Introduction to literature of Quebec 3304-1DZXW-KL-12

The aim of the course is to familiarize students with the main intellectual and aesthetic currents that shaped the literature first of New France and later of Quebec. From a sociocritical perspective, the classes will focus on developing students’ ability to analyze literary texts while taking into account the socio-political conditions prevailing in this French-speaking province of Canada. The poetics and aesthetics of the texts discussed will therefore be closely correlated with an understanding of the historical and social background from which a given work emerges. An important component of these analyses will also be the Quebec variety of the French language.

The literature of Quebec, developing from the very beginning of the French colony and later as part of the Canadian federation, presents a number of phenomena that are interesting both from a sociological and a purely aesthetic perspective. Various literary movements (Symbolism, the rural novel, urban literature, the postmodern novel, migrant literature, and the literary works of the First Nations) make it possible to better understand Quebec society itself and the transformations it has undergone, as well as to trace important literary phenomena such as the imitation and reproduction of the European canon, the gradual distancing from it, or the negotiation with inherited models, leading eventually to a break with tradition and the free search for new forms of literary expression as well as a new literary language. Questions of identity and insight into the development of Quebec society therefore provide an opportunity to develop skills in literary analysis of both classical works and fundamentally innovative or avant-garde texts, combined with an understanding of key contemporary philosophical and artistic concepts and the socio-cultural challenges of the modern world. Working on Quebec literature during the course will also provide an opportunity to broaden students’ knowledge of French by including its North American variant.

With regard to the use of artificial intelligence (AI) tools in classes and
when preparing a dissertation, the rules set out in Resolution No. 42 of the Teaching Council for the Roman Philology degree programme, dated 15 April 2024, apply.
Resolution: https://romanistyka.wn.uw.edu.pl/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/RD_uchwala_42_15-kwietnia-2024_wytyczne_SI_.pdf
Appendix: https://romanistyka.wn.uw.edu.pl/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/RD_uchwala_42_15-kwietnia-2024_wytyczne_SI_ZALACZNIK_1.pdf