Francophone Peace Studies: Worldwide Activism in Literature and Film

(3 Credit Hours) · Undergraduate

This course closely examines Francophone works of literature and film that grapple with the difficulties of promoting peace in various locations around the world today. Not only are activism and peacebuilding crucial questions in the creative texts we study, but they are also the focus of discussions that extend "beyond" the text, as we explore the efforts of writers and filmmakers to serve as advocates for positive change in very real ways. Various concepts of "engagement," as well as relationships between language and politics, are at the center of our reflections. There is a substantial theoretical component to this course, including works by French thinkers Pierre Bourdieu, Hélène Cixous, Jacques Derrida, Michel Foucault, and Serge Margel, alongside the writings of postcolonial critics and recent publications in the area of peace studies. Taught in French.