FREN 341 - La France de l’Ancien Régime

FDR: HL
Credits: 3

Prerequisite: Three courses in French at the 200 level. Corequisite: DH 190. Readings in French literature and civilization from before the Revolution of 1789. May be repeated for degree credit if the topic is different. For Winter 2016: This course is an introduction to the literature, language, music, and history of medieval Occitania, the region of southern France in which the Occitan language was, and still is, spoken. We examine the historical and linguistic contexts of Occitan literature, as well as the manuscripts in which these texts are preserved. Students encounter poems and music by the most famous Occitan troubadours, including Bernard de Ventadour and Arnaut Daniel, as well as longer narratives, including La Chanson de la Croisade Albigeoise and Le Roman de Flamenca. Through the corequisite Digital Humanities course, students learn how to encode literary texts according to the Text Encoding Initiative (TEI), a markup language based on XML. Working from medieval manuscripts, students collaborate in groups to publish short editions of Occitan poetry online. Students’ improve their reading fluency in French, are introduced to digital humanities, and practice advanced research methodologies in French. All readings and discussions are in French. McCormick.

Planned Offering: Fall