French 245: Sur le vif : The Art of Life

Nineteenth-century “realism” is one important strand of mimetic discourse, but far from the only one. The interest in the lifelikeness of representations — especially of depicted humans — has a much longer history, arguably still with us today. Primarily textual in emphasis though intermedial in conception, this class will examine the social stakes of portraiture and self-portraiture, the identificatory inflection of the stage and the novel, and the erotics of embodiment. Authors read include Montaigne (selections), Molière (Critique de l’Ecole des femmes), Racine (Andromaque), Lafayette (La princesse de Clèves), Crébillon (Les égarements du cœur et de l’esprit), Rousseau (Pygmalion, Confessions), Diderot (La religieuse), and Balzac (Le chef d’œuvre inconnu). The course will conclude with Godard’s Vivre sa vie and a brief look at contemporary selfie culture.

This course fulfills an elective requirement for the DE in REMS.