L’animal dans la culture contemporaine

From reports of animals stranded in conflict zones and natural calamities, to cute or clever animals cast in advertisements and popular media, from the rat of Ratatouille to the caged orangutan of Nénette, the new interest in the animal marks an age of heightened awareness of the costs and ironies of the human story. We will consider in this course significant representations of the animal in contemporary French and Francophone literature, film, visual art, cultural theory and media representations. We will also revisit earlier moments linking the animal to modernity, including early film/photography and urban history. Taught in French.