• Common French Grammar Errors
• Grammatical Correction Abbreviations
• Les articles:  du, de la, des vs. le, la, les

This course introduces students to a representative sample of the  wide variety of Francophone cultures that exist throughout the world through history, cultural studies, film, and.  After a brief overview of the Francophone world and an initial discussion of the problematic nature of the term “francophone,” we will spend one to four  weeks studying each of the following Francophone regions and cultures:  French Canada; sub-Saharan Africa; the Caribbean; the Maghreb; the Indian Ocean; Southeast Asia; and Beur culture in France. 

Possible topics to be examined include: French colonial history; linguistic and cultural differences between French-speaking regions; referendums, independence, and decolonization; nation-building; and  African socialism; gender roles, including polygamy and female circumcision; Negritude as a literary and political movement; Christianity, Islam, and African religions; the use of literature and film as modes of expression; interactions and influences between Francophone cultures; orality and writing; modernization, industrialization, globalization.

Objectives

This course has four primary objectives:

1.       to introduce students to the history of French colonialism and the origins of the linguistic and cultural differences between Francophone regions;

2.       to examine many Francophone cultures in order to foster an appreciation for cultural diversity;

3.       to develop critical thinking skills by teaching students to analyze culture as it is represented in readings from historiography and literature, as well as films;

4.       to improve proficiency in oral and written French through class presentations and short papers.

Evaluation

1.       Attendance and class participation (30%).

2.       Half-hour presentations on the general cultures of different Francophone countries  (18%)

3.       A page term paper developing a central topic from the class presentations: 8-10 pages for undergraduates, 10-12 pages for graduates (30%)

4.       Final Exam (20%)

5.   Attendance at 2 films in Fall Film Series (2%)

Primary Texts

Aimé Césaire, Le discours sur le colonialisme (1950)  Martinique

Patrick Corcoran, The Cambridge Introduction to Francophone Literature (2007)
Assia Djebar, Femmes d’Alger dans leur appartement (1980), Algérie

Amadou Kouronouma, Les soleils des Indépendances, Côte d’Ivoire

Texts of interest
Azouz Begag, Le gone du Chaâba (1986)  

Maryse Condé, Moi, Tituba, sorcière (1988) Antilles, E-U

Frantz Fanon, Peau noire, masques blancs (1952), Martinique

Louis Hémon, Maria Chapdelaine (1913), Québec

Jean-Joseph Rabearivelo, Traduit de la nuit (poèmes) (1935) Madagascar
Françoise Tétu de Labsade, Le Quebec:  un pays, une culture.

Films

Mathieu Kassovitz, La Haïne (1995)

Euzhan Palcy, Aimé Césaire: Une voix pour l’histoire (1994); Rue Cases nègres (1983)

Raoul Peck, Lumumba (2000)

Gillo Pontecorvo, La Bataille d’Alger (1966)

Christopher Ruggia, Le gone du Chaâba (1998)

Pippa Scott, King Leopold’s Ghost (2009)

Ousmane Sembène,“La noire de. . .” (1966); Xala (1975)

Régis Wargnier, Indochine (1992)

Secondary texts (chapter on e-reserve)

Kamal Salhi, ed. Francophone Post-Colonial Cultures: Critical Essays. New York:

Lexington Books, 2003.

On Reserve:

Margaret Majumdar, "The Francophone World Moves in to the Twenty-First Century," in Kamal Salhi, ed. Francophone Post-Colonial Cultures:  Critical Essays (online reserve)
Françoise Tétu de Labsade, Le Quebec:  un pays, une culture (book reserve at Milner)

Dictionnaire excellent en ligne: 

Lexilogos:  http://www.lexilogos.com/francais_langue_dictionnaires.htm

Sources:

CIA Factbook:  https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/iv.html

Course Schedule

August 23: Introduction:  histoire de la colonisation française, effet sur le passé, le présent, et le futur des pays qui écrivent en français; les diversités de la Francophonie; Carte Colonisation in Africa, Carte Afrique, Carte Colonisation Indochine, Map Middle East, Map Pacific Islands, Carte du monde,  Carte Antilles, Carte Antilles Françaises, Colonies francophones en 1945, Acadie, Carte la Louisiane, Carte Canada

Les Canada français

August 30:  Lisez:  Patrick Corcoran, The Cambridge Introduction to Francophone Literature, « Introduction, » 1-13;  GLC Francophone Intro; A voir en classe: Roch Carrier “Le Chandail”(1980); Commencer Francophone 138-52; GLC Francophone Canada Français Questions 1-2; Histoire du Québec; ChronologyColonisationDécolonisation

September 6: Continuer Francophone 138-52; Le Québec : un pays, une culture, Présentations : 1) les villes (historiques et contemporaines) de Québec (la ville) et de Montréal[Hannah], 2) l’éducation québecois[Katie], 3) La chanson québecoise[Victoria], 4) La danse québecoise [John]

Les Antilles

September 13:  Aimé Césaire, Le discours sur le colonialisme (1950); GLC ColonialismeNégritude; Francophone Literature (180-99), GLC Francophone Antilles;  Aimé Césaire, Partir;  Rue Cases nègres (1983); GLCRueCasesNègres

L’Afrique subsaharienne

September 20:   Francophone Literature, 75-86;   GLCFrancophoneAfrique; Ahmadou Kourouma (Côte d’Ivoire), Le Soleil des Indépendances (1970), Première partie, 9-78, GLCSoleil I;
September 22:  Dissertation I [Hannah, Katie, Victoria, John]

September 27:  Soleil, Deuxième partie, 81-147; GLC Soleil II; le “père” sénégalais des films africains, Ousmane Sembène (Sénégal):  Xala (1975); GLC Xala;  Présentation: 5) Côte d’Ivoire (voyez les suggestions ci-dessous)[Brittany]
 

October 4:  Soleil, Troisième partie, 151-96; GLC Soleil III; Pippa Scott, King Leopold’s Ghost (2009); GLC Ghost

October 11 :  Ousmane Sembène (Sénégal), La noire de. . . (1966); GLC Noire de; Présentations : 6) Le Sénégal  [AJ]; GLCFemmenoire;  Présentation : 7) Martinique [Gloria], 8) Guadeloupe[Alexandra]; Lépold Senghor, Poème Femme noire;  GLC Femme noire
October 13: [Dissertation I:  Brittany, AJ, Gloria]

Les Antilles

October 18 : Bénin, Professeur Raymond Houndfodji (lectures à annoncer)

L’Indochine
October 25: Indochine ; GLC Indochine; Francophone Literature, 27-38; Presentations : 9) Le Vietnam et les Français [Jessica N.], 10) La Nouvelle Calédonie [Tess]; GLCFrancophoneMaghreb
October 27: [Dissertation I: Alexandra, Jessica N, Geena]

Le Maghreb

November 1:  Histoire d'Algérie; Assia Djebar (Algeria), Femmes d’Alger dans leur appartement, « La Nuit du récit de Fatima », 15-57; GLCNuit15-57;  (1985); Présentation: 11) Algérie [Geena]
November 3: [Dissertation I: Fatima, Jessica D, Tess, Sarah]

November 8 : Histoire d’Algérie ; Femmes d’Alger, 61-130 ; GLCFemmes 61-138; Présentations : 12) le Maroc [Fatima]; 13) La Tunisie [Jessica D]
November 10:  [Dissertation I: Noëlle, Kelsey, MacKenzie, Ellen

La Culture beure en France

November 15 : Film: Christopher Ruggia, Le gone du Chaâba (1998); GLCGone;  Présentations: 14) Madagascar [Noëlle], 15) L’île Maurice [Kelsey]; Lépold Senghor, Lumumba;  GLCLumumba

November 29 : Film: Mathieu Kassovitz, La Haïne (1995); GLCHaine;  Présentations: 16) La Louisiane [Mackenzie], 17. La Guyane française, Le Haïti, ou St. Pierre et Miquelon [Ellen]; 18 La Suisse [Sarah]

Conclusion

December 6: Concluding remarks; Kamal Salhi, “The Francophone World Moves into the Twenty-First Century” in Francophone Post-Colonial Cultures: Critical Essays (CP); Milner on-line reserve;  GLCTwentyFirstCentury, GLCNouvelleFrancophonie

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December 13: 5:30-7:30, Final Exam

I.  Class Participation each class period will be based

·         on coming to class with questions sheets (GLC) filled out thoughtfully and comprehensively

·         revising them in class and taking notes

·         participating in class discussion

II.  Class Presentations should last about 30 minutes. 

·         The goal is to present aspects of the contemporary culture of a francophone nation, province (Le Québec), or region (La Louisianne) as strikingly as possible.  Presentations should include images from the web or books and possibly a Power Point presentation. 

·         Your primary source will be the web although I encourage you to seek books in the library, particularly through the I-Share libraries since our Francophone collection is limited.  Plan ahead there will be sufficient time for books to arrive from other I-Share libraries. 

·         Topics that you may develop are:

o   recent history that affects a Francophone areas

o   everyday life in the city and/or the country (family, food, work, amusements, vacations, typical houses or architecture etc.)

o   art, sculpture, music, dance, etc.

o   education

o   politics

o   religion (in Africa the griots, marabouts, and féticheurs, Islam, Christianity, animism, etc)

o   etc.

III. The Term Paper should develop a central topic or related topics from the class presentations.  Unlike the class presentations, it must have a unified argument

IV.  The Final Exam will cover all material discussed in class, including the student presentations.  It will thus be critical to add  in class to the answers that you have written to the GLC questions at home and to take notes on the presentations.  

V.  French film series:  Students in 100-level French courses and above are required to attend one of the three films in our department's French film series; students at the 200 level and above are required to attend two of the three films. Students unable to attend the screenings will need to see the films on their own (either at Milner Library or at home) and to write a paragraph in French in response to questions we will provide. In order to comply with copyright laws, admittance to the films will be limited to students currently enrolled in a French course at Illinois State. Attendance will be taken and students will need to show their ISU ID card as they enter the room. The films will be shown in Stevenson 101 beginning at 7:00 PM on the following Wednesday evenings:

September 21:   Le Caire nid d'espions/OSS 117: Cairo, Nest of Spies. Set in Cairo, Egypt, this parody of James Bond movies shows the consequences of cultural insensitivity and colonialist arrogance.

October 19:        Inch' Allah Dimanche. French-Algerian director Yamina Benguigi's film about her mother's experiences
after she leaves Algeria with her three young children to join her husband in France, where he's been living for the previous ten years.  In a land and culture foreign to her, Zouina struggles against her mother-in-law's tyranny and her husband's insensitivity and abuse as she adjusts to her life in exil.  The radio and friendship with a neighbor are her only windows into life in her new country.

November 9:     Germinal.  Film drawn from Zola's novel of the same name about a bitter strike in a coal mining town in
northern France in the mid-nineteenth century.

Molière Show: Actor Tim Mooney will perform his highly entertaining one-man Molière show in English on Wednesday,
 October 26 at 7:00 PM at Kemp Recital Hall. Admission free.  Sponsored by the French Club.

European Union Week at ISU:   EU Week at ISU (September 12-15, 2011) is a series of events devoted to information
 and debate about the European Union.  The events are sponsored by Illinois State University and organized in collaboration with the European Union Center at the University of Illinois.  Students are required to attend at least one of the events listed below.  We especially encourage students to attend the opening event on Monday, September 12 at 3:00. Students will need to show their ISU ID card at the door.

Illinois State University Plagiarism Policy

Regardless of whether or not the student admits to cheating, faculty are obligated to notify SDRS of any incident in which academic dishonesty is alleged.  It is very important to ensure that the University as a whole is represented in such cases, and to make sure a student isn’t making the same “innocent mistake” in several classes at once.

When an incident of academic dishonesty is referred to this office, we will evaluate it to see what steps may be appropriate, depending upon the circumstances, the response of the student, and the wishes of the faculty member.  In all cases, SDRS staff will meet with the student and discuss University action, in addition to whatever grade penalty is assessed by the faculty member.

Faculty should not assess a grade penalty if the student denies having cheated.  In such cases, the incident should immediately be referred to SDRS for adjudication.  If necessary, the student should be given an “incomplete” grade for the course pending the outcome of disciplinary proceedings.

In cases where a student admits to cheating, an administrative decision may be appropriate.  A minimum of one year of disciplinary probation is the standard precedent for such violations, in addition to appropriate educational sanctions.  This may be modified depending upon circumstances, including but not limited to the severity of the incident and the student’s previous disciplinary history.

If a student denies the allegations, or if the student already has a significant disciplinary record, the case will be referred to the University Hearing Panel (UHP).  The UHP is made up of faculty, students, and staff who have been trained by SDRS to hear evidence and make decisions regarding violations of the Student Code of Conduct.