Clichés. L’écriture à l’épreuve de la photographie

With the invention of photography, the relation of writing to the world—to history, memory, or the gaze—undergoes a radical change. In this course, we will try to understand how snapshots, these lasting images of things, have been inscribed into literature and thought. We will read a number of texts where the photographic image is staged (Proust, Claude Simon, Guibert, Perec, Tournier...) or questioned (Barthes, Derrida, Didi-Huberman, Baudrillard); and we will analyze some artworks that deviate its logic (Sophie Calle, ORLAN). We will also explore the ties between photography and the cinematographic medium that stems from it (Marker, Godard). Prerequisite: a course at the 600- or 700-level or equivalent proficiency. Contact the instructor to verify your proficiency if you have not taken French at Brown. Taught in French.