ATS2075 - Representing Paris: Literature and visual culture - 2017

This unit, ranging across literature, painting, photography, fashion and social history, will study symbolic representations of Paris in 19th Century writing (Baudelaire, Zola), painting (Manet, Degas), and early 20th Century photography (Atget) and relate these to their historical contexts (the growth and metamorphosis of the city, Haussmann's redevelopment of Paris, the birth of leisure and consumerism); it will examine the emergence of urban figures such as the flaneur, dandy and prostitute; and it will explore the analytical perspectives offered by Walter Benjamin's cultural theories. (No knowledge of French language or history is required for this unit.)

Having completed this unit students will:

1. have developed a knowledge of some of the major symbolic representations of modern Paris across a range of literary and visual texts
2. understood broader, underlying structural changes in society that inform literary and visual representations of modern cities such as Paris
3. have explored the relationship between various literary and visual representations of the city and developed skills in analysing and articulating the nature of this relationship
4. be able to conceptualise images of the city in relation to theoretical and methodological issues promulgated by writers and theorists such as Walter Benjamin.

Within semester assessment: 100%

Minimum total expected workload to achieve the learning outcomes for this unit is 144 hours per semester typically comprising a mixture of scheduled learning activities and independent study. A unit requires on average three/four hours of scheduled activities per week. Scheduled activities may include a combination of teacher directed learning, peer directed learning and online engagement.

See also Unit timetable information

French studies

A first year level unit in French studies, Film and screen studies or Literary studies

ATS3075