French 364 - The (After)lives of Repression

This course explores the concept of repression and its psychological corollaries as a means of illuminating a range of key twentieth-century and contemporary novels and films in French. For Freud, “the essence of repression lies simply in turning something away, and keeping it at a distance, from the conscious.” Examining repression in both its personal and social dimensions in these works, we will ask ourselves just what it is that comes to be unbearable to the conscious, to what effect it is repressed, and whether it may (be made to) return. We will thus study how writers and filmmakers give voice to and work through powerful repressions operating within their own consciousness and within social consciousness more broadly: the repression of the body, of the spirit, of history (e.g., the colonial past), of race, and of social class. Authors and filmmakers may include Freud, Kristeva, Céline, Camus, Daoud, Fanon, Hondo, Alice Diop, and  Ernaux. Class conducted in French.

Prerequisites: FREN-207, FREN-208, or the equivalent. Fall Semester: Professor Dominick

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Students who enroll in this course will likely encounter and be expected to engage in the following intellectual skills, modes of learning, and assessment: Speaking, reading, writing, and listening comprehension in languages other than English, textual analysis, formal and informal presentations, written work, independent research, creative work.