Study of an imaginary world in literary and visual culture

Teacher(s)

Reverseau Anne;

Language

French

Main themes

The aim of this course is to help the student acquire a scholarly method to analyze literary texts (semiotics), and to situate its forms and figures in their historical and cultural context

Learning outcomes

At the end of this learning unit, the student is able to :

Understand the specificity of literary representations (verbal images, figures and forms).

Content

This class will study how authors' imaginaries are inserted into and make the material of literary textuality revolving around a thematic. After "Imaginary of transportation" (2019), " Imaginary of library" (2021), "Imaginary of objets" (2023), the topic will be "Imaginary of feminine sexualities" in 2026. 
In this class, Students will learn to study the structure of the forms and figures that are active in various literary texts, through narratological and semiological approaches. We will address the following issues: intertextual sources (literary, mythological, etc.), and other sources (artistic, religious, anthropological...), as well as the impact of their particular context (geographic, historical, social, psychological...). It will also deal with the reception of works, understood as the encounter of two imaginaries (the author's and the reader's) within the text. 
Each year, a portfolio with excerpts (PDF) and a large bibliography of works from the 19th, 20th and 21st centuries are given to students who will choose the books they want to read in depth.

Teaching methods

The course is accompanied by PowerPoint presentations. The information is also on iCampus.

Evaluation methods

Oral examination (unless students are too many: in this case, written examination)
Short written exercises, completed in class during the year, may be used to supplement the assessment.
Active participation in the course is therefore required.

Other information

The corpus for study comes from contemporary French literature (19th century to the present day).
In 2026, some of the works in the bibliography may shock students due to the subject matter covered (these will be pointed out during the first class). Therefore, no reading will be mandatory, and everyone will be free to choose which books to study from this list.

Bibliography

La bibliographie est déterminée chaque année en fonction de la problématique choisie. Elle se trouve sur icampus.

Teaching materials

• 6-10 livres de poche à acheter ou emprunter à la bibliothèque + syllabus (portfolio PDF) fourni

Faculty or entity

> ELAL