Defining Frenchness

Americans often imagine the "French" as rather snobby wine-drinking fashion plates, whose ascendancy in cuisine leaves the rest of us eating fast-food crumbs. But how do the French see themselves and has that national self-image been consistent over the centuries? What national symbols do they like to use in self-representations; the coq gaulois? the Tour Eiffel? the ever-morphing Marianne? What national memories do they glorify-which ones do they suppress? Just how do they define those Others (i.e., the non-French, the foreigner, and especially the immigrant) in order to reify the national self-image? How do those symbols of French-ness get transferred and translated abroad? Explorations of these questions will be guided by readings of literacy excerpts, essays, films, cultural readings, art, architecture, and music. 6 units. Three classes per week. Prerequisite: one 300-level course or consent of the instructor.