French Language and Literature (One year students, three year students on year I and II, two
year students on year I and II)
1
Prof. Marisa Verna
1
French Literature practical classes (Year 1)
3
Dott. Davide Vago
3
French Literature practical classes (Year 2)
5
Prof. MariaCristina Pedrazzini
5
French Literature, (one year students; 1st and 2nd year, 3rd language, second level degree) 7
Prof. Marisa Verna
7
French Language and Literature (One year students, three year students on
year I and II, two year students on year I and II)
PROF. MARISA VERNA
[Teaching taken from the Faculty of Arts and Philosophy, degree in Humanities and second
level degree in Modern Philology under the name “French Literature”]
COURSE AIMS
The course sets out to develop a conceptual guide to the national, cultural,
historical and political characteristics with which all those considering themselves
French identify.
This conceptual guide has been identified (in both positive and negative terms) in
the concept of clarté, the moderation and rational organisation in which France as a
nation has recognised itself for over four centuries.
COURSE CONTENT
France: clarté and mesure
1. Brief historical introduction: French legal and cultural institutions up to the
“Grand Siècle”.
2. Cultural organisation and linguistic control: the Académie Française, the
Dictionnaire, national art, the celebration of power.
3. Introduction to clarté: formation and evolution of the concept: from renaissance
"creativity" to the notion of "moderation".
4. The moral science of the Grand Siècle: the honnête homme, Augustinism,
liberty and destiny.
5. Readings from: Molière, Le Misanthrope; Racine, Phèdre; La Bruyère,
Caractères; La Fontaine, Fables; Bossuet: Un sermon; Pascal: Quelques
pensées.
READING LIST
MOLIERE, Le Misanthrope, Folio Classique or Larousse;
RACINE, Phèdre, Folio classique or Larousse;
LA BRUYÈRE, Caractères, Texte Intégral+dossier, Folio Classiques, 2004.
LA FONTAINE, Fables, Folio o Larousse.
BOSSUET, Sermon du mauvais riche; Sermon sur l’ambition (texts available on internet:
www.bnf.fr: Gallica).
PASCAL, reading and commentary of some of his ideas: Grandeur, Esprit de finesse, esprit de
géométrie, Le Pari; also available on internet (www.bnf.fr: Gallica). Contemporary reference
works: Folio classique (2001 for Bossuet, 2004 for Pascal) or Larousse. More detailed
information will be provided during the course. Students in the Language sciences faculty must
supplement their reading with a number of texts agreed personally with the lecturer.
Recommended Reading
For point 1 of the programme:
R. BONNEY, L’Absolutisme, PUF, Paris, 1994.
H. METHIVIER, L’Ancien Régime en France, les XVIe, XVIIe, XVIIIe siècles, Paris, PUF, 2002.
For points 2 and 3:
Nouvelle histoire de la langue française, Jacques Chaurand ed., Paris, Seuil, 1999, pp.231-304.
The official web site of the Académie Française (http://www.academie-francaise.fr) will be
one of our main sources.
For more in-depth analysis:
A. ADAM, Littérature française au XVIIe siècle, T.I, Albin Michel, Paris, 1997, pp. 231-32, 263-70,
285-329.
For point 4:
The relevant material will be provided by the lecturer. Students should also refer to the
introductions and prefaces of the texts listed below.
TEACHING METHOD
The course will consist mainly of classroom lectures. Much of the course content will be
posted on the blackboard platform, which will be a key tool for the organisation of materials
and for communications with the lecturer. Students for whom the course is intended will be
automatically registered on the platform. They must however correct their email address in
the 'personal information' section to ensure that they receive any documents or notices that
are posted. It is essential to consult the blackboard on a regular basis whilst preparing for the
exam. Its purpose and how it works will be explained more fully during the course. For any
technical problems, students should email technical staff at: supporto.blackboard@unicatt.it.
ASSESSMENT METHOD
Students' performance will be assessed via an oral exam. Books and other materials
must be read in the original language (dual-language versions are not allowed). Students
must be able to read, accurately translate and critically comment on the complete texts. For
further information on exams, please refer to the assessment section of the blackboard page
and the lecturer's page.
NOTES
The course is open to the following students:
One-year course students; first- and second-year students taking a two-year, secondlevel degree (in both the Faculty of Language sciences and the Faculty of Arts and
philosophy); first-year students taking a three-year, first-level degree; second-year students
taking a three-year degree programme with a Foreign languages and literature profile
(Faculty of Language sciences); first- and second-year students taking the second-level
degree doing a third language (i.e. those starting a new language in the second-level degree,
Faculty of Language sciences).
The specialist subject course (held by Prof.ssa Verna) must be supplemented with the
following practical work and readings:
First-year students on the three-year, first-level degree programmes: Dott. Davide
Vago's French language practical classes, Year I, following the system and programmes set
out in this handbook;
Second-year students doing three-year, first-level degree programmes: Prof.
MariaCristina Pedrazzini's French language practical classes, Year II, following the system
and programmes set out in this handbook;
For one- and two-year degree students (whether specialist or not), the course must be
supplemented with the French Language practical classes held by Dott. Isabelle Morel.
Further information can be found on the lecturer's webpage at
http://docenti.unicatt.it/web/searchByName.do?language=ENG or on the Faculty notice
board.
French Literature practical classes (Year 1)
DOTT. DAVIDE VAGO
Text under revision. Not yet approved by academic staff
COURSE AIMS
The course will enable students to acquire a comprehensive knowledge of the
history of sixteenth, seventeenth and eighteenth century French literature. The
course lasts a total of 20 hours and will follow on from the course held by Prof.
Marisa Verna.
COURSE CONTENT
– The poets of the “Pléiade”. Montaigne.
– La Rochefoucauld: some maxims.
– Les Lumières: Voltaire and the conte philosophique; Diderot e Rousseau.
– Marivaux's theatre.
In addition to lectures, the course will be supplemented by a series of readings to
be done at home, compulsory for all students (see reading list).
READING LIST
For poetry and prose, the following specially prepared booklet is compulsory reading:
D. VAGO (ed.by), Materiali per il corso di Esercitazioni di Letteratura francese (I anno), EDUCatt,
Milano, 2010.
Compulsory text book for students in all specialisations:
MARIVAUX, Le Jeu de l’amour et du hasard, Pocket, Paris, 2006.
Individual homework reading:
Literature Curriculum:
CORNEILLE, Le Cid, éd. Petits Classiques Larousse, Paris.
ROUSSEAU, Les Rêveries du promeneur solitaire, Gallimard, Collection Folio classique, Paris.
Tourism management Curriculum:
VOLTAIRE, Micromégas, éd. Petits Classiques Larousse, Paris.
Information and Communications Curriculum:
LA ROCHEFOUCAULD, Maximes et Réflexions diverses, Collection GF, Flammarion.
For a background to the history of literature, the following are recommended:
S. LONGO-M.C. CHASTANT, Regards. Histoire et anthologie de la littérature d’expression française.
Du Moyen Age au XVIIIe siècle, Hoepli, Milano, 2004.
BRUNEL, Histoire de la littérature française, t. 1: Du moyen Age au XVIIIe siècle, Bordas, Paris.
TEACHING METHOD
Lectures comprise an overview of the history of the period, schools of thought and
French literature from the sixteenth to the eighteenth centuries, as well as reading and
analysis of set texts.
ASSESSMENT METHOD
The final exam is made up of two separate tests. One is a written test in Italian (openanswer format), which is intended simply to evaluate students' knowledge of the writers,
their works and the movements studied during the course.
All students who pass the written test may then sit the oral exam, to be taken on the
same day only, also in Italian. This will cover the reading, translation and analysis of
passages taken from the texts studied during the course, as well as a review of the history of
French literature from the sixteenth to the eighteenth centuries (to complement the written
test).
NOTES
Only unabridged French-language editions of the texts may be used: dual-language
versions are not allowed.
Further information can be found on the lecturer's webpage at
http://docenti.unicatt.it/web/searchByName.do?language=ENG or on the Faculty notice
board.
French Literature practical classes (Year 2)
PROF. MARIACRISTINA PEDRAZZINI
Text under revision. Not yet approved by academic staff
COURSE AIMS
In this course students will study nineteenth century French prose.
COURSE CONTENT
For romantic prose: Chateaubriand and Balzac. For realistic prose: Flaubert. For
naturalistic prose: Zola.
READING LIST
CHATEAUBRIAND, René, Gallimard (Folio classique, No. 1017).
BALZAC, La peau de chagrin, Gallimard, Folioplus classique, No. 11.
FLAUBERT, Un coeur simple, in Trois contes, Gallimard, Folio classique, No. 3245.
ZOLA, Boule de suif, Gallimard, Folio classique, No. 3297.
For an overview of the history of literature the following books, available in the library, are
recommended:
P. BRUNEL-Y. BELLENGER, Histoire de la littérature française XIXe et XXe siècles, Bordas.
S. LONGO-M.C. CHASTANT, Regards. Histoire et anthologie de la littérature d’expression française,
XIXe siècle, Hoepli, Milano, 2004.
A. VAILLANT-J. P. BERTRAND-P. H. RÉGNIER, Histoire de la littérature française du XIXe siècle, Presses
universitaires de Rennes, Rennes, 2007.
The chapters relating to the writers covered in the course must be studied in preparation for
the exams.
TEACHING METHOD
Lectures comprise an overview of the history of the period, schools of thought and
French literature in the first half of the nineteenth century, reading and appraisal of set texts.
ASSESSMENT METHOD
The final exam consists of an oral test in French, comprising a review of the history of
French literature in the first half of the nineteenth century, reading, translation and analysis
of passages taken from the texts studied during the course.
NOTES
The course lasts a total of 20 hours and is open to all second-year students following a
three-year, first-level degree in the Faculty of Language sciences. It will follow Prof. Marisa
Verna's specialist course.
Further information can be found on the lecturer's webpage at
http://docenti.unicatt.it/web/searchByName.do?language=ENG or on the Faculty notice
board.
French Literature, (one year students; 1st and 2nd year, 3rd language, second
level degree)
PROF. MARISA VERNA
Text under revision. Not yet approved by academic staff
COURSE AIMS
The course sets out to develop a conceptual guide to the national, cultural,
historical and political characteristics with which all those considering themselves
French identify.
This conceptual guide has been identified (in both positive and negative terms) in
the concept of clarté, the moderation and rational organisation in which France as a
nation has recognised itself for over four centuries.
COURSE CONTENT
France: clarté and mesure
1. Brief historical introduction: French legal and cultural institutions up to the
“Grand Siècle”.
2. Cultural organisation and linguistic control: the Académie Française, the
Dictionnaire, national art, the celebration of power.
3. Introduction to clarté: formation and evolution of the concept: from renaissance
"creativity" to the notion of "moderation".
4. The moral science of the Grand Siècle: the honnête homme, Augustinism,
liberty and destiny.
5. Readings from: Molière, Le Misanthrope; Racine, Phèdre; La Bruyère,
Caractères; La Fontaine, Fables; Bossuet: Un sermon; Pascal: Quelques
pensées.
READING LIST
MOLIERE, Le Misanthrope, Folio Classique or Larousse;
RACINE, Phèdre, Folio classique or Larousse;
LA BRUYERE, Caractères, Texte Intégral+dossier, Folio Classiques, 2004.
LA FONTAINE, Fables, Folio o Larousse.
BOSSUET, Sermon du mauvais riche; Sermon sur l’ambition (texts available on internet:
www.bnf.fr: Gallica).
PASCAL, reading and commentary of some of his ideas: Grandeur, Esprit de finesse, esprit de
géométrie, Le Pari; also available on internet (www.bnf.fr: Gallica). Contemporary reference
works: Folio classique (2001 for Bossuet, 2004 for Pascal) or Larousse. More detailed
information will be provided during the course. Students in the Language sciences faculty must
supplement their reading with a number of texts agreed personally with the lecturer.
Recommended Reading
For point 1 of the programme:
R. BONNEY, L’Absolutisme, PUF, Paris, 1994.
H. METHIVIER, L’Ancien Régime en France, les XVIe, XVIIe, XVIIIe siècles, Paris, PUF, 2002.
For points 2 and 3:
Nouvelle histoire de la langue française, Jacques Chaurand ed., Paris, Seuil, 1999, pp.231-304.
The official web site of the Académie Française (http://www.academie-francaise.fr) will be
one of our main sources.
For more in-depth analysis:
A. ADAM, Littérature française au XVIIe siècle, T.I, Albin Michel, Paris, 1997, pp. 231-32, 263-70,
285-329.
For point 4:
The relevant material will be provided by the lecturer. Students should also refer to the
introductions and prefaces of the texts listed below.
TEACHING METHOD
The course will consist mainly of classroom lectures. Much of the course content will be
posted on the blackboard platform, which will be a key tool for the organisation of materials
and for communications with the lecturer. Students for whom the course is intended will be
automatically registered on the platform. They must however correct their email address in
the 'personal information' section to ensure that they receive any documents or notices that
are posted. It is essential to consult the blackboard on a regular basis whilst preparing for the
exam. Its purpose and how it works will be explained more fully during the course. For any
technical problems, students should email technical staff at: supporto.blackboard@unicatt.it.
ASSESSMENT METHOD
Students' performance will be assessed via an oral exam. Books and other materials
must be read in the original language (dual-language versions are not allowed). Students
must be able to read, accurately translate and critically comment on the complete texts. For
further information on exams, please refer to the assessment section of the blackboard page
and the lecturer's page.
NOTES
The course is open to the following students:
One-year course students; first- and second-year students taking a two-year, secondlevel degree (in both the Faculty of Language sciences and the Faculty of Arts and
philosophy); first-year students taking a three-year, first-level degree; second-year students
taking a three-year degree programme with a Foreign languages and literature profile
(Faculty of Language sciences); first- and second-year students taking the second-level
degree doing a third language (i.e. those starting a new language in the second-level degree,
Faculty of Language sciences).
The specialist subject course (held by Prof.ssa Verna) must be supplemented with the
following practical work and readings:
First-year students on the three-year, first-level degree programmes: Dott. Davide
Vago's French language practical classes, Year I, following the system and programmes set
out in this handbook;
Second-year students doing three-year, first-level degree programmes: Prof.
MariaCristina Pedrazzini's French language practical classes, Year II, following the system
and programmes set out in this handbook;
For one- and two-year degree students (whether specialist or not), the course must be
supplemented with the French Language practical classes held by Dott. Isabelle Morel.
Further information can be found on the lecturer's webpage at
http://docenti.unicatt.it/web/searchByName.do?language=ENG or on the Faculty notice
board.