Contes et identités francophones

Folktales are fantastical stories, but they are also connected to social realities in profound and surprising ways. In this course we will explore what folktales and their adaptations in literature and film have to tell us about the cultures in which they are (re)told. Focusing on stories from France, the Maghreb, West Africa, the Caribbean, and North America, we will consider how storytelling and folktales both reaffirm and critique social structures and how, in former colonies of France, adaptations respond to (post)colonial realities. Using a comparative approach, we will examine how similar folkloric plots are treated across different contexts, but also how and why certain tales are privileged in each culture. Along with critical readings and films, we will study adaptations by d’Aulnoy, Perrault, Ben Jelloun, Mammeri, Senghor, Dadié, Diop, and Chamoiseau, among others. Taught in French.