FJ2B0210 The Imaginary of the City - Montréal, Québec

Faculty of Arts
Spring 2025

The course is not taught in Spring 2025

Extent and Intensity
2/0/0. 4 credit(s). Type of Completion: zk (examination).
Teacher(s)
prof. PhDr. Petr Kyloušek, CSc. (lecturer)
Guaranteed by
prof. PhDr. Petr Kyloušek, CSc.
Department of Romance Languages and Literatures – Faculty of Arts
Supplier department: Department of Romance Languages and Literatures – Faculty of Arts
Prerequisites
Knowledge of French language at C1 CEFRL level, ability to analyze literary texts.
Course Enrolment Limitations
The course is only offered to the students of the study fields the course is directly associated with.

The capacity limit for the course is 20 student(s).
Current registration and enrolment status: enrolled: 0/20, only registered: 0/20
fields of study / plans the course is directly associated with
Course objectives
The objective of the course is to give the students the basics about the components of the urban imaginary, so that they can apply them to texts from the French-Canadian and Quebec literatures.
Learning outcomes
At the end of this course the students should be able to:
- understand problems concerning the imaginary of the urban space and its specific issues and apply this analysis to Canadian, especially Frech-Canadian literary works
- use informations on Canadian, especially Frech-Canadian literature.
Syllabus
  • The semester course, divided into 13 units of 2 hours, intends to propose a comparative reading of several authors in order to show the transformation of imagination linked to the cities of Montreal and Quebec. The historical perspective - that would not neglect some aetiological aspects - will be accompanied by a indentitary confrontation (québécois and néoquébécois authors, English writing authors, etc.).. This is not only to to show similarities and differences, but also to evidence the transformation of aesthetic sensibility and worldview. Informations on literature are accompanied by photo documentation and films, notably as regards the historical documentation.
  • Table of Contents
  • I. Introduction. What the imagination of a city? Comparative analysis of three poems (songs).
  • II. Spatial, temporal and social components of the imaginary of the city. Photographic documentation, plan of cities of Montreal and Quebec.
  • III. Hidden history and founding narratives, symbolism and appropriation / disappropriation. Photographic documentation on Stadacone, Hochelaga, Native Americans. Constitution of the mythology of a city. Example of Montreal.
  • IV.-V. Influence of literary tradition - representation of the city in the French-Canadian and Quebec literature.
  • VI. City - and social issues. Documentation: topography of Montreal and Quebec City, photos of places depicted in Gabrielle Roy's Bonheur d’occasion and Roger Lemelin's Au pied de la pente douce.
  • VII. City and History. Leonard Cohen, Beautiful Losers.
  • VIII-IX. City - Ghetto. Mordecai Richler, The Aprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz. Yves Theriault, Aaron. Michel Tremblay, Sainte Carmen de la Main.
  • X. City - society and culture. Michel Tremblay, Chroniques du Plateau Mont-Royal.
  • XI. Mythical city. Jacques Ferron, Le Ciel de Quebec.
  • XII. City of immigrants. Émile Ollivier, La Brûlerie.
  • XIII. City as labyrinth. Jacques Poulin, Le coeur de la Baleine bleue. Lise Tremblay, L’Hiver de pluie.
Literature
    required literature
  • KYLOUŠEK, Petr. Dějiny francouzsko-kanadské a quebecké literatury. Vydání první. Brno: Host, 2005, 533 stran. ISBN 8072941402. info
  • BIRON, Michel, François DUMONT and Élisabeth NARDOUT-LAFARGE. Histoire de la littérature québécoise. Edited by Martine-Emmanuelle Lapointe. Montréal (Québec): Boréal, 2007, 689 s. ISBN 9782764605226. info
  • KYLOUŠEK, Petr. 0. Évidence d'une culture nationale. I. Dimension noétique de l'art. II. Identité canadienne dans le contexte historique. III. Littérature canadienne-francaise et québécoise. VI. Solitudes canadiennes et la perception de l'autre (0. National Culture as a Natural Phenomenon? I. Noetic Dimension of Art. III Canadian Identity in Historical Context. III. French Canadian and Quebec Literature. VI. Canadian Solitudes and the Perception of the Other.). In Petr Kyloušek, Klára Kolinská, Kateřina Prajznerová, Tomáš Pospíšil, Eva Voldřichová Beránková: Us-Them-Me: The Search for Indentity in Canadian Literature and Film, Nous-Eux-Moi: La quete de l'identité dans la littérature et le cinéma canadiens. 1st ed. Brno: Masarykova univerzita, 2009, p. 6-11, 24-43, 57-139, 246-255, 129 pp. Spisy Masarykovy univerzity v Brně 387. ISBN 978-80-210-5061-7. info
    recommended literature
  • Neveu, Pierre, Marcotte, Gilles. Montréal imaginaire. Montréal : Fides, 1992.
  • Noppen, Luc, Saint-Jacques, Denis, Morisset, Lucie, K. Ville imaginaire, ville identitaire : échos de Québec, Québec : Nota bene 1999.
  • Imaginaire du roman québécois contemporain : actes du colloque : Université Masaryk de Brno, 11-15 mai 2005. Edited by Petr Kyloušek - Max Roy - Józef Kwaterko. 1ère éd. Brno: Masarykova univerzita, 2006, 215 s. ISBN 292176427X. info
  • KYLOUŠEK, Petr, Jeffrey Alan VANDERZIEL, Kateřina PRAJZNEROVÁ and Petr VURM. Identity through Art, Thougth and the Imaginary in the Canadian Space - Art, pensée et imaginaire identitaire de l'espace canadien. 1st ed. Brno: Masarykova univerzita, 2009, 184 pp. FF-33/080-02/58. ISBN 978-80-210-4798-3. info
Teaching methods
Lecture and seminar: description, explanation and definition of basic notions and their demonstration on concrete texts by concrete authors.
Assessment methods
Examination: Seminar paper on a novel, analysis. 18.000 characters.
Language of instruction
French
Further comments (probably available only in Czech)
The course is taught only once.
The course is taught: every week.
Teacher's information
https://elf.phil.muni.cz/elf3/course/view.php?id=698
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