History of French Literature - The Middle Ages and the 16th century

obligatory courses

Blended learning

The aim of the lecture is to present basic features of the French literature of the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, and to show its evolution. This concerns not only typically literary aspects (genres, conventions, reception) but also the cultural issues, because the literary texts are embedded in the context of mentality, social life, and the intellectual and spiritual concerns of these epochs.

The aim of this French lecture is to familiarise students with the most interesting literary phenomena of the French Middle Ages and Renaissance by using the most recent research, with an emphasis on a novel perspective on issues characteristic of historic texts. The lecture is an introduction to the issues of French literature of the Middle Ages and the Renaissance and makes students aware of the specificity of the discussed literary epochs. It presents their socio-cultural background, and the most important philosophical and aesthetic currents with their main representatives. The lecture also explains some basic literary notions, and presents the most important literary genres and authors.

Topics discussed in the lecture:

The chivalric epic in the Middle Ages - the ideal of the knight, the ideal of the ruler; Troubadours and trouveres - Provençal lyricism and Northern lyricism; The ideal of courtly love and "Breton matter" (Tristan and Isolde, Lais Marie de France); Arthurian novel (Chrétien de Troyes); Lyric poetry: Christine de Pisan, Charles d'Orléans, Villon; Main currents of Renaissance poetry: Great Rhetoricians, Clément Marot, Lyon school (Maurice Scève, Louise Labé), Le Pléiade (Joachim Du Bellay, Ronsard); Sixteenth-century prose writers: Rabelais and Margaret of Navarre; New genre - Essais of Michel de Montaigne.

The list below contains only the sources and handbooks which are supplementary to the lecture. It is designed for students who wish to expand their knowledge. In order to pass the course, it is enough to study the material discussed during the lecture.

1. D. Poirion, Précis de littérature française du Moyen Age, Paris, 1983;

3. M. Zink, Introduction à la littérature française du Moyen Age, Paris, 1993;

4. M. Bideaux, A. Tournon, H. Moreau, Histoire de la littérature française du XVIe siècle, Nathan, 1991.

5. Brunel, Y. Bellenger, D. Couty, Ph. Sellier, M. Truffet, Histoire de la littérature française, Bordas, 1972.

6. J. Cornette, Chronique de la France moderne. Le XVIe siècle, SEDES, Paris, 1995.

8. M.-L. Demonet-Launay, XVIe siècle, 1460-1610, Bordas, 1987.

9. A. Jouanna, La France du XVIe siècle, PUF, Paris, 1996.

10. A. Jouanna, J. Boucher, D. Biloghi. G. Le Thiec, La France de la Renaissance. Histoire et dictionnaire des guerres de religion, Robert Laffont, Paris, 1998.

11. A. Jouanna, P. Hamon, D. Biloghi. G. Le Thiec, La France de la Renaissance. Histoire et dictionnaire, Robert Laffont, Paris, 2001.

12. Littérature française, coll. de poche, Arthaud, 1984.

13. D. Ménager, Introduction à la vie littéraire du XVIe s., Dunod, 1997.

14. Lestringant, J. Rieu, A. Tarrete, Littérature française du XVIe siècle, "Premier cycle ", PUF, Paris, 2000.

15. Précis de littérature française du XVIe s., sous la dir. de R. Aulotte, PUF, 1991.

16. Philippe Desan, Montaigne. Penser le social, Odile Jacob, Paris, 2018.

17. Philippe Desan, Montaigne. Une biographie politique, Odile Jacob, Paris, 2014.

18. Jean-Marie Le Gall, Défense et illustration de la Renaissance, PUF, Paris, 2018

K_W02 The student has a structured knowledge and understanding of French literature of the Middle Ages and Renaissance, and understands literary phenomena and their multifaceted influence on the development of literary theories.

K_W03 The student has knowledge and understanding of the specialist terminology characteristic of medieval times, and the methodology of research on French texts from the Middle Ages and Renaissance.

K_W08 The student has the knowledge and understanding of the multifaceted relations of French medieval and renaissance literature to historic and cultural processes.

K_W09 The student has the advanced knowledge and understanding of selected events of French history, and important aspects and features of French culture, characteristic of the Middle Ages and Renaissance.

K_U13 The student can access and gather information independently, and can develop skills with the help of adequate sources.

K_K05 The student is ready to show respect and care for preserving the French cultural heritage.

Students will be allowed to take the exam if they meet the following criteria:

- attendance in class (3 absences are allowed)

- the result above 60% from the test (minimum one) which will be conducted during the classes

Examination form: The examination has a form of a written test.

Criteria of exam passing: at least 60% of the total number of the exam points