Great Myths of French and Francophone Culture
Code: 106641Credits: 6
| Degree programme | Type | Course |
|---|---|---|
| English and French Studies | OP | 3 |
| English and French Studies | OP | 4 |
Contact lecturer
- Name :
- Ricard Ripoll Villanueva
- Email :
- ricard.ripoll@uab.cat
Group languages
You can consult this information at the end of the document.
Prerequisites
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Objectives
1) Comprendre la notion de mythe culturel et son rôle dans la construction de l'identité française.
2) Identifier les grandes figures, récits et représentations mythiques de la culture française.
3) Analyser la transformation des mythes à travers les siècles.
4) Mettre en relation littérature, histoire, arts visuels et mémoire collective.
5) Développer une réflexion critique sur les usages politiques et idéologiques des mythes.
1) Understand the notion of cultural myth and its role in the construction of French identity.
2) Identify the great figures, narratives and mythical representations of French culture.
3) It analyzes the transformation of myths over the centuries.
4) Connecting literature, history, visual arts and collective memory.
5) Develop a critical reflection on the political and ideological uses of myths.
Learning outcomes
- Express oneself fluently, correctly, appropriately and effectively, both orally and in writing, in an academic environment.
- Locate specialised and academic information and select this according to its relevance.
- Synthesise information obtained from distinct sources, problematise a topic, and structure the information in a relevant way in oral and written presentations adapted to the audience.
- Produce an essay (or similar) respecting the ethical aspects related to the authorship of ideas and the diversity of opinions.
- Produce works in which the fundamental digital and bibliographic tools for the field of study are applied.
- Produce speeches in French adapting language register to the communicative situation.
- Acquire an awareness of the diachronic dimension of French and of the conditions of creation, dissemination and preservation of major French literary texts belonging to the initial stages of the language.
- Use the techniques of literary commentary.
- Express oneself effectively by applying argumentative and textual procedures in formal and scientific texts, in the language studied.
- Apply the acquired work planning methodologies to individual and group professional tasks.
- Locate and organise relevant English-language information available on the internet, databases and libraries, and apply this to work and/or research environments.
- Incorporate ideas and concepts from published sources into work, citing and referencing appropriately.
- Rigorously assess the values conveyed by the texts analysed, making constructive criticism.
- Establish relationships between science, philosophy, art, religion, politics, etc. in the historical periods under study.
- Demonstrate an understanding of compulsory texts on the cultural history of the British Isles and the United States.
- Autonomously search, select and process information both from structured sources (databases, bibliographies, specialized magazines) and from across the network.
- Issue rating pertinent criticism supported in understanding the relevant information on issues related to the literature and culture of social, scientific or ethical concern.
- Analyse sex/gender inequalities and gender biases in transnational, cultural and gender studies.
- Identifying various literary elements and inserting them into different texts and discursive styles.
- Develop advanced-level critical arguments applied to the interpretation of primary and secondary sources dealing with current English-language culture and society and its textual representation.
Contents
Séance 1 – Qu'est-ce qu'un mythe culturel ?
Séance 2 – Personnages de l’Histoire de France : de Vercingétorix à Napoléon
Séance 3 – La Révolution française : mythe fondateur moderne
Séance 4 – Dreyfusards et anti-dreyfusards
Séance 5 – La littérature française
Séance 6 – La littérature francophone
Séance 7 – Résistance et Libération
Séance 8 – Les Avants-gardes
Séance 9 – Paris, capitale mythique
Séance 10 – La France, pays des droits de l'homme ?
Séance 11 – Mai 68
Séance 12 – Le cinéma : la « Nouvelle Vague » I
Séance 13 – Le cinéma : la « Nouvelle Vague » II
Séance 14 – La Chanson d’auteur
Session 1 – What is a cultural myth?
Session 2 – Characters in the History of France: from Vercingetorix to Napoleon
Session 3 – The French Revolution: Modern Founding Myth
Session 4 – Dreyfusards and anti-Dreyfusards
Session 5 – French Literature
Session 6 – Francophone literature
Session 7 – Resistance and Liberation
Session 8 – The Avant-Garde
Session 9 – Paris, mythical capital
Session 10 – France, a country of human rights?
Session 11 – May 68
Learning activities and methodology
| Title | Hours | ECTS | Learning outcomes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Theoretical classes | 20 | 0.8 | 1, 10, 13, 16, 18, 19 |
| Reading and discussing texts | 30 | 1.2 | 1, 2, 3, 6, 9, 12, 13, 14, 17, 20 |
| Redaction of comments and critical texts | 10 | 0.4 | 1, 2, 5, 6, 14, 15, 19 |
| Evaluation activities: writing and exercises in class | 24 | 0.96 | 3, 4, 7, 8, 10, 12, 14, 15, 17, 18 |
| Reading and study | 50 | 2 | 2, 3, 7, 11, 13, 14, 16, 19 |
Le cours adopte une démarche interdisciplinaire, croisant littérature, histoire, histoire de l'art, sociologie de la culture et études de la mémoire. Il ne s'agit pas d'étudier les mythes comme des récits faux ou légendaires, mais comme des constructions culturelles qui contribuent à façonner les représentations collectives de la France et des Français.
L'objectif est d'analyser comment un personnage, un événement, un lieu ou une œuvre devient un « mythe » par un processus de réécriture, de transmission et d'appropriation.
Principes méthodologiques
1. Contextualiser
Chaque mythe sera replacé dans son contexte historique, politique et culturel :
2. Étudier les sources
Les étudiants travailleront sur un corpus diversifié : textes littéraires ; documents historiques ; iconographie ; affiches de propagande ; cinéma ; discours politiques ; médias contemporains.
3. Analyser les mécanismes de mythification
Les étudiants apprendront à repérer les procédés qui construisent un mythe : héroïsation ; simplification des faits ; symbolisation ; idéalisation ; sacralisation ; mémorialisation.
On montrera comment les mythes produisent des récits collectifs plus puissants que la simple réalité historique.
The course takes an interdisciplinary approach, combining literature, history, art history, sociology of culture, and memory studies. It is not a question of studying myths as false or legendary narratives, but as cultural constructions that contribute to shaping the collective representations of France and France.
The aim is to analyse how a character, an event, a place or a work becomes a "myth" through a process of rewriting, transmission and appropriation.
Methodological principles
1. Contextualize
Each myth will be located in its historical, political and cultural context:
2. Study the sources
Students will work on a diverse corpus: literary texts; historical documents; iconography; propaganda posters; cinema; political speeches; contemporary media.
3. Analyse the mechanisms of mythification
Students will learn to identify the processes that build a myth: heroization; simplification of the facts; symbolization; idealization; sacralization; memorialization.
We will show how myths produce collective narratives that are more powerful than simple historical reality.
Assessment
Continuous assessment activities
| Title | Weight | Hours | ECTS | Learning outcomes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Individual oral presentation | 20% | 4 | 0.16 | 1, 3, 6, 8, 9, 10, 12, 15 |
| Participation and preparation of the readings | 20% | 3 | 0.12 | 2, 3, 5, 7, 11, 18 |
| Essays | 30% | 5 | 0.2 | 1, 4, 6, 8, 9, 12, 16, 17, 19, 20 |
| Documents analysis | 30% | 4 | 0.16 | 2, 4, 7, 11, 13, 14, 15, 16, 19 |
L'évaluation vise à mesurer à la fois l'acquisition des connaissances, la maîtrise des outils d'analyse critique et la capacité à mobiliser les concepts étudiés dans le cours.
1. Participation et préparation des lectures (20 %)
2. Exposé oral individuel (20 %)
3. Analyse de documents (30 %)
4. Dissertations (30%)
The objective of the evaluation is to measure both the acquisition of knowledge, the mastery of the tools of critical analysis and the ability to mobilize the concepts studied in the course.
1. Participation and preparation of readings (20%)
2. Individual oral presentation (20%)
3. Documentary analysis (30%)
4. Essays (30%)
CONTINUOUS ASSESSMENT
Students must provide evidence of their progress by completing various tasks and tests. These activities are detailed in the table at the end of this section of the Study Guide.
Review. When publishing final marks prior to recording them on students' transcripts, the lecturer will provide written notification of a date and time for reviewing assessment activities. Students must arrange reviews in agreement with the lecturer.
Missed/failed assessment activities. Students may retake assessment activities they have failed or compensate for any they have missed, provided that those they have actually performed account for a minimum of 66.6% (two thirds) of the subject's final mark and that they have a weighted average mark of at least 3.5.
The lecturer will inform students of the procedure involved, in writing, when publishing final marks prior to recording them on transcripts. The lecturer may set one assignment per failed or missed assessment activity or a single assignment to cover a number of such activities. Under no circumstances may an assessment activity worth 100% of the final mark be retaken or compensated for.
Classification as \"not assessable\". In the event of the assessment activities a student has performed accounting for just 25% or less of the subject's final mark, their work will be classified as \"not assessable\" on their transcript.
Misconduct in assessment activities. Students who engage in misconduct (plagiarism, copying, personation, etc.) in an assessment activity will receive a mark of “0” for the activity in question. In the case of misconduct in more than one assessment activity, the student involved will be given a final mark of “0” for the subject. Assessment activities in which irregularities have occurred (e.g. plagiarism, copying, impersonation) are excluded from recovery.
SINGLE ASSESSMENT
The same assessment method as continuous assessment will be used. Attendance and class participation will be replaced by an oral exam. Description:
- Long written exam equivalent to the sum of the two written exams conducted during the course: 50%
- Submission of a literary text analysis and a critical text: 40%
- Oral exam on the studied works and the topics covered in class: 10%
Date of the final evaluation: the same as the date of the last written exam in continuous assessment.
Recovery: last week of June.
Erasmus students who request to take an exam early must present the professor with a written document from their home university justifying their request.
This subject allows the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) technologies exclusively in bibliographic search or information search tasks. The use of translation must be authorized by the teacher. Other situations can be contemplated, always with the teacher's approval. The lack of transparency in the use of AI in this assessable activity will be considered a lack of academic honesty and will result in the activity being evaluated with a 0 and not being able to be recovered, or greater sanctions in serious cases.
Bibliography
Required readinds :
1) Roland Barthes, Mythologies, Points
2) Joseph Joffo, Un sac de billes, GLF/Le Livre de Poche
3) Chahdortt Djavann, Comment devenir Français ? J'ai Lu
4) Philippe Claudel, La Petite fille de Monsieur Linh, GLF/Le Livre de Poche
Software
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Course groups and languages
The information provided is provisional until November 30. After this date, you will be able to consult the language of each group through this link. To access the information, you will need to enter the course CODE
| Type of teaching | Group | Language | Semester | Shift |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| (TE) Theory | 1 | French | second semester | morning-mixed |
| (PAUL) Classroom practices | 1 | French | second semester | morning-mixed |