Taught in English
Spring 2023
Course: FREN 4110/5110
Professor: Masano Yamashita
Meets: Tuesdays 3:30-6:00pm
We’ll be reading stories about female rage, nuns gone wild, torrid love affairs and bad marriages. Some stories are quieter but nonetheless absorbing: we’ll learn about the everyday experiences of French servants, housewives, and go-getters and their longings for a better life.
This course also introduces students to French political culture. We’ll take a deep dive into the French Revolutionary project of fighting for liberty, equality and fraternity, which led to terrifying and bold choices, including the beheading of their king in the name of political justice. In an epoch which saw the flourishing of women’s marches and the popularity of literary-legal genres such as political pornography, letter-writing, petitions and grievances, we’ll see how for the French the personal has always been inseparable from the political.
To enroll in this class, please email azarie.larue@colorado.edu. Contrary to what the catalog says, FREN 3100 is not a prerequisite for this class, this semester. You can write to masano.yamashita@colorado.edu if you have questions about the course.