recherche 
The contemporary novel and photography: Nouveau Roman, Perec, Modiano
The contemporary photo-text: Annie Ernaux, Sophie Calle, Sally Bonn, Valérie Mréjen

Part of the course will be devoted to reading Gustave Flaubert's Madame Bovary (1857) and reflecting on its critical fortune and the persistence of the Madame Bovary myth in literature and in trans and intermediary projects.

RECOMMENDED READING/BIBLIOGRAPHY

In addition to the teaching materials on Aulaweb and the recording of the lectures, the following textbook will be useful for the study of the history of French literature of the period covered by the course, compulsory for non-attending students.

- Michela Landi (ed.), French Literature. From the Nineteenth to the Twenty-First Century, Vol. 2, Le Monnier Universities, 2021

The programme includes five (9CFU) or four (6CFU) integral readings from among the texts that will be studied during the course and whose bibliographical details will be provided at the beginning of the course. Non-attending students will also study one of the following theoretical reference texts:

- Albertazzi, Silvia, Literature and Photography, Carocci, 2017
- Ceserani, Remo, L'occhio della Medusa. Photography and literature, Turin, Bollati Boringhieri, ‘Nuova cultura’, 2011.

TEACHERS AND EXAM BOARD

LESSONS

LESSONS START

February 2026

Class schedule

The timetable for this course is available here: Portale EasyAcademy

EXAMS

EXAM DESCRIPTION

Oral examination

ASSESSMENT METHODS

The oral examination will verify the effective acquisition of basic knowledge of 19th and 20th century French culture and literature, literary movements and major authors in relation to the development of photography and reflection on the representation of reality.

Literary text analysis skills will be tested by reading and commenting on a text chosen at random from those read and analysed in class.

The interview will also focus on the candidates' readings of the full texts and will aim to assess whether an adequate level of knowledge has been achieved and whether the ability to situate the texts in the historical and cultural period in which they were written has been acquired.

Expository capacity and accuracy in the use of language specific to the discipline will also be assessed.

FURTHER INFORMATION

Students with disabilities and students with DSA are reminded that in order to request adaptations for examinations they must first enter their certification on the University website at servizionline.unige.it in the "Students" section. The documentation will be checked by the University's Services for the Inclusion of Students with Disabilities and DSA Sector (https://rubrica.unige.it/strutture/struttura/100111).
Subsequently, at least 10 days before the date of the exam, an e-mail must be sent to the teacher with whom you will be sitting the exam, including in copy knowledge of both the School's Referring Teacher for the inclusion of students with disabilities and with DSA (Prof. Elisabetta Colagrossi: elisabetta.colagrossi@unige.it) and the Sector indicated above. In the e-mail it is necessary to specify: the name of the teaching subject; the date of the call; the student's surname, first name and matriculation number; the compensatory and dispensatory measures considered functional; and required.  The contact person will confirm to the teacher that the applicant has the right to request adaptations during the examination and that these adaptations must be agreed upon with the teacher. The lecturer will respond by stating whether the requested adaptations can be used.
Requests must be sent at least 10 days before the date of the exam in order to allow the lecturer to assess their content. In particular, if you intend to use maps for the examination (which must be much more concise than the maps used for the study) if the submission does not meet the deadline, there will be no technical time to make any changes. For further information on the request for services and adaptations please refer to: https://unige.it/sites/unige.it/files/2024-05/Linee%20guida%20per%20la%20richiesta%20di%20servizi%2C%20di%20strumenti%20compensativi%20e_o%20di%20misure%20dispensative%20e%20di%20ausili%20specifici%20Maggio%202024.pdf