The Crisis of French Literary Pedagogy, 1905 to the Present

FAIN: FT-56121-08

Mortimer M. Guiney
Kenyon College (Gambier, OH 43022-5020)

French society puts a greater emphasis than American society on the teaching of national literature, especially in the secondary school system. Consequently, there is a higher degree of public concern over literary pedagogy as it relates to the creation and preservation of a coherent national identity. Currently this concern takes the form of a national crisis over the decline of literary studies in the curriculum, the literary canon, and the deterioration of spoken and written French among students. My book project will contextualize the most recent controversy by relating it to earlier "crises" in French literary pedagogy, starting in 1905 with the law on the separation of Church and State, shortly after the advent of literary history. I argue that the function of literature as secular scripture accounts for the comparative importance of literary pedagogy in France, for its past influence on literature studies in American universities, and the recent decline of that influence.

Associated Products

“How (Not) to Teach French: Psittacisme and Culture de Proximité in Three Cinematic Representations of School.” (Article)
Title: “How (Not) to Teach French: Psittacisme and Culture de Proximité in Three Cinematic Representations of School.”
Author: M. Martin Guiney
Abstract: Humanities teachers loudly challenge the utilitarian, economic arguments with which administrators justify reducing offerings in our fields. If our profession is to survive, however, we have to convince an even more important constituency: our own students. “Psittacisme” designates false learning, the regurgitation of unassimilated culture; “culture de proximité”, by contrast, designates cultural knowledge with which students readily identify. In order to increase student support for our disciplines, we must avoid the former and exploit the latter; but how? Three recent films set in the school: L’Esquive, Entre les murs, and La Journée de la jupe illustrate the fundamental need to recognize pre-existing student culture when teaching French language and literature to a general public.
Year: 2013
Primary URL: http://frenchreview.frenchteachers.org/
Access Model: Subscritpion
Format: Journal
Periodical Title: The French Review
Publisher: The French Review

“The Literature Problem in the lycée: French Education Debates Today.” (Article)
Title: “The Literature Problem in the lycée: French Education Debates Today.”
Author: M. Martin Guiney
Abstract: The discipline of French in North America has long been suffering from declining enrollments, resources, and other challenges. The situation in France is surprisingly similar, with French literature under attack both as a cornerstone of general education at the secondary level, and as an academic discipline at the university level. The most recent crisis has taken the form of strong negative reaction to changes in the baccalauréat exam that were instituted in 1999. The future direction of the conflict will affect not only the content and methodology of the discipline, but France’s self-image as a nation founded on a common literary culture.
Year: 2012
Primary URL: http://frenchreview.frenchteachers.org/
Access Model: Subscription
Format: Journal
Periodical Title: The French Review
Publisher: The French Review

« L’Innovation pédagogique par le bas? PISA et la profanation de l’école-sanctuaire par la mondialisation dans l’enseignement littéraire. » (Article)
Title: « L’Innovation pédagogique par le bas? PISA et la profanation de l’école-sanctuaire par la mondialisation dans l’enseignement littéraire. »
Author: M. Martin Guiney
Abstract: In France and in other countries, the teaching of literature is undergoing fundamental reform. This article explores one type of reform: not one initiated by teachers or administrators, but by outside agencies attempting to make education more supportive of economic growth. One such agency is the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, which administers the now-famous PISA test to groups of fifteen-year-olds in dozens of countries. PISA includes literature among the skills that it tests. It is important to know the assumptions about literature that guide the questions asked on the PISA test, in order to understand its influence on the future of literature as a general education subject.
Year: 2014
Primary URL: https://www.puf.com/collections/Revue_de_m%C3%A9taphysique_et_de_morale
Access Model: Subscription
Format: Journal
Periodical Title: La Revue de Métaphysique et de Morale (France)
Publisher: La Revue de Métaphysique et de Morale (France)

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