"FREN 207B/WGSS_290A Rage against the Machine: Radical Thought in Conte" by CJ Gomolka
 

Document Type

Syllabus

Publication Date

Fall 9-1-2024

Course Description

Rage Against The Machine explores instances of rebelliousness and radicalness in the voices of several contemporary actors in the francophone (French-speaking) world through an interdisciplinary approach that centers questions of citizenship, integration, assimilation, language, and identity. Over the course of the semester, students will engage with material, authors, and activists that question the political, social, cultural, and ethical viability of certain conceptualizations of France; that adopt radical, and in many cases, revolutionary social and ideological stances toward “Frenchness” and “the Western world”; that offer alternative histories, ideologies, epistemologies, and modes of existence to the homogenizing narratives of French universalism. Course material will ask students to negotiate questions of radicality and rebelliousness often at the borders of several contested social, cultural, linguistic, and political positionings. We will consider the diverse discursive and socio-cultural frames that make claims of rebelliousness and radicality possible within the francophone world and transnationally, as well as how these frames can be operationalized politically to marginalize, silence, or dismiss certain modes of thought.

Student Outcomes

After completing this course, students will be able to: Discuss the social, cultural, and linguistic history of certain parts of the francophone world; Describe the contemporary social and cultural concerns of a variety of diverse francophone individuals and communities, including but not limited to issues of identity, inclusion, and societal change; Detail the ways in which historical and socio-cultural concepts like (color-blind) citizenship, universalism, communitarianism, the West/non-West, race, whiteness, gender, assimilation, and integration are fabricated and contested in parts of the francophone world both historically and contemporarily; Express their views on a variety of cultural productions (literary, cinematic, etc.) using appropriate lexicons

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