Literary revolution or literary trifle? Non-human narrator in selected works of contemporary Francophone prose. 3304-1DPXW-KL-016
The course will familiarize students with selected texts of
Francophone prose that fit into the trend of posthumanism and are
an example of unusual narratives where the narrator is a non-human
being. The aim of the course is to acquaint students with this
unusual and perhaps revolutionary type of narrator in Francophone
literature and to analyse the narrative techniques related to him. We
will try to answer the questions of what the novelty of the analysed
texts is, to what extent they fit into a posthumanist perspective and
to what extent it is even possible to create such construction of a
truly „non-human” narrator.
Selected topics for the course:
1) What is posthumanism? – characteristics and possible
definitions.
2) Basic methodological concepts: ecocriticism, ecopoetics,
zoopoetics, Animal Studies, Plant Studies and others.
3) Basic terms required for narrative analysis (according to
Genette's narratology)
4) What tale does the wolf-narrator tell? – Caroline Audibert,
Nés de la nuit [all the course texts translated into Polish]
5) Tree-narrator and his diary... – Didier van Cauwelaert, Le
Journal intime d'un arbre.
6) AI as a detective: crime novel from a perspective of an
Artificial Intelligence – Christopher Bouix, Alfie.
7) Alien-narrator, is it really that… alien? – Vincent Message,
Défaite des maîtres et possesseurs.
8) Comparative perspective (1): Who are the „unnamed
inhabitants of walls, floors and ceilings” in Olga
Tokarczuk's Empuzjon?
9) Comparative perspective (2): Klara and the Sun versus
Humanity and the Cooting’s Machine. Android narrative in
Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro.
Since posthumanism and the phenomenon of the non-human
narrator are not issues confined solely to the Francophone world, I
propose the following course outline:
A significant part of the semester will be devoted to Francophone
texts, while for the final two readings I propose one Polish and one
English text. In the sessions dedicated to these, we will focus
primarily on comparative analyses – comparing them with all the
previously discussed Francophone texts in order to deepen earlier
analyses and perhaps to discover new interpretative pathways. All
texts will be discussed in Polish.
Mode
Course coordinators
Learning outcomes
The student knows the terminology of the humanities.
The student has in-depth knowledge of the processes taking
place in the areas of culture, language and literature.
The student has in-depth knowledge of the culture of France
and French-speaking countries.
The student has in-depth knowledge of cultural institutions
and phenomena in France and French speaking countries.
The student is able to use various sources and methods,
including modern information technologies, to search,
analyze, evaluate, select and use information necessary to
participate in classes and to form critical judgments on this
basis. S/He freely uses various lexicographical and
grammatical sources.
The student has in-depth research skills, including analysis
of the work of other authors, synthesis of various ideas and
views, selection of methods and construction of research
tools, elaboration and presentation of results allowing for
original solving of complex problems in the scope necessary
to participate in scientific discussion and preparation of own
scientific works.
The student is able to carry out a critical analysis and
interpretation of various products of culture (language,
literature, art) with the use of original and new methods, to
determine their meanings, social impact, place in the
historical and cultural process.
The student has the ability to formulate critical opinions
about cultural products, based on scientific knowledge and
personal experience, and the ability to present these opinions
in various forms and media
Assessment criteria
Attendance and participation in class; final project – a written
assignment completed either in pairs or individually; written test;
oral assessment.
Bibliography
Texts studied in class:
Audibert Caroline, Nés de la nuit, Plon, Paris 2020.
Bouix Christopher, Alfie, Au diable vauvert, Vauvert 2022.
van Cauwelaert Didier, Le Journal intime d’un arbre,
Michel Lafon, Paris 2011.
Ishiguro Kazuo, Klara and the Sun, Faber & Faber, London
2022.
Message Vincent, Défaite des maîtres et possesseurs,
Points, Paris 2016.
Tokarczuk Olga, Empuzjon, Wydawnictwo Literackie,
Kraków 2022.
Chosen bibliography:
Bakke Monika, Bio-transfiguracje. Sztuka i estetyka
posthumanizmu, Wydawnictwo Naukowe Uniwersytetu im.
Adama Mickiewicza w Poznaniu, Poznań 2015.
Barcz Anna, „Posthumanizm i jego zwierzęce odgłosy w
literaturze”, Teksty Drugie, 2013, nr 1-2, s. 60-79.
Bogusławski Marcin M., „Posthumanizm jako ideologia i
perspektywa badawcza”, Hybris, 2019, nr 46, s. 1-39.
Braidotti Rosi, Po człowieku, przeł. J. Bednarek, A.
Kowalczyk, PWN, Warszawa 2014.
Buekens Sara, « L’écopoétique : une nouvelle approche de
la littérature française », Elfe XX-XXI, 2019, nr 8.
Collot Michel, Un nouveau sentiment de la nature, Éditions
Corti, Paris 2022.
Garrard Greg, Ecocrticism, Routledge, Londyn – Nowy Jork
2004.
Genette Gérard, Figures III, Éditions du Seuil, Paris 1972.
Korwin-Piotrowska Dorota, Poetyka - przewodnik po
świecie tekstów, Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu
Jagiellońskiego, Kraków 2011.
Michał, Kostkiewiczowa Teresa, Okopień-Sławińska
Aleksandra, Sławiński Janusz, Słownik terminów
literackich, Wrocław, Zakład Narodowy im. Ossolińskich,
2008.
Schoentjes Pierre, « Perspectives écopoétiques : écologie et
écriture », Histoire de la recherche contemporaine, Tome X,
2021, nr 1, s. 60-65.
Simon Anne, Une bête entre les lignes. Essai de
zoopoétique, Éditions Wildproject, Marseille 2021.
Zawojski Piotr, „Posthumanizm, czyli humanizm naszych
czasów”. Kultura i Historia, 2017, nr 32, s. 68–76.
Additional information
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