3631001 French Language and Literature
| Numbering Code | U-LET21 33631 LJ36 | Year/Term | 2022 ・ Second semester | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Number of Credits | 2 | Course Type | special lecture | |
| Target Year | Target Student | |||
| Language | Japanese | Day/Period | Thu.2 | |
| Instructor name | NAGAMORI KATSUYA (Graduate School of Letters Professor) | |||
| Outline and Purpose of the Course | By reading Racine's Mithridates (1673), tragedy based upon Roman history, we will discuss the relationship between the tragic genre and history, the dramaturgical method of tragedy, and the characteristics of Racine's tragedies. In his tragedy Nicomède (1651), Corneille, one of the most famous playwrights of the 17th century along with Racine, had already attempted to "portray the Roman Empire from the outside” by making the protagonist a rebel against the hegemony of the Roman Empire. Racine's Mithridates is an attempt to do the same, but we will try to compare the characteristics of Corneille's and Racine's plays by examining how Racine inherited and modified the "political tragedy" formulated by Corneille: the conflict between political logic and private logic, and the struggle for power. | |||
| Course Goals | Understand the Dramaturgy of French Classical Tragedy. Understand the characteristics of the plays of Corneille and Racine, the most famous playwrights of the 17th century. | |||
| Schedule and Contents |
Class is scheduled to proceed according to the following plan. Week 1 Introduction to 17th century French Tragedies Weeks 2-3 Roman tragedies in the 17th century in France: Mairet, Rotrou and Corneille Week 4 Racine's "Roman Tragedies" Week 5 Creation, premiere, and reception of Mithridates Weeks 6-13 Reading of Mithridates Week 14 Summary: The place of Mithridates in Racine's works Week 15 Feedback |
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| Evaluation Methods and Policy | Class presentations (20%) and final paper (80%) | |||
| Course Requirements | None | |||
| Study outside of Class (preparation and review) | Be sufficiently prepared to deal with text in class. Also, read sections that cannot be read during class on own, | |||
| Textbooks | Textbooks/References | Other, will distribute printouts, etc. | ||
