FR40410 Other Voices: Contemporary French and Francophone Women Poets

Academic Year 2022/2023

This module explores the rich and diverse body of contemporary poetic writing authored by women in France and the wider francophone world in the second half of the twentieth century and beyond. Of the 12 contemporary poets published in Gallimard’s influential Collection Poésie in 2016 to celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of the collection, only two were women, neither of them from France. This limited representation is symptomatic of a broader deficit of attention afforded to women poets, one that has been recently highlighted and contested, not least through the dynamism and inventiveness of these poets themselves. The module will focus on a variety of voices and their distinct visions of the relationship between poetic form and meaning, word and world. While considering matters of female viewpoint and sensibility, it will question the overarching notion of a gendered writing, privileging the aesthetic and ethical values particular to each work as well as the open and porous perspectives they largely support.

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Curricular information is subject to change

Learning Outcomes:

On completion of this module students should be able to:
– present an informed view of the contribution of women to the development of contemporary French and francophone poetry and poetics
– identify and analyse the formal and thematic characteristics of a number of relevant works
– relate relevant works to a broader historical and cultural backdrop as well as to recent critical debate concerning the evolution of the genre as a whole
– produce an extended essay and critical bibliography predicated on established research methodologies

Indicative Module Content:

Possible topics include:

recognition/occultation of women poets in France and the francophone world
the concept of gendered writing
word, womanhood, world
the poetic subject
the body in poetry
death, loss, mourning
poetry and other art forms

Student Effort Hours: 
Student Effort Type Hours
Seminar (or Webinar)

24
Specified Learning Activities

76
Autonomous Student Learning

120
Total

220
Approaches to Teaching and Learning:
Weekly two-hour seminars, with an initial lecture element followed by discussion of extracts from the set primary texts and related critical readings. Student preparation and participation are to the fore, with informal short presentations serving as practice for assessed formal presentations. 
Requirements, Exclusions and Recommendations
Learning Requirements:

BA or equivalent.
An ability to read and speak French to degree-level standard. The language of reading is French, and instruction is principally through French.

Learning Recommendations:

Study of literature at undergraduate level.


Module Requisites and Incompatibles
Not applicable to this module.
 
Assessment Strategy  
Description Timing Open Book Exam Component Scale Must Pass Component % of Final Grade
Presentation: 20-minute presentation on course content Varies over the Trimester n/a Graded No

30
Essay: Extended essay on topic related to course themes Coursework (End of Trimester) n/a Graded No

70

Carry forward of passed components
No
 
Resit In Terminal Exam
Summer No
Please see Student Jargon Buster for more information about remediation types and timing. 
Feedback Strategy/Strategies

• Feedback individually to students, on an activity or draft prior to summative assessment
• Feedback individually to students, post-assessment

How will my Feedback be Delivered?

Informal oral feedback on presentations. Meeting to discuss essay plan prior to writing. Individual feedback (written) on extended essay, post-assessment.