Gwybodaeth Modiwlau

This module, taught in French, will approach the various forms of fantastic literature in 18th-20th century France. Fantastic literature was a key feature of this period, intimately linked to the development of various scientific fields.
The module will offer first of all a theoretical knowledge of the general particularities of fantastic literature, its permanent features and its evolution. We will study how it is linked to other literary, artistic and intellectual movements. The module will also provide an introduction to the study of the narrative analysis of literary texts, indicating the relationship between narrative structure and fantastic "effect". Our aim will be to observe the "efficiency" of fantastic literature, between horror and humor.

Academic rationale:
The aim of this module is to study the various forms of fantastic literature from the 18th to the 20th century in a series of short stories. These texts were a distinctive feature of the 19th century literary and social landscape: various literary movements attempted to provide answers to the feeling of uncanny and uncertainty that lingered despite the triumphal march of science.
The objective of the module is to provide students both with a general knowledge about this specific literary product that is the fantastic novel, including its cultural, scientific and artistic background, and with a wide range of critical reading and analyzing skills related to it.

Module aims:
Providing students with reading and analytical skills for the interpretation of fantastic literature texts. Raising their awareness against anachronistic readings; providing key skills in literary analysis. Establishing links between intellectual movements, the progress of science, and literature during the 18th-20th centuries.

1. Introduction : defining the fantastic. Theoretical approaches to the fantastic. Seminar: Narration and fantastic
2. Lecture: Cazotte: Le diable amoureux. Historical and intellectual context Seminar: The "birth" of the fantastic
3. Lecture: Themes of "me", themes of "you" Seminar: The principle of ambiguity
4. Lecture: Romantism, realism and the fantastic: Merimee, Balzac, Gautier Seminar: Merimee: Le Venus d'Ille
5. Lecture: Balzac : L'elixir de longue vie Seminar: Gautier : La Cafetiere
6. Lecture: Maupassant's fantastic Seminar: "Sur l'eau"
7. Lecture: "Le Menuet" Seminar: "Qui sait?"
8. Can there be fantastic literature in the 20th century? Seminar: Marcel Ayme
9. Lecture-Seminar: Marcel Ayme
10. Conclusion of the semester. The fantastic and the subconscious