|
 Academic Year: |
2014/5 |
| Owning Department/School: |
Department of Politics, Languages and International Studies |
| Credits: |
6 |
| Level: |
Honours (FHEQ level 6) |
| Period: |
Semester 1 |
| Assessment Summary: |
CW 33%, ES 67% |
| Assessment Detail: |
|
| Supplementary Assessment: |
Like-for-like reassessment (where allowed by programme regulations) |
| Requisites: |
|
| Description: |
Aims: * To gain a better understanding of French society through its cultural production, and songs in particular; * To give an overview of the historical, cultural, political and social phenomenon that is the chanson française; * To examine how songs are/can become political, historical or autobiographical. Learning Outcomes: A student who completes the unit will be able to: * demonstrate understanding of the chanson française as a specific form of cultural production and as a specific way to communicate ideas, convictions, feelings, experiences. * demonstrate understanding of the relevance of chanson in France for providing commentary on societal divisions, such as gender and sexism, social class, ethnicity. * engage in comparative analysis of interdisciplinary production. Skills: Critical analysis, conceptual thinking, precision in the use of written and spoken language, exercise of independent judgement, reasoned argument, teamwork and the planning/ conduct/ reporting of non-quantitative research are taught in this unit. Skills in effective learning and language are also developed. The unit is taught in French. Content: From the political songs written and sung during the revolutionary period to the multicultural rap/hiphop produced in more recent years, French cultural production and in particular, music, has a lot to say about the history and politics of the French-speaking world. This team-taught unit will provide a chronological approach to this subject examining revolutionary songs, songs with autobiographical content, songs as entertainment/ songs as propaganda in the 1920s, 1930s and 1940s, the classic 'chanson française', protest songs of 1960s vs. the kitsch glamour of the 1970s; political songs in 1990s and 2000; French rap/hiphop and case studies of cultural icons such as Edith Piaf, Serge Gainsbourg and Johnny Hallyday. It will also consider music from the French-speaking world more widely, for example, Quebec, and investigate the influence of French musical production on the English-speaking world. |
| Programme availability: |
PL30886 is Optional on the following programmes:School of Management
|