Learning Outcomes:
On successful completion of this module, students will be able to:
demonstrate an in-depth knowledge of key elements of one of the greatest works of modern world literature as well as considering major critical responses to the work;
analyse the encounter of a transcendent, even idealist vision of artistic creation with modern ideas of subjectivity and sexuality and how this encounter evolves through Proust's novel;
explain the social and political context of late nineteenth-century France: class politics, anti-semitism (the Dreyfus affair); aesthetics (art, music, fashion);
negotiate sophisticated and complex French in a range of modes: literary and aesthetic reflection; social critique; philosophical discussion;
produce a sophisticated and complex extended discussion (4000-5000 words) of a question raised by the work, the topic to be chosen by the student in consultation with the lecturer, and the essay to be accompanied by a relevant and extensive critical bibliography.