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DRPS : Course Catalogue : School of Literatures, Languages and Cultures : European Languages and Cultures - French

Undergraduate Course: Marcel Proust and the Art of Being Modern (Ordinary) (ELCF09027)

Course Outline
SchoolSchool of Literatures, Languages and Cultures CollegeCollege of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences
Credit level (Normal year taken)SCQF Level 9 (Year 3 Undergraduate) AvailabilityAvailable to all students
SCQF Credits20 ECTS Credits10
SummaryMarcel Proust is generally acknowledged to be one of the greatest writers of the twentieth century, a pioneer of Modernity, a radical commentator of social mores and an indefatigable satirist of the hypocrisies of social life. This course will introduce students to the great themes of Proust's writing - time and memory, jealousy and desire, art and redemption, class and war - and explore the revolutionary new techniques of his writing. Reading is based on the first two volumes of his masterpiece A la recherche du temps perdu (1913-1927), plus extracts from the following volumes, especially the central volume Sodome et Gomorrhe, which focuses on the crucial Proustian theme of homosexuality, and Le Temps retrouvé, which closes the seven-volume cycle. Special attention will be given to the representation of childhood and adolescence, to the depiction of homosexuals and Jews and to Proust's satirical portrait of society life. The course will reveal a Proust who remains just as challenging and controversial in his portrayal of sex, gender, race and class today as he was at the beginning of the last century.
Course description Not entered
Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
Pre-requisites Students MUST have passed: French 2 (ELCF08001)
Co-requisites
Prohibited Combinations Other requirements None
Information for Visiting Students
Pre-requisitesIn order to be eligible to take 4th Year Options, Visiting Students should have the equivalent of at least two years of study at University level of the appropriate language(s) and culture(s).
High Demand Course? Yes
Course Delivery Information
Not being delivered
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
  1. To demonstrate an advanced knowledge of a range of sources in their socio-historical and cultural contexts as well as a good understanding of the theoretical and conceptual frameworks needed to analyse them
  2. To select and apply relevant theoretical and methodological approaches in their critical evaluation of literature and to demonstrate mastery of relevant technical terminology and research methods
  3. To assess and synthesise primary and secondary sources and to engage critically with these sources, showing awareness of nuance and accommodating ambiguities
  4. To construct coherent arguments which engage effectively with the sources and the relevant contexts and to present them with a high level of clarity in both oral and written form
  5. To demonstrate autonomy and initiative in their activities, carry out independent research under the guidance of the tutor, and to show awareness of their own and others¿ roles and responsibilities as part of a team
Reading List
Bales, Richard, Proust 'A la recherche du temps perdu' (Grant and Cutler, 1995)
Bales, Richard, ed., The Cambridge Companion to Proust (Cambridge University Press, 2001) (e-book)
Bidou-Zachiarsen, Catherine, Proust sociologue (Paris: Descartes & Cie, 1997)
Bowie, Malcolm, Proust among the Stars (London: Fontana, 1998)
Compagnon, Antoine, Proust entre deux siècles (Paris: Seuil, 1989)
Ellison David, A Reader's Guide to Proust's 'In Search of Lost Time' (Cambridge: CUP, 2010)
Kristeva, Julia, Le Temps sensible: Proust et l'expérience littéraire (Paris: Gallimard, 1994)
Laget, Thierry, Du Côté de chez Swann de Marcel Proust (Gallimard, 1992)
Hughes, Edward, Proust, Class, and Nation (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2011)
Schmid, Marion, Marcel Proust (1871-1922), a Modernist Novel of Time, in Michael Bell, ed., The Cambridge Companion to European Novelists (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2012), pp. 327-42 (e-book)
Shattuck, Roger, Proust's Way: a Field Guide to In Search of Lost Time (New York: Norton, 2001)
Tadié, Jean-Yves, Proust et le roman (Paris: Gallimard, 1971)
Watt, Adam, The Cambridge Introduction to Marcel Proust (Cambridge: CUP, 2011)
---, Marcel Proust in Context (CambridgeL CUP, 2013) (e-book)

Additional Information
Graduate Attributes and Skills By the end of the course, students will have further developed their skills in the areas of research and enquiry, personal and intellectual autonomy, communication, and personal effectiveness. For further specification of these skills see the university¿s graduate and employability skills framework at http://www.employability.ed.ac.uk/documents/GAFramework+Interpretation.pdf
KeywordsDELC O Proust
Contacts
Course organiserProf Marion Schmid
Tel: (0131 6)50 8409
Email: Marion.Schmid@ed.ac.uk
Course secretaryMrs Elsie Gach
Tel: (0131 6)50 8421
Email: Elsie.Gach@ed.ac.uk
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