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Course Descriptions Expressionist/Dada/Surrealist Film
André Breton, founder of surrealism, declared Murnau’s Nosferatu to be the most haunting of films: what of German expressionism passes over into Dada and Surrealist film? How does a film in incarnate a surrealist project ? To what extent does the fantastic militate against the "believable"? What has carried on into recent films: does ‘transrealism’ work as a notion?
This seminar will examine some classic films of these several genres – as well as what connects them – and then their legacy, in the wake of the surrealist epoch, as it can be variously interpreted. For want of a better term, I am using the term "transrealist" here .
Readings of film critics such as Kyrou, Matthews, etc. – and discussion of their points of view. The films will be chosen from this list, most probably, with substitutions if it seems advisable:
I. Murnau: Nosferatu, Last Laugh, Vampyr;Dreyer: Vampyr; Robert Wiene/Fritz Lang: Cabinet of Dr. Caligari; Fritz Lang: Dr. Mabuse; Paul Leni; The Cat and the Canary
II. Leger: Cinema mécanique; Bunuel, Dali: Le Chien andalou, L’Age d’or, La voie lactée; Germaine Dulac/Antonin Artaud: La Coquille et le clergyman; Desnos/Man Ray: L’Etoile de mer, Man Ray: Le mystPre du Château de dés (and some other brief Man Ray films); Joseph Cornell: gnir rednow – and Brakhage (Anthology); Jean Epstein: Fall of the House of Usher.
III. Todd Browning: Freaks, 1932, Dracula, 1931; Merian Cooper : King Kong, 1933; Fellini: Satiricon; Kurosawa: Dreams; Leo McCarey: Duck Soup, The Awful Truth; Bergman: Wild Srawberries; Henry Hathaway: Peter Ibbetson 1935.
IV. Albert Lewin: Pandora and the Flying Dutchman 1951; Woody Allen: Zelig; Greenaway: Prospero’s Books; Jean-Jacques Beneix: 37.2 zero le matin/Betty Blue. And.... Open for discussion.
The reading of some of the standard expressionist, Dada, and surrealist texts will accompany our examination, and oral reports will discuss those as well as the films. Two papers, a shorter, mid-term, and a longer, as well as informal paragraphs commenting on the screenings.
Théorie et poésie française, 19e-20e
L’accompagnement théorique de la Poésie française, de la fin du XIXe à la fin
du XXe siècle.
L’étude portera entre autres sur : La découverte du monde en poésie :- Les techniques de la modernité. – Poésie et Révolution . – Poésie et Politique . – Le refus du lyrisme . – Les Poétiques du Sud .
-Victor Segalen : Introduction au poème Stèles.
-Guillaume Appolinaire : Le poème Zone .
- Blaise Cendrars : La Prose du Transsibérien (Première partie).
-O.V. de L. Milosz : Un poème .
-Tristan Tzara : Le Manifeste Dada .
-André Breton : Premier Manifeste du Surréalisme .
-Paul Eluard : Le poème Liberté.
-Paul Claudel : Le poème La Muse qui est la grâce .
-Francis Ponge : Le parti-pris des choses (extrait).
-Aimé Césaire : Poésie et connaissance (texte publié dans la revue Tropiques) .
Evolution and Structure of the French Language
The French Language: Origins, Structure, and Use in Past and Present
This course offers an introduction to the evolution of the French language, from its origins to its contemporary uses. It is aimed at reflecting on the relations in its evolution between language and society, language and literature. Following a discussion of the characteristics of French vis-a-vis other Romance languages, we will analyze how French developed from Latin in its principal aspects, and read some of the earliest Gallo-Romance documents. Topics of external history will include the contrast between Renaissance expressionism and purism during the classical age; the question of Standard French vs. dialects and patois; the institutional forces that govern the evolution of French; the varieties of French and the tendencies in the use of contemporary French; its relations to other languages; spoken vs. written language. There will be frequent comparisons with aspects of the history of the Italian language. Readings of works by Du Bellay, Vaugelas, Rivarol, Grégoire, De Gourmont, Etiemble, as well as sampling from literary languages. Students will also be introduced to the principal reference works in the field (dictionaries, grammars, etc.). No previous training in linguistics required. Text: Anthony Lodge, From Dialect to Standard (Routledge)(trans. Le français. Histoire d'un dialecte devenu langue, Fayard). Other required readings will be available at the Mina Rees Library.
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