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Crime and Punishment in French Fiction

Module description

In the course of this module you will study three texts from the early nineteenth century to the mid twentieth century. Through close reading and detailed analysis of these texts you shall think about the rights and wrongs of capital punishment, the power of mob psychology, the interaction between society and the individual and the ways in which criminals come into being.

Module aims - intentions of the module

By the end of the course you should have honed skills in the areas of close reading, textual analysis and cogent criticism. You should have developed further your capacity to engage effectively with secondary material. You should also have an appreciation of interdisciplinarity since, as well as evaluating the enduring legacy of the chosen primary texts upon the world in which we live, we shall also turn to the field of psychiatry in our efforts to understand the criminal and how s/he came into being.

Intended Learning Outcomes (ILOs)

ILO: Module-specific skills

On successfully completing the module you will be able to...

• 1. Demonstrate a sound general understanding of the chosen texts
• 2. Demonstrate a good understanding of set texts’ place in the historic literary and cultural context of their time

ILO: Discipline-specific skills

On successfully completing the module you will be able to...

• 3. With guidance from the course tutor evaluate and apply a range of critical approaches to the material covered
• 4. Mount a detailed argument in the appropriate register, mustering a range of textual or other evidence in support
• 5. Access and use appropriate critical secondary material, which should be recorded in a correctly formulated Bibliography

ILO: Personal and key skills

On successfully completing the module you will be able to...

• 6. Using course material provided research, plan, and write an essay on a chosen aspect of the subject on a topic selected from a range of options, following broad guidelines, but selecting and adapting them as required
• 7. Using course material research, plan and write an essay on a chosen aspect of the subject to a specified length and deadline. Your essay should demonstrate general competence in word processing

Syllabus plan

There will be an introductory session to the course, giving an overview of the three books and the themes underpinning the course. We shall then study each book in turn. A detailed timetable with prescribed reading will be put on ELE prior to the first session.

Learning activities and teaching methods (given in hours of study time)

Details of learning activities and teaching methods

Formative assessment

Summative assessment (% of credit)

Details of summative assessment

Details of re-assessment (where required by referral or deferral)

Re-assessment notes

Deferral – if you miss an assessment for certificated reasons judged acceptable by the Mitigation Committee, you will normally be either deferred in the assessment or an extension may be granted. The mark given for a re-assessment taken as a result of deferral will not be capped and will be treated as it would be if it were your first attempt at the assessment.

Referral – if you have failed the module overall (i.e. a final overall module mark of less than 40%) you will be required to submit a further assessment as necessary. If you are successful on referral, your overall module mark will be capped at 40%.

Indicative learning resources - Basic reading

• Le Dernier jour d’un condamné. Hugo. Librio edition recommended.
• Thérèse Desqueyroux. François Mauriac. Livre de poche edition recommended.
• La Chute. Albert Camus. Folio edition recommended.

Indicative learning resources - Web based and electronic resources

• ELE – https://vle.exeter.ac.uk/course/view.php?id=2451

ELE – Bibliography and details of several articles/ chapters available on ELE site.

Key words search

Hugo, Mauriac, Camus, crime, punishment, individual, mob, crowd, existentialism