Post-War France: Tradition and Transformation

The end of World War II provoked a crisis in French society.  Conflicts born out of the Revolution of 1789 and only imperfectly resolved in the 19th and early-20th centuries emerged full force in 1945.  The traditional guardians of order?-the church, the army and the right?-were held to blame for France's humiliating defeat and subsequent collaboration with the Nazis.  Meanwhile, radical and marginalized elements of French society--Socialists, Communists, workers, peasants and Jews--now appeared to be the true saviors of national honor.  Events of the 50's and 60's would bring France to the brink of civil war: rural protests, colonial wars in Vietnam and Algeria, and the massive strikes and student protests of 1968.  Yet this tumultuous twenty-year period also witnessed a remarkable flowering of artistic and intellectual life.  Existentialism, New Wave cinema, the Theater of the Absurd, along with new forms of Christian Socialism and Feminism all flourished in France at this time.  In this course, we will study postwar French culture in the context of the political events of the period from 1946-68.

This is a team-taught course, which means that one day per week we will meet together, and one other day will be spent in either an English or a French discussion group, depending on the section for which you registered.  We would like to encourage those of you who chose History 313 to think about doing a FLIC option (foreign language integrated course);  that is, completing a portion of the reading, research and or writing for the course in French.   Please consult with us for more information on this option.

Texts:

We will make available to you in the course documents folder on Blackboard a number of other texts, including essays, political speeches, newspaper articles and videos.   In addition, the French Film Series for this spring has been "dedicated" to this course.  You are expected to attend as many of the films as possible, since they will often serve as a basis for, or be germane to, class discussion.

Evaluation:  You will be asked to write three take-home exams in this course, and to produce a multimedia, Hyperstudio presentation for your final research project, in collaboration with others in the class.  The Hyperstudio project has several deadlines, as we ask you to indicate your proposed area of study, to outline your subject, to complete an annotated bibliography, and to submit a presentation outline.  The last two weeks of class are reserved for the completed presentations.  Exams are worth 50% of your final grade; the Hyperstudio project is worth 30%; your  participation in class discussion and your contributions to Blackboard group discussions are worth 20%.
 

Go to Course Syllabus