French 421

Literature of Francophone Louisiana

Professeur : D. Kress
Tel. 5252
Courriel: dkress@centenary.edu
Heures de bureau: 3-4 MW, 2-4 F

Required texts:

Testut, Charles. Le Vieux Salomon. Les Cahiers du Tintamarre.
Mercier, Alfred. L’Habitation St. Ybars. Les Cahiers du Tintamarre.
Paroles d’honneur : Écrits de Créoles de couleur néo-orléanais. Éd. Chris Michaelides. Éditions Tintamarre
La Houssaye, Sidonie de. Les Quarteronnes de la Nouvelle-Orléans. Éd. Christian Hommel. Éditions Tintamarre.
Contes et Récits de la Louisiane créole. Texte établi par Ashley Owens. Les Cahiers du Tintamarre.

There will be two class-packs for this class—one for poetry and one for short fiction.

N.B. While most of the material you READ will date from the 19th century, expect to spend a great deal of classtime listenting to works produced during the 20th century. This material, part of Louisiana's rich oral tradition, will be available only in class. With this in mind your regular attendance in this class is of the utmost importance.

In this course we will focus on the literature of Francophone Louisiana. This domain of French literature, little studied until recently, produced rich prose and verse. We will attempt to arrive at an understanding of the ideas that shaped the literature of colonial Louisiana so that we may more justly appreciate the writings produced during the 300 years of Louisiana history. Historically the thrust of French studies has tended to minimize the importance of the literature produced in former French colonies; today the 150,000 Louisiana French-speakers are discovering their proud and vital heritage.

Grading for French 421

Translation of 20-25 lines of poetry written by a Créole de couleur 20
Quizzes 30
Presentations 20
Paper in lieu of final exam 30

N.B.
French minors will not be expected to show the same mastery of the material as French majors. In a similar way, those who are enrolled in this course as a senior seminar will be graded more rigorously than other students.

Presentations: Each student will research and present to the class a 20 minute exposé on one of the following 20th century scholars, writers, or musicians:

Scholars: Gwendolyn M. Hall, Sybil Kein, James Dormom, Mathé Allain, Barry Jean Ancelet, Bill Marshall, Sherry Abel, Werner Sollors, Edward Larocque Tinker, Caryn-Cossé Bell, Frans Amelinckx

Writers: Zachary Richard, Barry Jean Ancelet, Deborah Clifton, Kirby Jambon, David Cheramie, May Waggoner, Beverly Matherne, Ronnie Chatelaine or musicians:

Musicians: Zachary Richard, Geno Delafose, Bois-Sec Ardoin, Queen Ida, Clifton Chénier, Rocky McKeon

Paper: The paper in this class will be a literary history of 20th century French Louisiana. The final version will be due on the day of the final exam. This is a research paper so get started early! Note the due dates for the various parts.The paper will be written in four parts, each section dealing with a quarter century and each section should be approximately three pages in length.

A language course is different from other courses at the college because you work on oral communication skills. The only place you can work on these skills is in class. Other classes may not require your attendance because you can learn the material from the book; however, there is no substitute for the dynamic interaction that takes place between you and your teacher--a trained language acquisition specialist. For this reason this course has a strong policy on absences.

Students who have 3 absences will have their final grade lowered one full letter. For additional absences there will be a penalty of 2 points per day before the letter grade is dropped.

EMPLOI DU TEMPS: 

I. Semaine du 11 au 13 janvier

II. Semaine du 18 au 20 janvier

lundi:	MLK Day
mercredi:	Anthologie de poésie louisianaise du XIXe siècle

III. Semaine du 25 au 27 janvier

lundi:	Anthologie de poésie louisianaise du XIXe siècle
mercredi:	Les Quarteronnes de la Nouvelle-Orléans--Octavia.

IV. Semaine du 1 au 3 février

lundi:	Les Quarteronnes de la Nouvelle-Orléans--Octavia. Paper, Part I Due
mercredi:	Les Quarteronnes de la Nouvelle-Orléans--Octavia.

V. Semaine du 8 au 10 février

lundi:	Les Quarteronnes de la Nouvelle-Orléans--Octavia. Translations due!
mercredi:	Paroles d’honneur : Écrits de Créoles de couleur néo-orléanais

VI. Semaine du 15 au 19 février

lundi:	Mardi Gras
mercredi:	Mardi Gras
vendredi:	Mardi Gras

VII. Semaine du 22 au 24 février.

lundi:	Paroles d’honneur : Écrits de Créoles de couleur néo-orléanais
mercredi:	Paroles d’honneur : Écrits de Créoles de couleur néo-orléanais

VIII. Semaine du 1 au 3 mars.

lundi:	Paroles d’honneur : Écrits de Créoles de couleur néo-orléanais, Paper, Part II Due
mercredi:	Contes et Récits de la Louisiane créole

IX. Semaine du 8 au 10 mars

lundi:	Contes et Récits de la Louisiane créole
mercredi:	Contes et Récits de la Louisiane créole

X. Semaine du 15 au 17 mars

lundi:	Alfred Mercier, L’Habitation Saint-Ybars.
mercredi:	Alfred Mercier, L’Habitation Saint-Ybars.

XI. Semaine du 22 au 24 mars

lundi:	Alfred Mercier, L’Habitation Saint-Ybars. Paper, Part III Due
mercredi:	Alfred Mercier, L’Habitation Saint-Ybars.

XII. Semaine du 29 au 31 au 2 avril

lundi:	Alfred Mercier, L’Habitation Saint-Ybars.
mercredi:	Alfred Mercier, L’Habitation Saint-Ybars.
vendredi:	Pâques

XIII. Semaine du 5 au 7 avril

lundi:	Charles Testut, Le Vieux Salomon.
mercredi:	Charles Testut, Le Vieux Salomon.

XIV. Semaine du 12 au 14 avril

lundi:	Charles Testut, Le Vieux Salomon. Paper, Part IV Due
mercredi:	Charles Testut, Le Vieux Salomon.

XV. Semaine du 19 au 21 avril

lundi:	Charles Testut, Le Vieux Salomon.
mercredi:	Charles Testut, Le Vieux Salomon.

XVI. Semaine du 26 avril au 29 avril