CONTEMPORARY FRENCH LITERATURE (UNIT A)
Learning outcomes of the course unit
Students can expect to gain a good knowledge of the peculiar characteristics of the “travel literature” genre and an in-depth knowledge of the work L'usage du monde by Nicolas Bouvier.
Course contents summary
Writing and travelling or travel literature: Nicolas Bouvier (1929-1998)
Through a reading of L’Usage du monde (1963) by the Swiss writer Nicolas Bouvier, the course sets out to reflect on the travel literature genre. The course is divided into two parts. The first is an introductory part that will illustrate the birth and development of this genre. A second part will focus on the figure of Nicolas Bouvier and on his first novel, which escapes the strict confines of the genre to become literature in its own right..
Recommended readings
L'Usage du monde, (1963), Italian translation La polvere del mondo, edizioni Diabasis, 2004.
Sarga Moussa, "Nicolas Bouvier ou la réinvention du voyage en Orient au XXe siècle", Frankofoni, n°16, 2004, pp. 247-263.
Anne Marie Jaton, Nicolas Bouvier, paroles du monde, du secret et de l'ombre, Lausanne, PPUR, 2004..
