FREN 55.04 India in the French Imagination

The West is often seen as having exerted a civilizing force on an orientalized, inferior, homogenous East.  In this course, we will challenge this prevalent view of the relationship between East and West by focusing on France’s encounter with one member of the oriental pantheon, India. We will examine encounters between India and France in architecture such as Versailles and the Taj Mahal, in literary and philosophical discussions and contrast France's relationship to India with those established with other “orients" using travel narratives, correspondence, novels, theater, newspapers, fables, and thework of cultural historians.

Instructor

Beasley

Prerequisite

A course in the FREN 10 series or permission of the instructor.

Degree Requirement Attributes

Dist:SOC; WCult:W

The Timetable of Class Meetings contains the most up-to-date information about a course. It includes not only the meeting time and instructor, but also its official distributive and/or world culture designation. This information supersedes any information you may see elsewhere, to include what may appear in this ORC/Catalog or on a department/program website. Note that course attributes may change term to term therefore those in effect are those (only) during the term in which you enroll in the course.