Intimate Exposures: Fifty Years of French First-Person Cinema (Ordinary) (U04327)

? Credit Points : 20 ? SCQF Level : 9 ? Acronym : LLC-3-U04140

The so-called cinema of the self is a predominant current in contemporary French film-making. Unlike autobiographical documentary films, this cinema emphasises the construction, not the recording, of a self, via filmic journeys into the selfhood and identity of a talismanic figure closely identified with sometimes identical to the film-director. Emphasis on personal histories, memories, desires and itineraries (sometimes invented) as a key to identity provides an autobiographical aspect to such films, although autobiography has only slippery relations with the cinema. Challenging ways in which the self can be represented, these films belong to a Nouvelle Vague film-making tradition (as will be explored). Through their fascination with the screening, staging and exposure of the self, they also participate in a postmodern preoccupation in contemporary French culture with all that is testimonial, confessional, intimate and personal. These films reveal connections between personal identity and traumatic legacies of war and colonial conflict; cultural memory and amnesia; gender, sexuality, AIDS, and ethnic difference.

? Keywords : contemporary French cinema

Entry Requirements

? Pre-requisites : Ordinary Students only

Subject Areas

Home subject area

European Languages and Cultures - French, (School of Literatures, Languages and Cultures, Schedule G)

Delivery Information

? Normal year taken : 3rd year

? Delivery Period : Semester 1 (Blocks 1-2)

? Contact Teaching Time : 2 hour(s) per week for 11 weeks

All of the following classes

Type	Day	Start	End	Area
Tutorial	Thursday	11:10	13:00	Central

Summary of Intended Learning Outcomes

Intended learning outcomes specific to this course are:

- A familiarity with theories relating to self-representation, both within and beyond the cinematic medium.
- Knowledge of a series of post-war and especially contemporary French films; more specifically, knowledge of the work of leading contemporary film-makers who form the backbone of the movement known as 'le jeune cinema'.
- The development of analytical strategies specific to film leading to the production of close readings of core filmic texts.
- An ability to conduct in depth critical analysis of a body of works, and an interdisciplinary study of these works having its roots in theories of autobiographical representation.
- An understanding of issues relevant in a contemporary French context to the development of personal identity in individual French subjects, particularly: memory, sexual/ethnic difference, war/conflict; AIDS.

By the end of the course, students will be expected to show the ability:
to demonstrate advanced knowledge and understanding of the subject;
to recognise and acknowledge the complexity of the subject;
to show a good understanding of, and apply competently, complex conceptual frameworks;
to construct coherent arguments which demonstrate an awareness of the problems posed by the texts and issues which they are studying;
to demonstrate a high level of expression in both written and oral presentations;
to demonstrate the mastery of relevant technical terminology and research methods;
to offer alternative perspectives, identify and accommodate ambiguities and show an awareness of nuance;
to develop original ideas;
to demonstrate an awareness of the research agenda relating to the topic.

Assessment Information

One course essay contributing 30% of the final mark for the course. One three-hour examination, with two equally weighted essays, contributing 70% of the final mark for the course.