Proust and Gide

This module will be available in 2012-13

About this Module

The course will be based on a close study of a number of representative texts by two of the twentieth century's most important and influential writers. We shall be studying the first volume of Proust's novel A la recherche du temps perdu and, with Gide, we shall be looking at the novel Les Faux-Monnayeurs and three shorter 'récits'. Amongst the topics we shall be considering are questions of narrative technique, and especially the ways in which both writers use the novel as a medium for literary experimentation and innovation, moving far beyond the 'realism' of the nineteenth-century novel. In addition, we shall be examining the relationship in Proust and Gide between literary form and the individual's search for meaning and identity. 

Teaching and Learning

Teaching will be done in the form of lectures and seminars, with occasional tutorials for the discussion of written work. The course is taught in English.  The module is capped at 35.  Attendance will be monitored in all teaching sessions.

Summative Assessment

• Term 1:  1200-word commentary (20%)
• Term 2:  1800-word commentary (30%)
• 2-hour written examination (two essays) at the end of the course (50%).

Recommended Texts

• Proust Du côté de chez Swann
• Gide Les Faux-Monnayeurs; La Symphonie pastorale; L'Immoraliste; La Porte étroite

Co-ordinator:

Dr Jane Walling (j.c.walling@durham.ac.uk), room A46, Elvet Riverside I