Undergraduate Course: Intimate Exposures: Fifty Years of French First-Person Cinema (ELCF10068)
Course Outline
| School | School of Literatures, Languages and Cultures |
College | College of Humanities and Social Science |
| Course type | Standard |
Availability | Not available to visiting students |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 10 (Year 4 Undergraduate) |
Credits | 20 |
| Home subject area | European Languages and Cultures - French |
Other subject area | None |
| Course website |
None |
Taught in Gaelic? | No |
| Course description | 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. |
Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
| Pre-requisites |
Students MUST have passed:
French 2 (ELCF08001)
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Co-requisites | |
| Prohibited Combinations | |
Other requirements | Entry to Honours in French |
| Additional Costs | None |
Course Delivery Information
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| Delivery period: 2012/13 Semester 1, Not available to visiting students (SS1)
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Learn enabled: Yes |
Quota: None |
| Location |
Activity |
Description |
Weeks |
Monday |
Tuesday |
Wednesday |
Thursday |
Friday |
| Central | Seminar | | 1-11 | | 11:10 - 13:00 | | | |
| First Class |
First class information not currently available |
| Exam Information |
| Exam Diet |
Paper Name |
Hours:Minutes |
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| Main Exam Diet S1 (December) | | 1:30 | | |
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.
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Assessment Information
One 2,000 word essay (40%) and one 90 minute exam (60%)
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Special Arrangements
| None |
Additional Information
| Academic description |
Not entered |
| Syllabus |
Not entered |
| Transferable skills |
Not entered |
| Reading list |
Not entered |
| Study Abroad |
Not entered |
| Study Pattern |
Not entered |
| Keywords | contemporary French cinema |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Dr Claire Boyle
Tel: (0131 6)50 4024
Email: claire.boyle@ed.ac.uk |
Course secretary | Mrs Alison Edie
Tel: (0131 6)50 8421
Email: Alison.Edie@ed.ac.uk |
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© Copyright 2012 The University of Edinburgh - 31 August 2012 3:56 am
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