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THE PH.D. PROGRAM IN FRENCH AND FRANCOPHONE STUDIES
SPECIALIZATION IN LITERATURE
GENERAL DESCRIPTION
The Specialization in Literature offers numerous courses in the different periods and genres of metropolitan and non-metropolitan literature. Candidates also choose electives in French and related subjects to ensure breadth of training as well as depth.
STATEMENT OF GOALS
The study of literature is the humanistic discipline that seeks to understand certain aesthetic achievements through the interpretation and analysis of works of oral, written, and dramatic art. It requires a sound knowledge of literary languages, styles, genres, and themes; a familiarity with the history of literary movements and ideas; and an awareness of the range of critical and theoretical approaches to literary works. Moreover, students of literature must acquire and develop the critical skills necessary to analyze and interpret literary texts.
The goals of the Specialization in Literature are:
- To provide students with a broad knowledge of French and Francophone literatures and of their general relationship to other literatures, together with a specialized knowledge of a particular literary period, genre, or movement;
- To provide students with a sound historical basis for the study of literature and introduce them to the insights that other disciplines can bring to an understanding of the relationships between literature and the society for which it was written;
- To introduce students to a variety of theoretical approaches to literature, such as semiotic, thematic, feminist, narratological, philological, sociological, and phenomenological approaches;
- To develop in students the linguistic and analytical skills that will enable them to read literary texts with full understanding and to develop the critical skills that will enable them to interpret works of literature with insight and perception;
- To teach students the techniques of literary research and to develop the skills required to communicate the results of their research to others in the classroom, at professional meetings, and in publications.
COURSEWORK (See Appendix B for Checksheet)
Students are required to take 30-36 credits in the following courses:
- 21 credits of literature (3 of which may, with approval, be taken outside of the department)
- 3 credits of French Literary Theory and Criticism (FR 571)
- 3 credits of History of the French Language (FR 500)
- 9 credits of electives from French Linguistics and/or Civilization
Note that the preceding credits for the specialization in literature total 36. The Ph.D. in literature can be done with fewer than 36 credits only if the student has either 1) taken FR 500 and/or FR 571 in the MA program at Penn State, or 2) taken, in an MA program elsewhere, courses sufficiently similar to FR 500 and/or FR 571 that one or both of the requirements may be waived by a Graduate Director, after consultation as appropriate with other faculty.
To increase the candidate's employment opportunities, it is recommended that a minor be developed. A minor gives special visibility to a substantial secondary interest of the candidate within French Studies. The minor can be another literary specialty, another field within the department (Civilization, Applied or Theoretical Linguistics), or an interdisciplinary topic with courses taken outside the Department. The minor is defined as a minimum of three courses in the specified area. Note that a minor taken entirely outside the department will increase the number of credits hours for the degree by 6, since 3 may be included in the 21 literature credits noted above.
EXAMINATION PROCEDURES
Candidacy Examination
All students entering the doctoral program in literature after October 21, 2002, will be subject to the Ph.D. candidacy exam described below. Students already enrolled in the program before that date will have their choice of the old or the new exam. Details of the former system are available from the department.
The exam is expected to last approximately 1 1/2 hours but may be longer or shorter than that for a specific student. The exam will consist of two parts. One part is a review of the candidate's past record (courses taken, requirements fulfilled, etc.), of his/her plans for additional courses, and of the dissertation area and subject, insofar as they can be defined at that time. This portion of the exam is based on a document of about five pages prepared in advance (and in French) by the candidate in consultation with his/her advisor. Roughly three pages should document courses taken and those that, if available, the candidate will yet take; requirements still to be satisfied (and by what means); and other plans and needs. About two pages should be devoted to the dissertation area and, to whatever extent possible at the time, to the specific subject. This section of the exam will be considered to be in part an advising session, though more formal and rigorous than are the usual discussions between students and their advisors.
The other portion will be an exam based on six theoretical texts read in advance by the student. The intent is to determine the student's ability to deal with theoretical concepts and texts in a sufficiently knowledgeable and sophisticated way. Four of the texts will be stipulated by the department (see below); two will be chosen, in consultation with the advisor, by the student and will be specific to his/her field. The committee members will devise questions related to one or several of these texts, and the student will have one hour to prepare responses to the question(s) prior to the oral exam. In the exam itself, the student will be expected to present and discuss responses orally; it is assumed that he/she will have made notes on the question(s) but will not read a prepared response.
A student who does not pass the exam may retake it once.
The following four texts, chosen by the faculty, will be part of the exam for the next two years or more. (The list may be revised thereafter; adequate notice will be given to students.) Photocopies of the texts will be made available.
Saussure, excerpts dealing with langue and parole and the nature of signs, from the "Troisième cours de linguistique générale." Jakobson, "Linguistique et poétique" from "Essais de linguistique générale." Genette, chapter "Voix" from Figures III. Foucault, "Qu'est-ce qu'un auteur?"
The two texts chosen by the student in consultation with his/her advisor should be primarily theoretical in nature, of moderate length (i.e., a section or chapter, not a book), and related to the student's area or subject of specialization.
Comprehensive Examination
The candidate, in consultation with the advisor, will draw up a reading list in each of the following three areas: one literary period (chosen from medieval through 20th/21st century, including non-metropolitan); one genre (poetry, narrative, theater); and theory and criticism. The fourth area will be identified as the primary area of specialization and will be the final form of the doctoral dissertation proposal. The proposal will include, but not be limited to: 1) a clearly defined problematic, 2) a description of the project, 3) a background, 4) a description of the approach and the methodology, 5) an anticipated outcome, and 6) a bibliography. The Comprehensive Examination is based on the reading lists inherent to the above-mentioned three areas and the approval of the dissertation proposal.
Written Component
The candidate will take a written examination on each of the three areas for which adequate reading lists have been developed. A typical reading list is expected to feature about twenty-five items. The examinations include the option of a take-home in only one of the three components. Exams taken in-house are four hours in length and must be scheduled within a period of two weeks. The candidate will be given a choice of two or three questions and will respond to one. The dissertation proposal will be developed in consultation with the chair of the doctoral committee and distributed to all members of the committee two weeks before the beginning of the comprehensive examination.
Oral Component
Two weeks after the completion of the Written Comprehensive Examination, a Comprehensive Oral Examination will be scheduled, lasting approximately two hours. The purpose of the Oral Examination is both to probe further the comprehensiveness of the candidate's preparation in each of the three areas and to evaluate the dissertation proposal.
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