FR 4760-001

BAND OF SISTERS – FEMINISM IN FRENCH AND FRANCOPHONE LITERATURE

Pauline de Tholozany TR, 11:00 am-12:15pm, Academic Success Center 313
Strode Tower 512
Office Hours: Tuesdays 12:30-1:30, Thursdays 3:15pm-4:15pm, and by appointment – email a few days in advance if you need
an appointment, as I will not be able to accommodate you otherwise.
Email: pdethol@clemson.edu

COURSE DESCRIPTION
In Totem and Taboo, Sigmund Freud imagined the development of prehistoric society: a “band of brothers” killed their
father figure, thus starting the beginnings of society as we know it. In that narrative, women do not have much agency and
they matter only in so far as they relate to men. So what happens if we rethink Freud’s narrative? Is a “Band of Sisters” a
better model, or is that one that reproduces the oppression of the “band of brothers” construct? Is sisterhood a desirable
model to think about women and society, or is that one that restricts voices – such as those of LGBTQ+ people? How do
we make sure that Feminism does not reproduce the oppressions that it seeks to fight against? This course will be an
exploration of how francophone women writers and filmmakers have represented female relationships – be it kinship,
sisterhood, friendship, or love relationships.

Content Warning: the contents and discussion in this
class, particularly in the last part of the course, will engage
with sexism, misogyny, homophobia, trans-phobia, racism,
islamophobia, and xenophobia. Both Blue is the Warmest
Color and Vernon Subutex contain profanity, nudity,
(graphic) depictions of sex, and hate-speech (language that
can be qualified as sexist, misogynistic, homophobic,
trans-phobic, racist, islamophobic and xenophobic).
Vernon Subutex also includes representations of drug use,
overdose, pornography, domestic violence, self-violence,
and sexual violence. I will do my best to make the class a
space where we can all engage with difficult content. I
invite those of you who think that they might not feel
comfortable with these novels to research their plots and
potential triggers before class, and to come and see me so
that we can discuss the matter and find alternatives. You
will not be penalized for not wishing to engage with a
section of a text that you think may be triggering for you.
Note also: some of the texts that we will discuss include
explicit descriptions of sex, sexual behavior, and
unconventional forms of love. Our aim is not to endorse
or criticize these modes of love, but rather to discuss their
significance both in the novels and in a broader literary
and historical context.
Finally, if you think that the course content will make you
uncomfortable or impede your participation in class
discussions, you might want to reconsider enrolling in this
course.
This course has three parts: we will begin with stories
about childhood: mid-19th-century troublemaker Sophie de
Réant (Sophie’s Misfortunes), 20th-century Nathalie Sarraute’s
early years (Childhood), and Monique Wittig’s resistance to
gendering in The Opoponax.
The second part of the course considers francophone
women and/or women who grew up outside of France: we will
read Claire de Duras’ Ourika (1820), a first-person narrative
about a young girl from Senegal brought to live with an
aristocratic French family, and Assia Djebar’s Women of Algiers in
Their Apartments (1980), which recounts the experiences of
women in Algiers before and after the Algerian war of
Independence. This unit examines colonial representations that
still shape the experiences of women of color in today’s France.
We will watch two films: Bande de Filles and Mariannes Noires,
both of which investigate black women’s complicated
relationships to oppressive structures and representations. The
director of Mariannes Noires, Mame Fatou Niang, will visit our
class.
Finally, the course considers love stories and the inhospitable
world that LGBTQ+ characters encounter. We will read the
graphic novel Blue is the Warmest Color, a coming of age story
about a high school student falling in love and discovering her
sexuality. We will also read Virginie Despentes’ Vernon Subutex,
a novel that interweaves several characters’ lives as it follows the
life of a middle-aged white man, Vernon Subutex.
 COURSE MATERIALS

The following required books should be available at the bookstore:

- Nathalie Sarraute, Childhood. ISBN: 9780226922317
- Assia Djebar, Women of Algiers in their Apartment. ISBN: 9780813918808
- Claire de Duras, Ourika. ISBN 9780873527804 (English version)/ISBN 9780873527798 (French version).
- Julie Maroh, Blue is the Warmest Color. ISBN 9781551525143
- Virginie Despentes, Vernon Subutex, vol. 1. ISBN 9780857055422 (English version)/ISBN 9782253087663 (French
version). This book could not be ordered by the bookstore, so you will have to buy it separately (Amazon has it,
Abebooks is another possible option).

You can feel free to buy the books elsewhere than in the bookstore, but it is important that you get the same edition
as the ones that have been ordered for this class. If you order the books online, make sure that they have the same
publication date and ISBN number.

Our class has a Canvas website, where I will post assignments, pdfs of some of the texts, and resources. Your grades
will be entered there as well.
For every session, you will have to do the readings assigned, and if relevant print the questionnaire and answer each
question on the sheet.

GRADING AND ASSIGNMENTS
In order to pass the class, you will need to comply with the absence policy and the honor code (see below), do the
readings, answer the questionnaires (when relevant), and complete all assignments in due time. You also will need
to produce satisfactory work. Satisfactory work means that I grade your work (such as a paper, or class
participation for instance) higher than an F (60%). If an assignment is unsatisfactorily completed, I will let you
know immediately and we will discuss the matter together.
The grades are as follows:
A: 100-90 B: 89-80 C: 79-70 D: 69-60 F: 59 and below

General Grading Expectations:

A. Excellent: Exceptionally well-prepared completion of assignment indicating effort, original thinking, and
clearly articulated ideas. A-quality work should be surprising and of exceptional quality.
B. Good: Unusually well-prepared completion of assignment indicating original application of course
materials and individual imagination distinctly superior to average effort.
C. Fair: Satisfactory completion of assignment indicating effort normally expected of the majority of
students (basic preparation, completion of assignment). Work of average or medium character.
D. Pass: Unsatisfactory completion of assignment indicating misperceived objectives or methods,
unorganized effort, or failure to follow directions. Work below average and unsatisfactory.
F. Failure to complete assignments during the scheduled time through lack of evident effort.

Important: I do not round up the grades at the end of the semester. An A means that your final grade is above
90 – an 89.9 will count as a B. I also do not change a person’s grades, unless I made a mathematical mistake, in
which case please do email me and we will fix the issue. I do not accept “additional work” as an option to change
a grade that a student deems unsatisfactory.
Here is the breakdown of how I will calculate your final grade.
Participation : 10%
Presentation: 10%
2 Short response papers (SRP on calendar): 10%
Paper 1 : 10%
Paper 2 : 15%
Paper 3 : 25%
Podcast episode : 20%
Participation: being active in class is essential to your progress. You are expected to have done the readings
actively: when reading, you can underline, take notes, write questions, or take any other approach that helps you
participate in class later on. The detailed description of how I will grade your participation is on our Canvas
website.
Presentation: this assignment will be completed in groups of 2. You will have to give a very brief presentation
(around 5 minutes) on the topic of your choice. It has to be related to our readings on that day, but it will not be
about the biography of a given author. Instead, it will investigate something that can serve us in our discussions.
For instance, you present on the day that we read Claire de Duras’ Ourika. Rather than giving us the author’s
biography, you could give others a short presentation on the history of slavery in the French colonies, and the
political context in which the book was written. After this short presentation, your work will be to lead the class
discussion. You will prepare questions in advance (I can print them for you if you wish). The class discussion part
of your work for that day should last about 20 minutes.
SRPs and Papers 1, 2, and 3: I will give you guidelines for all the writing assignments, but for the third paper
you will also have the possibility to write on the topic of your choice.
Podcast episode: I will give you more information on this assignment as the semester unfolds, and we will have
workshops in class to prepare for it. We will work on scripting, storytelling, interviewing and editing skills. We
will also go over the technological aspect of the assignment. In terms of content: you will be asked to pick a
question and produce a podcast episode of 5 to 10 minutes. This assignment will be collaborative.
For instance, we can imagine that you are interested in representations of female childhood and gender norms in
children’s books. Your podcast starts with a contextualization of the issue: you just read Sophie’s Troubles and it
struck you as sexist/feminist/challenging, etc… You describe the book and your impressions of it. You then may
include interviews of your peers (some who would say the book is feminist, others who disagree and find it sexist),
or of other people (for instance you ask passersby to describe a book they read in childhood and who had a
female character as its protagonist, or you ask someone what books they read to their child). In between the
interview(s), you guide your listeners until you reach a conclusion at the end of the podcast episode.

ABSENCE POLICY, CODE OF CONDUCT AND DISABILITY ACCOMMODATIONS

Your presence in class is mandatory. You should also have completed all the readings for each session, printed
and answered the questionnaire, and be prepared to discuss the text in class.
You can have two unexcused absences without your grade being affected. If you miss a third class,
Two points will be taken off your final grade at the end of the semester – I do that manually, so Canvas will only
give you a final grade before I apply the absence policy. For every subsequent absence, you will again lose two
points. After more than 5 unexcused absences, you will not be able to pass the class. As an example, someone
ending the semester with a 91 and with three unexcused absences would lose two points, and their grade would
go from 91 to 89, making it a B.
Your allotted absences should be reserved for emergencies. If you use them as a personal day and
later have an emergency, your final grade will be penalized.
An excused absence is a documented absence and fits into one of these categories:
1. University-authorized activities;
2. Death in the immediate family;
3. Participation in legal proceedings;
4. Illness: you should provide a doctor’s note attesting that you could not attend class that day;
5. Religious holidays;
6. Once to go on a job interview, or visit a graduate/medical school.
I will excuse absences only if I have proper documentation. I appreciate being informed in advance if you are
going to be absent for class for any reason (please do let me know!), however that does not make your absence an
excused one.
If you are absent, you are still responsible for the assignments due on that day. I take 2 points off
per late day when students hand in written assignments after the due date. If there are special circumstances that
prevent an assignment to be handed in on time, please let me know.
Honor code: please make sure that you are familiar with Clemson’s Honor Code, and follow its rule. You
should never receive any exterior help in the writing of your papers. If you use someone else’s research in a
paper, quote it appropriately: cite it between inverted comas and with a clear bibliographical reference.

Academic Honesty:
As members of the Clemson University community, we have inherited Thomas Green Clemson’s vision of this
institution as a
“high seminary of learning.” Fundamental to this vision is a mutual commitment to truthfulness, honor, and
responsibility, without which we cannot earn the trust and respect of others. Furthermore, we recognize that
academic dishonesty detracts from the value of a Clemson degree. Therefore, we shall not tolerate lying, cheating,
or stealing in any form.
Academic Integrity Policy
A. Any breach of the principles outlined in the Academic Integrity Statement is considered an act of
academic dishonesty.
B. Academic dishonesty is further defined as:
1. Giving, receiving, or using unauthorized aid, including the inappropriate use of electronic
devices, on any work submitted to fulfill academic requirements. In examination
situations, all electronic devices must be off and stowed unless otherwise authorized
by the instructor;
2. Plagiarism, which includes the intentional or unintentional copying of language, structure,
or ideas of another and attributing the work to one’s own efforts;
3. Attempts to copy, edit, or delete computer files that belong to another person or use of
computer accounts that belong to another person without the permission of the file owner or account owner;
C. All academic work submitted for grading or to fulfill academic requirements contains an implicit
pledge and may contain, at the request of an instructor, an explicit pledge by the student that no
unauthorized aid has been received.
D. It is the responsibility of every member [i.e., both students and instructors] of the Clemson
University community to enforce the Academic Integrity Policy.

As a student at Clemson, you are bound to uphold the principle of academic integrity described above and,
therefore, you are expected to follow all university guidelines pertaining to academic honesty. All course work
must be completely independently unless otherwise stated by your professor. The use of electronic or online
translators, seeking and accepting assistance from native or advanced speakers to complete course assignments,
and plagiarism from the internet or other electronic or print sources will be considered violations of the
Academic Integrity policy.

Accommodations for Students with Disabilities:

Students with disabilities needing accommodations should contact the Office of Student Accessibility Services in
Suite 239, Academic Success Center building 864-656-6848, to discuss specific needs within the first month of
classes. Students should present a Faculty Accommodation Letter from Student Disability Services when they
meet with instructors. Accommodations are not retroactive and new Faculty Accommodation Letters must be
presented each semester.
Computers, ipads, smartphones: I will ask that you do not use laptops in class, because it is distracting to
others and it also obstructs communication among us (incidentally, all studies show that students taking notes
with a laptop or a tablet assimilate a lot less than those that use pen and paper…). If you have special needs that
require the use of a computer, please come and talk to me and we can look into the matter together. For the
same reason, I prefer that you do not use tablets in class either. We sometimes may do writing workshops that
require the use of a laptop in class, and I will notify you in advance of these exceptions.
Smartphones should be turned off and out of sight. It is distracting to hear a phone vibrate or to hear emails and
text messages come in, so please be mindful of all of us, turn everything off and place your phone in your bag for
the duration of class.

CALENDAR

Note: This is a general plan for the course, and deviations to the schedule may be necessary. I will notify you of any such
changes in advance.

Thursday, January 10th : Introduction

Tuesday, January 15th : Freud, Totem and Taboo, excerpts from Chapter 4 : « The return of Totemism in
Childhood. » Print and fill questionnaire on Canvas.
 Childhoods
Thursday, January 17th : Comtesse de Ségur, Sophie’s Misfortunes (link on Canvas). Read stories 1 (the
doll) to 12 (The Tea) (p. 1-130). You can skip story 11 (The Squirrel)

Tuesday, January 22nd : Comtesse de Ségur, Sophie’s Misfortunes. (read the rest of the stories). Simone de
Beauvoir (excerpt). SRP1 due

Tuesday, January 29th : Nathalie Sarraute, Childhood.p. 41-122 , 32-107

Thursday, January 31st : Nathalie Sarraute, Childhood.123-164, 108-145

Tuesday, February 5th : Nathalie Sarraute, Childhood, Paper 1 due. P 165-219, p. 146-194

Thursday, February 7th : Nathalie Sarraute, Childhood. P 220-278, 195-246

Tuesday, February 12th : Monique Wittig, The Opoponax (on Canvas).p 7-36 (French version).

Women of Color in and out of France

Thursday, February 14th : Claire de Duras, Ourika. P. 3-11 ( “finit ma jeunesse” French version)/p/ 3-
11 (“ended my childhood” English)

Tuesday, February 19th : Claire de Duras, Ourika, p. 11-25 (“ou de Charlemagne”, French)/p11-26
(“and Charlemagne”, English) SRP2 due.

Thursday, February 21st : Claire de Duras, Ourika. P. 25-45 (French), p. 26-47 (English).

Tuesday, February 26th : Bandes de filles, Céline Sciamma, 2014 (film).

Weds, Feb. 27th : Screening of Mariannes Noires

Thursday, February 28th : Mariannes Noires, 2016 (film). Director Mame Fatou Niang visits our class.

Tuesday, March 5th : Assia Djebar, Women of Algiers p. 1-52

Thursday, March 7th : Assia Djebar, Women of Algiers, p. 53-73

Tuesday, March 12th : Assia Djebar, Women of Algiers Paper 2 due, p. 119-129

Thursday, March 14th : Assia Djebar, Women of Algiers, p. 75-117

SPRING BREAK

Queer Love: LGBTQ+ Characters in Today’s World

Tuesday, March 26th : Monique Wittig theoretical texts, pdf on Canvas. Read The Category of Sex (123-
128), One is not Born a Woman (128-135) and The Straight Mind (136-144). The Anthology has a short intro
(p 119-122) that I copied in case you find it useful, but you do not have to read it.

Thursday, March 28th : Monique Wittig, The Lesbian Body. Link to text in English on canvas. Read Author’s
note (p. 9-11) and read text until p. 39, (“immured in yourself). I uploaded a Pdf of the French text, in
case you wanted to look at it as well.

Tuesday, April 2nd : Julie Maroh, Blue is the Warmest Color (1-85).

Thursday, April 4th : Julie Maroh, Blue is the Warmest Color (86-156)

Tuesday, April 9th : Virginie Despentes, Vernon Subutex. French text: p. 1-109//English text: p. 7-89.

Thursday, April 11th : Virginie Despentes, Vernon Subutex French text: p. 110-166-//English text: p. 90-
136.

Tuesday, April 16th : Virginie Despentes, Vernon Subutex French text: p. 167-231//English text: p.137-
189.Podcast assignment due.

Thursday, April 18th : Virginie Despentes, Vernon Subutex French text: p. 232-328//English text: p. 190-
270.

Tuesday, April 23rd : Virginie Despentes, Vernon Subutex Comments on podcast assignments
due. French text: p. 329-429//English text: 271-351.

Thursday, April 25th : Conclusion of the Class

Final paper (Paper 3) due Tuesday, April 30th