FRE 365 - African Literary Culture: Prizes, Bestsellers, Celebrity

This course explores award-winning and popular African novels written in French and the sociological phenomena of the literary prize and the bestseller. Students study the complicated relationship between literature, economics and (geo)politics. Case studies interrogate the category of “African literature”- looking at the controversial reception of certain writers and delve into debates over intertextuality and plagiarism. Students develop a new interdisciplinary approach to understanding literary texts through a sociological lens, by reading scholarship on prizes, bestsellers, literary genres, reading publics, and celebrity. Over the course of the semester students come to think of themselves as critics and writers- publishing book reviews, creating booktube or booktok videos, and authoring a short story. As part of their final project students also participate as jury members for a literary prize.

Satisfies French and Francophone Studies major and minor requirement
Satisfies Africana Studies major and minor requirement
Satisfies Literary Studies, Creative Writing, and Rhetoric requirement.
Satisfies Cultural Diversity requirement.

 

Prerequisites & Notes
FRE 220