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2014/15 Undergraduate Module Catalogue

FREN3870 Tragi-comedy in Early Modern France

20 creditsClass Size: 40

Module manager: Jonathan Durham
Email: j.durham@leeds.ac.uk

Taught: Semesters 1 & 2 (Sep to Jun) View Timetable

Year running 2014/15

Pre-requisite qualifications

Ability to study a module taught in French, usually evidenced by having successfully completed Level 2 of a degree programme including French.

This module is approved as a discovery module

Module summary

That early modern French theatre was subject to strict aesthetic rules is quite well known. These were the result of decades of debate across the first half of the seventeenth century, and this module will trace the development of their coming into being through the study of the evolution of the genre of tragi-comedy.In the early modern period, tragedy and comedy are clearly defined genres. But what is so problematic about tragi-comedy? In seeking to answer this question, we will discover that the aesthetic debates that took place across this period were to have a lasting legacy on French theatre for the following 150 years.

Objectives

On completion of this module students should be able to demonstrate:
- The ability to take an interdisciplinary approach to the study of theatre
- Demonstrate an ability for close attentive reading of a variety of French plays
- Make meaningful contrasts and comparisons between the various texts studied, using both English and French.

Learning outcomes
On completion of this module students should have gained:
- Familiarity with crucial debates in relevant literary criticism and aesthetic theory
- Familiarity with the particularities of early modern French theatre
- An in-depth knowledge of the tragi-comic genre
- Enhanced linguistic competence overall and specifically with reference to the fields dealt with.

Skills outcomes
Cultural awareness.
Ability to analyse and discuss critically literary and theoretical texts.
Ability to study theatre in an interdisciplinary manner.
Oral and written expression in an appropriate academic register, in both English and French.

Syllabus

The module will focus on four plays in order to trace the evolution of the genre of tragi-comedy in the seventeenth century. We will start with a text that typifies what was meant traditionally by a 'classical tragi-comedy', as the genre was being forged from the existing models of tragedy and comedy. Corneille’s Le Cid in 1637 – and the year-long literary quarrel that it caused, causing the Académie française to intervene – will be a particular focal point for the module, as we look at why this play caused such controversy. We will then turn our attention to two 'problematic' tragi-comedies: one where the boundaries are blurred between genres (the end of tragi-comedy?), and the work of one of the first female playwrights to write for the professional theatre in France, and the reasons why she chose to engage with this problematic genre. Whilst focussing on tragi-comedies, we shall place the contemporary aesthetic debates in their particular context of tragedy and comedy across the early modern period, and examine the legacy – and the reasons behind – the 'rules' facing any ambitious playwright at the time.

Teaching methods

Delivery type	Number	Length hours	Student hours
Video & Discussion	1	2.50	2.50
Lecture	10	1.00	10.00
Seminar	10	1.00	10.00
Private study hours			177.50
Total Contact hours			22.50
Total hours (100hr per 10 credits)			200.00

Private study

Students will be expected to prepare for seminars and the assessments by a) reading texts, b) preparing group presentations, c) reflecting on specific research questions, d) carrying out bibliographical research
Additionally, in preparation for the assessments, students will be expected to a) hand in practice essay in semester 1, b) be active in seminar discussions, c) give feedback and ask questions after weekly seminar presentations, d) conduct independent research using the library sources
Precise numbers of hours will vary per student.
Students will have the opportunity to attend an optional screening of one of the plays on the syllabus, in order to see one way in which the play may be interpreted from the page to the stage, and to appreciate the difference between reading a play and seeing a play.

Opportunities for Formative Feedback

Student progress will be monitored in the following ways:
Formal written formative feedback on practice essay during semester 1 and on the first piece of work at the start of Semester 2.
Informal formative feedback on oral presentations in both semesters and on seminar contributions throughout.

Methods of assessment

Coursework

Assessment type	Notes	% of formal assessment
Essay	3000 words in French	50.00
Total percentage (Assessment Coursework)		50.00

Normally resits will be assessed by the same methodology as the first attempt, unless otherwise stated

Exams

Exam type	Exam duration	% of formal assessment
Standard exam (closed essays, MCQs etc)	2 hr 00 mins	50.00
Total percentage (Assessment Exams)		50.00

Normally resits will be assessed by the same methodology as the first attempt, unless otherwise stated

Reading list

The reading list is available from the Library website

Last updated: 25/03/2015

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