Spring 2025

FRENCH 151B 001 - LEC 001

Francophone Literature

A Cultural History of Montreal

William Burton

Jan 21, 2025 - May 09, 2025

Tu, Th

12:30 pm - 01:59 pm

Dwinelle 206

Class #:34148

Units: 4

Instruction Mode: In-Person Instruction

Offered through French

Current Enrollment

Total Open Seats: 8

Enrolled: 9

Waitlisted: 0

Capacity: 17

Waitlist Max: 5

No Reserved Seats

Hours & Workload

9 hours of outside work hours per week, and 3 hours of instructor presentation of course materials per week.

Final Exam

THU, MAY 15TH

03:00 pm - 06:00 pm

Dwinelle 206

Other classes by William Burton

FRENCH 140D 001 001LEC

Course Catalog Description

A study of Francophone literature: traditional and French influences, structure, relationship between language and message.

Concurrent Enrollment in or completion of French 102 or its equivalent required for enrollment. This class is taught entirely in French. Montreal, Quebec, is one of the largest Francophone cities in the world, and the largest in North America. Located on a continent where most people speak English, this French-speaking metropolis lays at the crossroads of multiple histories of colonisation. This has given its authors and filmmakers a unique perspective on such common issues as urbanisation and industrialisation, sexuality, racism, and migration. In this class, we will study literature and film that depict the city over the course of the past century or so, which reveal how its concerns are related to, but distinct from, those of the continent’s Spanish– and English-speaking traditions. The semester will be divided into four units focusing on: (1) francophone settlers’ efforts to construct a uniquely North American voice; (2) the social and economic dislocations caused North American-style industrialisation; (3) Indigenous resistance to colonisation in and around Montreal; and (4) migration to the city in the wake of slavery and war in the francophone world. During the semester, students will complete a series of graduated exercises to initiate them in writing literary and filmic analysis. These exercises will culminate in a term paper.

Class Notes

Texts:
Berthelot Brunet, Les Hypocrties. La folle expérience de Philippe, roman, Montreal: Typo, 1989 [éd. originale : 1945]. (excerpts)
Dany Laferrière, Comment faire l’amour avec un nègre sans se fatiguer, roman, Montreal : VLB, 1985. ISBN : 9782890052185.*
Émile Nelligan, Poésies. Édition originale de 1904, Montreal: Bibliothèque wuébécoise, 2012. (excerpts)
Gabrielle Roy, Bonheur d’occasion, roman, Montreal: Boréal, 1993 [1945]. (excerpts)
Sherry Simon, L’Hybridité culturelle, essai, Montreal: L’Île de la tortue, 1999. (excerpts)
Michel Tremblay, Les Belles-Sœurs, pièce de théâtre, Montreal : Leméac / Actes Sud, 2007 [1ère représentation, 1965]. ISBN : 9782742770991.*

Films:
Aquin, Hubert. À Saint-Henri le cinq septembre. Film documentaire. Office national du film, 1962. https://www.onf.ca/film/a_saint-henri_le_cinq_septembre/.(opens in a new tab)
Bourdon, Luc. La Mémoire des anges. Collage cinématographique. Office national du film, 1985. https://www.onf.ca/film/memoire_des_anges/.(opens in a new tab)
Burrows, Arthur and Jean Palardy. Montreal by Night. Office national du film du Canada, 1947. https://www.onf.ca/film/montreal_by_night/.(opens in a new tab)
Girard, François. Hochelaga, terre des âmes. Film de fiction. Les films Séville, 2017. https://lumiere.berkeley.edu/students/items/49845.(opens in a new tab)
Obomsawin, Alanis. Kanehsatake, 270 ans de résistance. Film documentaire. Office national du film, 1993. https://www.onf.ca/film/kanehsatake_270_ans_resistance/.(opens in a new tab)
———. Sans adresse. Film documentaire. Office national du film, 1988. https://www.onf.ca/film/sans_adresse/.(opens in a new tab)
Rached, Tahani. Haïti (Québec). Film documentaire. Office national du film, 1985. https://www.onf.ca/film/haiti_quebec/ show less