FREN 410 - A la recherche des femmes perdues

Semester Offered: Second Semester
Full Course
Credits: 4 credits
Attribute: 4HU, CD

In this course, students will examine the highly-mediatized and richly-imagined figure of the “lost woman” or prostitute, as she was constructed by nineteenth-century authors, visual artists, physician-hygienists, and police officials. Unmaking the bourgeois century’s vision of women as either “housewives or harlots,” we will consider the status of working-class women struggling to survive in a rapidly urbanizing and industrializing society. Working in teams, and collaborating with SOCI 338, students will conduct research, survey literary texts, analyze satirical prints, and translate sections of an 1836 treatise on prostitution. Conducted in French except for joint sessions with SOCI.

Enrollment Limit: 15
Instructor: L. Murphy

Prerequisites & Notes: Two French-taught courses beyond 301.