| Unit name | Intellectuals and the Media in France |
|---|---|
| Unit code | FREN30108 |
| Credit points | 20 |
| Level of study | H/6 |
| Teaching block(s) |
Teaching Block 1 (weeks 1 - 12) |
| Unit director | Dr. Paul Earlie |
| Open unit status | Not open |
| Units you must take before you take this one (pre-requisite units) |
None |
| Units you must take alongside this one (co-requisite units) |
None |
| Units you may not take alongside this one |
None |
| School/department | Department of French |
| Faculty | Faculty of Arts |
Why is this unit important?
The figure of the Gauloises-smoking, coffee-guzzling, aphorism-spouting intellectual is one of the most persistent images projected onto France from abroad. Beyond such clichés, intellectuals have played an undeniably central role in shaping public discourse in France, from Emile Zola’s passionate Dreyfusisme to Simone de Beauvoir’s drive for women’s rights to Michel Foucault’s work to improve conditions in French prisons. In a time of populism and the apparent irrelevance of the public intellectual, this unit explores the origins of the figure of the intellectuel engagé in the nineteenth century. It examines the flourishing of French intellectual life in the second half of the twentieth century—a time when ‘French Theory’ became a global media phenomenon—before turning to the alleged decline of the intellectual in France in recent decades.
How does this unit fit into your programme of study?
This unit builds on knowledge (of postwar French political, intellectual, and social history) and skills (analysis of verbal and visual texts, independent research, and the ability to write for non-academic audiences) you have already acquired or developed throughout the programme. You will be introduced to a potentially new area of research (the history and theory of the media in France) while developing your analytic skills in the analysis of medium, genre, and rhetoric in primary texts from a variety of media (e.g., literary texts, radio or television programme, films, social media platforms). Beyond your degree, this unit might appeal to students interested in working in media and there will be opportunity for comparative analysis of the development of media in France and the UK.
An overview of content
This unit explores the crucial yet shifting role of the popular media in transforming French thinkers into ‘public intellectuals’: writers, artists, and experts who intervene in the public battle of ideas on urgent social and political questions. You will consider a range of media formats—print newspapers, radio and television talk shows in addition to more recent developments such as personal websites, blogs, and Instagram—used by intellectuals to communicate with their reading publics. You will examine a broad spectrum of thinkers, with diverse ideological and philosophical commitments (which may include: Fascism, Existentialism, feminism, Marxism, postmodernism, post- or decolonial theory, and beyond), in exploring the different ways in which these thinkers have used, and been used in turn, by the mass media.
How will students, personally, be different as a result of the unit?
By the end of this unit, you will have an advanced understanding of key intellectual and political movements which have shaped contemporary French and Francophone societies. You will develop a methodological toolkit for analysing persuasive texts from a diverse range of media, drawing on approaches in intermediality studies, rhetorical analysis, and genre theory. The unit’s assessment types (notably the blog post) are designed to enhance your skills in communicating complex ideas accessibly; you will also be introduced to online blog publishing platforms by co-curating an online exhibition accompanying this unit (intellectualsandthemedia.org).
Prospective students can consult examples of previous blog posts:
https://intellectualsandthemedia.org//intellectualsandthemedia.org
Learning outcomes
On successful completion of this unit, students will be able to:
Teaching will be delivered through a combination of synchronous sessions and asynchronous activities, including seminars, lectures, and collaborative as well as self-directed learning opportunities supported by tutor consultation.
Tasks which help you learn and prepare you for summative tasks (formative):
Blog-post workshop where you will receive peer and tutor feedback on a draft of your blog entry.
Tasks which count towards your unit mark (summative)
Blog in English or French, 2000 words (25%) [ILOs 3 and 4]
Essay, 3,000 words in English or French (75%) [ILOs, 1,2,3, and 5]
When assessment does not go to plan
When required by the Board of Examiners, you will normally complete reassessments in the same formats as those outlined above. However, the Board reserves the right to modify the form or number of reassessments required. Details of reassessments are normally confirmed by the School shortly after the notification of your results at the end of the academic year.
If this unit has a Resource List, you will normally find a link to it in the Blackboard area for the unit. Sometimes there will be a separate link for each weekly topic.
If you are unable to access a list through Blackboard, you can also find it via the Resource Lists homepage. Search for the list by the unit name or code (e.g. FREN30108).
How much time the unit requires
Each credit equates to 10 hours of total student input. For example a 20 credit unit will take you 200 hours
of study to complete. Your total learning time is made up of contact time, directed learning tasks,
independent learning and assessment activity.
See the University Workload statement relating to this unit for more information.
Assessment
The assessment methods listed in this unit specification are designed to enable students to demonstrate the named learning outcomes (LOs). Where a disability prevents a student from undertaking a specific method of assessment, schools will make reasonable adjustments to support a student to demonstrate the LO by an alternative method or with additional resources.
The Board of Examiners will consider all cases where students have failed or not completed the assessments required for credit.
The Board considers each student's outcomes across all the units which contribute to each year's programme of study. For appropriate assessments, if you have self-certificated your absence, you will normally be required to complete it the next time it runs (for assessments at the end of TB1 and TB2 this is usually in the next re-assessment period).
The Board of Examiners will take into account any exceptional circumstances and operates
within the Regulations and Code of Practice for Taught Programmes.
