Avant-garde French Literature

Artists, poets, film makers and cultural critics all struggled to understand the place of the arts amidst the radical change of the twentieth century. As a course in literary and cultural history the course will concentrate on the art works, films and novels and films created in Paris in the last hundred years.

The course will foreground the works of the literary avant-garde and their often playful experiments in literary and artistic form. Breton's 'Manifeste du surrealisme' begins discussion of Picasso, Duchamp and Bu%F1uel's film 'Un chien andalou'. Short works by Sartre, Ionesco and Beckett exemplify the 'Theatre of the Absurd' which in turn presages the ludic workshop of the 'Ouvroir de Litterature Potentielle', represented by Queneau's 'Zazie dans le metro' and Perec's 'Les choses' and we ask whether Guy Debord's Situationism of May '68' is the last Parisian art wave.

Using the detective story to touch on the nouveau roman with Robbe-Grillet's La Jalousie and the nouvelle vague cinema through Godard's A bout de souffle, the end of the course will look at how the hard-boiled novel and film noir moved from sub-culture to pantheon. Novels, Pennac's 'La fee carabine' and Fred Vargas' 'Sous les vents de Neptune'; films, Clouzot's 'Quai des orf%E8vres', and Jacques' 'Audiard Un Proph%E8te'. Practical work to be included in the course will include the use of the French collection at the Courtauld Institute

Period
04-07-2011 - 29-07-2011 (4 weeks)

Target group
The University of Sussex International Summer School welcomes applicants from a wide range of educational backgrounds. Although most of you will be currently enrolled at a university or college, we also welcome applicants who have been away from education for some years, as well as highly committed senior high school students - for some courses a good general education, an open mind and lots of enthusiasm are the main qualifications. For some other courses you will see that prerequisites are listed - applicants for these courses are expected to submit transcripts to demonstrate that they have taken, or are currently taking, the necessary precursors.

Course aim
This is a great opportunity for secondary school students to prepare for college and acquire college credit, which you will usually be able to transfer to a future undergraduate degree. The International Summer School provides an opportunity to meet and study with people from different countries and cultures, on a cosmopolitan campus. The large range of courses on offer allows you to get ahead with credit in core courses, or simply to experiment with something new.

Credits
9.0 ECTS creditsCredits Extra information:This is a great opportunity for secondary school students to prepare for college and acquire college credit, which you will usually be able to transfer to a future undergraduate degree. The International Summer School provides an opportunity to meet and study with people from different countries and cultures, on a cosmopolitan campus. The large range of courses on offer allows you to get ahead with credit in core courses, or simply to experiment with something new.

Course fee
GBP 1250: Tuition only (one four week session).

GBP 2350: Tuition only (both four week ISS sessions).

Course leader
Christopher Sykes

Scholarships
The University of Sussex offers a limited number of scholarships for participation in the ISS in the form of partial fee waivers to students from developing countries who have high potential for future leadership in their field of study or career.

University of Sussex
Address: University of Sussex Brighton
Postal code: BN1 9RF
City: Brighton
Country: United Kingdom
Website: http://www.sussex.ac.uk/iss/
E-mail: issoffice@sussex.ac.uk
Phone: 00441273678406