This course explores travel journals and travel in fiction. It also introduces students to key debates surrounding the definition of travel writing. Through close readings of a selection of works by four French-language authors, as well as a variety of secondary readings from the fields of Francophone literary studies, travel writing studies, philosophy, and other relevant cross-disciplinary perspectives, students will be able to discuss and analyse travel as a driving force in literary production in the period studied.

20 x 1-hour seminars as scheduled on MyCampus.

This is one of the Honours options in French and may not run every year. The options that are running this session are available on MyCampus.

None

None

Essay (2000 words) semester 1 (50%)

Essay (2000 words) semester 2 (50%)

Reassessments are normally available for all courses, except those which contribute to the Honours classification. For non Honours courses, students are offered reassessment in all or any of the components of assessment if the satisfactory (threshold) grade for the overall course is not achieved at the first attempt. This is normally grade D3 for undergraduate students and grade C3 for postgraduate students. Exceptionally it may not be possible to offer reassessment of some coursework items, in which case the mark achieved at the first attempt will be counted towards the final course grade. Any such exceptions for this course are described below. 

This course will provide the opportunity to:

■ study travel-writing from a research-led perspective

■ engage with a range of methodological approaches, drawing on fields such as travel writing studies, literary studies, philosophy and other cross-disciplinary perspectives as appropriate to the set texts

■ explore the broader intellectual and artistic context of the set works

By the end of this course students will be able to:

■ discuss set texts in detail

■ offer close critical readings of French-language travel writing

■ exercise critical judgement through selective, appropriate and accurate reference or citation

■ discuss the formal elements and generic conventions of travel writing, as well as the shaping effects of historical and social context on literary production

■ judiciously apply an appropriate range of critical terminology and concepts

Students must submit at least 75% by weight of the components (including examinations) of the course's summative assessment.