French in Translation Spring 2025

FRT 210: Out of Place: Looking In, Looking At, Looking Back

MWF 11-11:50 / Prof. McNelly

This course will approach francophone literature in translation through the theme of place. We will consider the role of place in human experience and the construction of identity; this includes a consideration of the sense of belonging and attachment to place and the significance of place in our lives. What factors influence our perception of places–those familiar to us and those seen for the first time? What happens when as outsiders, what we see is not grounded in cultural or social structures? The concept of place will be broadly construed to include familial spaces as well as geographical and psychological places imbued with moral and political feeling. We will consider ‘place’ from the perspective of exile or an imaginary return after a long absence; ambivalent nostalgia for both real and romanticized homelands; feelings of estrangement from places once thought of as ‘home’; and the loss of one’s sense of identity due to amnesia.

Please note: this course is not part of upper-level courses in French Studies. It is taught in English and fulfills Division II requirements.