Fragmented France: Cultures and Identities in Transition

Learning Outcomes

Subject Specific Intellectual and Research Skills

Having successfully completed this module you will be able to:

• Constructively criticise the Republican ideological discourse in the light of the ethnographic concrete practices of 'Vivre ensemble'
• develop critical skills focusing on both the Republican ideology and French socio-cultural practices
• define, present, discuss and exemplify concepts related to the French republican ideology
• select, synthetise and critically discuss key political and sociological terminology

Knowledge and Understanding

Having successfully completed this module, you will be able to demonstrate knowledge and understanding of:

• the similarities and dissimilarities between the political ideologies, cultures and societies of the Francophone world and your own culture
• various dimensions of the debates on Republicanism and French identity at times of social and political change (Europeanisation and globalisation)
• historical identities of different social/ethnic groups and their expression within the economic, social, political and cultural contexts of contemporary France and the Francophone world.
• Key elements of French cultural identity taking into account students' own experience of France and its diversity.

Subject Specific Practical Skills

Having successfully completed this module you will be able to:

• Read, evaluate, summarise and synthesise texts in French and English.

Transferable and Generic Skills

Having successfully completed this module you will be able to:

• Adhere to guidelines and deadlines
• Communicate your ideas in a coherent and cogent fashion through oral presentations and written work.
• Plan and organise your learning journey exercising independence and initiative
• Participate in group discussions.
• Make use of library resources, archives, online materials

This option will examine the relationship between French identity and culture since 1981 with the elections of François Mitterrand by exploring the ways in which identities of different social groups are expressed within the economic, political and cultural contexts of contemporary France.

The beginning of the 1980s witnessed the emergence of a cultural debate about what it means to be French. Indeed much of the period was characterised by the ‘crisis of French identity’ as intellectuals and the political classes attempted to make sense of French identity in the light of challenges posed by broader global forces such as immigration, feminism, European integration and globalisation. France entered the new millennium with a reframing of the cultural identity debate in nationalistic and political terms.

The course proposes to examine the construction of Frenchness through the debates redefining traditional key cultural markers of French identity in the context of increased fragmentation and recomposition.

The introductory lectures will familiarize students with various theoretical approaches to the study of both culture and identity. Students will then examine the economic, political, social and cultural frameworks for thinking about the question of what it means to be French today. Seminars and case studies will explore themes such as language, education, sport, popular culture, heritage and museums, memory and the past, food and wine, family and ethnicity.

You will be encouraged to think critically and independently about how French cultural identity is conceptualised and how its future has been debated in response to both Europeanisation and globalisation.

Teaching and learning methods

Teaching methods include

• Weekly lectures and seminars.
• A set of weekly questions to guide you in your reading.
• Discussions arising from student-led seminars with the convenor acting as a guide and learning facilitator.
• Informal feedback from the convenor and students on oral presentations.

Learning activities include

• Directed and undirected reading in both English and French.
• Preparation of cogent and well-founded arguments for oral presentations and group discussions.
• Reviewing other students’ presentations.
• The research and completion of written assignments.

Resources & Reading list

Textbooks

Reynolds, Sian; Kidd, William.B (2000). French cultural Studies. London: Arnold.

Cole, Alistair & Raymond Gino (eds.) (2006). Redefining the French Republic. Manchester: Manchester University Press.

Warren, Kidd (2002). Culture and Identity. Basingstoke: Palgrave.

Lebovics, Herman (2004). Bringing the Empire back home: France in the Global Age. Durham NC: Duke University Press.

Kelly, Mike (2002). French culture and society: the essentials. London, UK: New York, USA: Oxford University Press.

Assessment strategy

Assessments designed to provide informal, on- feedback

• Peer and tutor feedback on seminar presentations and the short essay.
• Discussion of essay/or dissertation plans by arrangement with the tutor.

The lectures will acquaint you with the broad context of each topic, introduce you to the various historical debates, and provide the stimulus for in-depth reading in preparation for the weekly seminar. The weekly seminar will be largely student led involving group discussions of set questions and peer reviews of individual presentations which will have been posted on blackboard in advance. You will be expected to prepare material for each seminar in order to discuss the weekly questions and to provide substance to your critique of other students’ presentations. This format should also allow you to deepen your knowledge of the overall topic while providing ample opportunity to discuss and expand on areas of your interest which may not have been explicitly covered within the lectures.

The student presentation encourages you to work autonomously and to reflect on the most effective way of presenting your findings with the use of audio-visual resources. In addition, the system of informal peer feedback at the end of each presentation will stimulate you to reflect critically about how others construct and present their own ideas, which should in turn encourage self-reflection about your own abilities. The ongoing process of sharing and critiquing ideas in class combined with the preparation of a seminar presentation and short essay should equip you with the knowledge and skills needed to undertake the longer written assignment.

Summative

This is how we’ll formally assess what you have learned in this module.

Referral

This is how we’ll assess you if you don’t meet the criteria to pass this module.

Repeat

An internal repeat is where you take all of your modules again, including any you passed. An external repeat is where you only re-take the modules you failed.

Repeat Information

Repeat type: Internal & External