Mediterranean Criss-Crossings
Instructor: Clémentine Fauré-Bellaïche
Office: Shiffman 112
Office Hours: Thursdays, 11:00am-1:00pm
Class Hours: Mon, Wed & Thurs 1:00-1:50pm
Tel: 781 736 3205
email:
- Course description:
At the intersection between the study of literature and the blooming field of Mediterranean studies, this course will explore the imaginary of the Mediterranean in major works of French and Francophone literature and film. The Mediterranean paradigm seems indeed particularly fitted to apprehend the subtle multilayeredness informing, among many others, the works of Albert Cohen, a Greek Jew from Corfou, who writes in French about transmediterranean trajectories and hybrid identities; those of Albert Camus, whose works are permeated with a Mediterranean fusional ecology, and who, along with his friends of the School of Algiers, conceptualized in the twenties and thirties the notion of a transnational “Mediterraneanness”; those of Panaït Istrati, a Romanian writer-adventurer writing in French about Mediterranean travels; or, closer to us, Joann Sfar’s formidably successful graphic novel, The Rabbi’s Cat, which humorously excavates the spiritual legacy of Franco-Algerian Judaism.
The course is also conceived as a historical outline of the Mediterranean sea. We will retrace the history of its prominent cultures – Carthaginian, Greek, Roman, Arab, Ottoman, along with the colonial powers of more recent history – but more especially the history of its many communities, both through their conflicts and cross-fertilizations. We will thus give methodological priority to the Mediterranean margins and minorities. We will in particular focus on the Mediterranean great cosmopolitan cities, such as Marseilles, Venice, Beyrouth, Thessaloniki – priviledged places of multicultural encounters, which will be the subject of group oral presentations. And we will pay attention to food, too, which is perhaps the Mediterranean idiom par excellence – an interweaving of influences, and the superb result of the Mediterranean communities’ multicultural bricolage. I very much hope to be able to organize a Mediterranenan dinner for the class…
The Mediterranean is the realm of seafarers, of travelers and migrants: above all we will try to think with the space of the sea – a smooth and fluid space which questions and disturbs the clearly cut-out political, cultural and disciplinary boundaries that prevail on land.
- Required materials:
Books:
Albert Camus, L’Étranger, Folio, Gallimard, 1942.
Kamel Daoud, Meursault contre-enquête,Babel, 2016.
Albert Cohen, Solal, Folio Gallimard, 1930.
Amin Maalouf, Les échelles du Levant, le Livre de Poche, 1998.
Jean-Claude Izzo, Chourmo, Folio Policier, 2001.
Films (on Latte):
Le Mépris, Jean-Luc Godard (1963)
La graine et le mulet, Abdellatif Kechiche (2007)
Le Chat du Rabbin, Joann Sfar (2011)
Un été à la Goulette, Férid Boughedir (1996)
Le chant des mariées, Karin Albou (2008)
Et maintenant on va où ?, Nadine Labaki (2011)
Marius et Jeannette, Robert Guédiguian (1997)
Fuocoammare, Gianfranco Rosi (2016)
- Course requirements:
Attendance and participation
Attendance in class is mandatory. Please complete the required readings before the date listed on the syllabus, bring a hard copy of the assigned text, and be prepared to participate in class discussion. No laptops will be allowed in class unless by special permission.
Weekly Latte posts
Every week two students will be asked to post a short response to our Latte forum, as a way to launch our discussion in class. Instructions about the postings will be given in class. Those postings will count towards your participation grade.
- Papers:
Papers must be typed, double-spaced, with reasonable margins and font-size. Pages should be numbered. Please proofread carefully.
- Grading:
Participation (including attendance and postings): 25%
One individual and one group presentation on a Mediterranean city: 35%
One short (4 to 6 pages) and one long essay (6 to 8 pages): 40%
Four-Credit Course (with three hours of class-time per week): Success in this 4 credit hour course is based on the expectation that students will spend a minimum of 9 hours of study time per week in preparation for class (readings, papers, discussion sections, preparation for exams, etc.).
Academic Integrity:
You are expected to be familiar with the University’s policies on academic integrity such as detailed on the following webpage: Any ideas that are not entirely your own must be documented; all references must be fully cited. You can consult the MLA Handbook or another standard guide on appropriate footnote or endnote format. Please ask for guidance if you are unsure of proper attribution.
Students with Disabilities:
If you are a student with a documented disability on record at Brandeis University and wish to have a reasonable accommodation made for you in this class, please see me at the beginning of the semester.
- Program:
Mediterranean, Mediterraneans, Mediterraneanness
January 18:
Introduction
January 19 – The Mediterranean Dream of the School of Algiers
Gabriel Audisio, “Patrie Méditerranée” (on Latte)
January 23
Albert Camus, L’étranger(1942)
January 25
Albert Camus, L’étranger
January 26
Albert Camus, L’étranger
Extracts from Alice Kaplan’s last book, Looking for the Stranger – Albert Camus and The Life of a Literary Classic
Présentation : Ally sur L’Étranger et son rapport au bouddhisme
January 30
Discussion in class with Alice Kaplan
February 1
Novel:Kamel Daoud, Meursault contre-enquête (2013)
February 2
Novel: Kamel Daoud, Meursault contre-enquête
February 6
Novel:Kamel Daoud, Meursault contre-enquête
Présentation : Doron sur “L’ambivalence de la résistance dans Meursault Contre-Enquête de Kamel Daoud”
February 8 – Odysseus, Hero of the Mediterranean
Film:Le Mépris, Jean-Luc Godard
February 9
Essay (extract, on Latte): Gabriel Audisio, Ulysse ou l’intelligence (extract, on Latte)
February 13
Novel (short extract, on Latte):Panaït Istrati, Méditerranée – lever de soleil (1934)
Présentation : Jade sur Meursault Contre-Enquête
February 15 – A Mediterranean Multicultural Utopia
Film: Un été à la Goulette (1996)
Présentation : Samm et Georgia sur Alexandrie
February 16
Mediterranean Jewish Communities
Film: Le Chat du Rabbin, Joann Sfar (2011)
Présentations : Mia sur Le Chat du Rabbin ; Hannah et Ally sur Venise
February 27
Albert Cohen, Solal(1930)
Music: Françoise Atlan and the Andalusian and Judeo-Arab repertoire
March 1
Novel: Albert Cohen, Solal
March 2
Film: Le Chant des mariées, Karin Albou (2008)
March 6 – The Mediterranean & the Levant
Novel:Amin Maalouf, Les Échelles du Levant(1998)
March 8
Novel: Amin Maalouf, Les Échelles du Levant
March 13
Film: Incendies, Denis Villeneuve (2010)
March 15
Présentation : Doron et Ydalia sur Haifa
March 16
Novel: Amin Maalouf, Les Échelles du Levant
Présentation : Anna & Sonja sur Damas
March 20
Film:Et maintenant on va où ?, Nadine Labaki (2011)
Présentation : Sam sur Et maintenant on va où ?
March 22 - Marseilles & the Mediterranean
Film: Marius et Jeannette, Robert Guédiguian (1997)
Présentation: Nikki sur Marius et Jeannette
March 23
Film:Marius et Jeannette
Présentation: Samm sur Marius et Jeannette
March 27 – The Mediterranean Noir
Novel: Jean-Claude Izzo, Chourmo(2001)
Présentation: Mia, Nikki & Taisha sur Marseille
March 29
Novel: Chourmo
March 30
Novel: Chourmo
April 3
Talk: Margaret Cohen (Stanford University): “Under Water Eye – The Post-War Revolution in Aquatic Cinema” – 1:00 pm, Mandel Reading Room.
April 5
Novel:Chourmo
Présentation : Hannah sur Chourmo
April 6
Novel: Chourmo
Taisha sur Chourmo
April 19
Novel: Chourmo (fin)
April 20
Film: Bye Bye, Karim Dridi (1995)
April 24 – Mediterranean Food
Food writing: Claudia Roden, Mediterranean Cookery.
April 26 – Dysphoric Mediterranean
Film: Fuocoammare
Présentation : Sonja sur Fuocoammare
May 1 – Mediterranean Food
Film:La graine et le mulet
Présentation : Georgia sur La Graine et le mulet
May 3
Conclusion & Lunch with the class?