Heroines, Reframed: French Literature on Screen

Course Description

Summary

French literature and film have always reciprocally inspired one another – as early as 1897, Lumière represented the main characters of Hugo’s "Les Misérables". This course will offer students the opportunity to analyze literary representations of women and their film adaptations in terms of intermediality and intertextuality. Adaptations will include: "The Nun" (Diderot/Rivette), "House of Pleasure" (Maupassant/Ophüls), Black Girl… (Sembène/Sembène),"The Captive" (Proust/Akerman), "Saint Omer" (Alice Diop). Students will focus on various adaptation strategies and approaches. They will discuss adaptation theory, including Millicent’s Marcus concept of “umbilical scenes”, the translation of thought, literary and film metaphors, as well as Glissant’s concept of “Relation”. Taught in English.