FRENCH C070: AFRICA, CARIBBEAN,
SPRING 2008
Classroom:
M, W, F:
Click here to play Francophone music
Final
Exam: Wednesday May 14-11:30-1:30
Professeur:
Grégoire Rosia
Francophone Studies
530
Voice: (215)204-1759
Fax: (215)204-7752
e-mail: grosia@temple.edu
web: http://isc.temple.edu/grosia
Office Hours:
Mondays: 10:40-11:30
Fridays:
3:00 – 4:00
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In addition to the complete texts listed below, students will be given handouts containing excerpts from appropriate works as listed in this syllabus.
BA,
Mariama. So Long A Letter
CESAIRE,
Aimé. A Tempest
CONDĖ,
Maryse, Tales
from the Heart
LAYE, Camara. The Dark Child
OUSMANE, God's Bits of Wood
COURSE OBJECTIVES:
(1)
To enhance cultural literacy and international awareness by providing
students an opportunity to study literature that has emerged from the
encounter between one European community (France) and selected non-European
communities (in Africa and the
(2)
Through the reading of translated works, to acquaint students with new
strategies for approaching literatures written in French by Black writers
from Africa and the
(3)
To familiarize students with the influence of African art on avant-garde
artistic movements in
(4) To enable students to become aware of the positive as well as the negative features of the "civilizing mission" of France in certain parts of the Third World.
(5)To enable students to become aware of her/his dual citizenship: citizen of a nation and citizen of the World. Students will learn that learning about "others" will help us to better ourselves and to improve the welfare of the World. We are the World!
Come and join us "Caring and Sharing" will prevent us of making deadly mistakes. Welcome and have a good semester!
The final grade in the course will be based upon the following components:
|
Essay I |
15% |
|
Essay II |
15% |
|
Essay III |
15% |
|
Mid-Semester Examination |
15% |
|
Final Examination |
15% |
|
Portfolio |
10% |
|
Attendance |
5% |
|
Presentation |
5% |
|
Class Participation |
5% |
[An asterisk * indicates a required reading, from text or handouts.]
http://www.ibest.estadao.com.br/ext/frances/gruzinskif.htm
Montaigne, see
background information at: http://www.orst.edu/instruct/phl302/philosophers/montaigne.html
Montaigne, see
essay "Of Cannibals" at: Montaigne:
Essays, "Of Cannibals" *
Russell Mc Neil's lecture on Montaigne's "Of Cannibals" at: http://www.mala.bc.ca/~mcneil/m2lec6a.htm
In his work On Human Diversity: Nationalism, Racism, and Exoticism in French Thought (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1993) Tzvetan Todorov focuses on the French intellectual tradition ranging from Montaigne through Tocqueville, Michelet to Lévi-Strauss. He shows how the virtues of Enlightenment thought became vices in the hands of 19th century thinkers as a result of racism, nationalism, and the search for exoticism. Todorov calls us to reject this legacy and to strive once again for an acceptance of human diversity through "critical humanism" prefigured in the writings of Rousseau and Montesquieu.]
http://chevalierdesaintgeorges.homestead.com/Vie.html#5
The fleur-de-lys, symbol of French royalty, was also one of the images used in the branding of slaves. For information on the fleur-de-lys go to: http://www.fleurdelis.com/fleur.htm
Montesquieu: background information:
http://www.orst.edu/instruct/phl302/philosophers/montesquieu.html
Montesquieu, The Spirit of the Laws* (Book 15, ch.5: "Enslavement of Blacks"). You may read the text
at this link: http://www.constitution.org/cm/sol_15.htm
Voltaire: See background information at: http://www2.lucidcafe.com/lucidcafe/library/95nov/voltaire.html
See summary of Candide at the link below:
http://www.awerty.com/candide2.html
Rousseau: See background information at: http://www2.lucidcafe.com/lucidcafe/library/96jun/rousseau.html
Rousseau, The Social Contract* (chap. 4: "On Slavery"): See the text at:
http://www.constitution.org/jjr/socon_01.htm#004
De Gobineau: See brief background information at: http://motlc.wiesenthal.com/text/x08/xm0868.html
See more on De Gobineau at: http://fr.encyclopedia.yahoo.com/articles/ma/ma_2077_p0.html
Belgian Theologian on African Philosophy: Placide Tempel's Bantu Philosophy
Le Tumulte
Noir: Modernist Art and Popular Entertainment in Jazz-Age
Aesthetics of African Art and French Modernism:
See the African Art: Exhibit at the
http://www.lib.virginia.edu/clemons/RMC/exhib/93.ray.aa/African.html
Click below for the
http://artnetweb.com/guggenheim/africa/intro.html
DOGON: Sacred Sites: http://sacredsites.com/africa/mali/dogon.html
Essay on Dogon Cosmology and the Interface of Nature and Culture:
Leviticus THE BLOOD-
THE NATURE
THE CULTURE
PRESENTATIONS
THE BLOOD IS A DAILY PRESENCE IN MAN'S LIFE-
THE BLOOD IS LIFE
THE LINKS BELOW ACCESS SITES
PRESENTING MATERIALS ABOUT
Essay on Europe and African art:
http://www.ethnographica.com/african_art_and_europe.htm
Picasso’s “Les demoiselles d’Avignon”: Subject and Meaning
http://www.geocities.com/rr17bb/LesDemoi.html
Museum of Modern Art (NY) "Les Demoiselles d'Avignon" conservation website
http://www.moma.org/collection/conservation/demoiselles/index.html
Barnes
Foundation--Matisse: Le bonheur de vivre
http://www.abcgallery.com/M/matisse/matisse1.html
Paper due on UNIT I: February 22, 2008
PAPER TOPICS: Write an essay of at least three pages--typed, double-spaced, with ample margins--one any one of the topics below. Pay attention to good organization and structure. Your essay should reflect your familiarity with the readings done in this unit of the course. Remember the importance of correct documentation; however, do not fill out your essay with very long quotations.
1. The Song of Roland reflects French attitudes and
values towards the African "Other" that are identifiable in French
literature of the Renaissance through the twentieth century. Explain
2. Why may we speak of the "modernity" of the Renaissance writer
Montaigne with regard to his views on non-European civilizations?
3. Has African art in any way affected or influenced European art?
4. How may one account for the "exotic" appeal of
5. How would you explain the insignificance of "art for art's sake"
in traditional African communities?
6. Which French writings about
7. Comment on the Code Noir, especially with regard to its historical
significance in the
8: Is the Dark Child has any way influenced your life? Explain
UNIT II. Weeks 6-10(Feb. 25-March 24, 2007): From the Periphery to the
Center:
Selections from Négritude Poets and Critics
Notes on Léopold
S. Senghor
Léopold
S. Senghor:
Laye, Dark Child*
Césaire, A Tempest*
Fanon, Black Skin, White Mask
Review questions on Camara Laye's Dark Child can be found at the site below: http://www.sebsteph.com/Professional/sebsportfolio/syllabi/nonwestlit/Review%20Questions/Dark.htm
Click here for Belinda Carberry's article: "Teaching African Literature in English," in which The Dark Child is included.
· MULTI-MEDIA PRESENTATIONS:
Aimé
Césaire:
See comments on Césaire’s
Caliban in: Paget
Henry, Caliban’s Reason:
Introducing Afro-Caribbean Philosophy.
Topics for essays on UNIT II:
Write an essay of at least three pages on any
one of the topics below. Your paper should reflect your familiarity with the
readings completed in the course up to this point:
1. Pick any one of the poems included in the readings in this section, and
show how it conveys a particular view of the "periphery" looking
towards the "center."
2. Discuss the image of the black woman as it is seen in the readings that you
have done in this section of the course.
3. Why do you think Césaire is more revered in
Africa than in his homeland,
4. What is Césaire responding to in his play A Tempest? And do you see any limitations in his response?
5. What is meant by "Négritude?"
Illustrate aspects of this concept as you see it reflected in the readings of
this section of the course.
6. In general, what do the Négritude
writers (representing the periphery) say to French civilization (represented
as the center)? How does Césaire resolve this
periphery vs center dichotomy?
7. Comment on the two kinds of education that the child is exposed to in Camara
Laye's Dark Child. Does the narrator
express any reservations about each type of education?
Spring recess begins: Monday, March 9
classes resume Monday, March 17
MIDSEMESTER EXAM: March
26, 2008
Second Paper due: March 26, 2008
UNIT III.
(March 17, 2008). Transitions: Pitfalls in the African/Caribbean
Encounter with
Cheikh
Hamidou Kane, Ambiguous
Adventure*
UNIT IV. (March 24, - Monday April 28, 2008). Looking Inward: Towards A Vision of Authentic Francophone Communities:
A. Community Engagement in Transformative Change:
Sembène Ousmane, God’s Bits of Wood*
A brief discussion of Sembène Ousmane's God's Bits of Wood may be found at this site
MULTI-MEDIA
PRESENTATIONS:
VIDEO: "Césaire, pt. III" A [FR.AD-08.3]
· B. New Visions, New Voices Articulating Francophone Authenticity:
Click here for a bio-bibliographical note on Maryse Condé
Maryse Condé at the Créolité Conference (1993). From left to right in the photo: Gisèle Pineau (Guadeloupe), Émile Ollivier (Haiti), Maryse Condé (Guadeloupe), Ernest Pépin (Martinique), Francoise Vergès (Réunion). [Photo by Hal Wylie.]
MULTI-MEDIA PRESENTATION:
Review of the film "Sugar Cane Alley", by John Ziniewicz
http://www.fred.net/tzaka/john/sugar.html
Click here for notes and questions on "Caribbean Cinema and "Black Shack Alley.""
C. Ideologies and Concepts in Service of Authentic Creativity in Francophone Communities:
Edouard Glissant:
Confiant, et al: In Praise of Creolity*
Click
here
to see "Plaidoyer pour la Créolité" (Magazine
Littéraire, no. 320, avril 1994)
Click here for a brief comment on the video "Afrique, je te plumerai."
Third Paper is due at the time of the final exam: Wednesday May 14-11:30-1:30
TOPICS FOR PAPER III:
1. Study the theme of community solidarity as it is developed in God's
Bits of Wood
2. Show how the revolutionary potential in the role of women in post-colonial
society has been developed in any of the novels studied.
3. What do you find most memorable and striking about Mariama
Ba's So Long A Letter?
4. What is meant by "the centering of the periphery" in the cultural
engagement of
5. Compare and contrast the education of the protagonists in Dark Child,
and
Black Shack Alley .
6. Study the image of the Black mother (or grandmother) in any two of
the following works: Dark Child, So Long A Letter, Black Shack Alley,
Tales from the Heart.
7. Contrast and compare the situation of the male child and the female child in So Long A Letter.
FINAL EXAMINATION:
Wednesday
14; 11:30-1;30
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