French 322 - Writing Under the Influence: Italy and the Literature of Renaissance France

In matters of conquest, political alliance, or arts and letters, France’s interactions with Italy during the sixteenth century have left a significant imprint on its history, its language and literature, and even its national identity. With the Italian Renaissance preceding the French, French rulers, thinkers, and artists alike looked across the Alps for inspiration and innovation, and voyages to Italy almost became an obligatory rite of passage for the educated Frenchman. Alongside this admiration, however, was a growing sentiment of suspicion and even rejection, deploring the presence of Italians in the French court.

This course will explore some of the complexities of these relationships by developing three principal threads. The first will examine the dual role of the Italian language and its vernacular poetry, at once model and rival, in the development of the French language and its poetic production. The second thread places French writers and thinkers on the path to Italy to investigate instead their observations and representations of their Italian experience. And finally, we will read a number of texts expressing the discontent of the French with Italian presence on their soil. We will pay particular attention to those works targeting the Queen Mother (Catherine de’ Medici) and those attacking Machiavelli to better understand the phenomenon of “machiavélisme,” its contribution to Italophobia, and its role in France’s religious wars.

All French texts will be read in French. Italian texts will be read in French or English translation. Students with knowledge of Italian may read texts in the original language. Conducted in French.

Requisite: One of the following—FREN 207, 208 or the equivalent. Fall semester: Professor Nader-Esfahani.

How to handle overenrollment: null

Students who enroll in this course will likely encounter and be expected to engage in the following intellectual skills, modes of learning, and assessment: Instruction in languages other than English -- Speaking, reading, writing, and aural comprehension in languages other than English -- Readings -- Textual analyses -- Some visual and aural analysis -- Emphasis on written work -- Formal and informal presentations -- Some group work -- Some creative work