Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Notes on Contributors
- Foreword by Baroness Jean Coussins
- Foreword by His Excellency Bernard Emié
- Part I Contextualisations
- Part II Research and Public Engagement Strategies
- Part III The Place of Women and Gender in French Studies
- Part IV The Place of Literature
- Part V The Place of Linguistics in French Studies Today
- Part VI Theatre, Cinema and Popular Culture
- Part VII Area Studies, Postcolonial Studies and War and Culture Studies
- Part VIII Adventures in Language Teaching
- Appendices. Addresses to the Future of French Studies Conference
- Appendix 1 Opening Speech. A Vast and Dynamic Field of Research and Teaching
- Appendix 2 A View from France
- Index
Appendix 1 - Opening Speech. A Vast and Dynamic Field of Research and Teaching
from Appendices. Addresses to the Future of French Studies Conference
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Notes on Contributors
- Foreword by Baroness Jean Coussins
- Foreword by His Excellency Bernard Emié
- Part I Contextualisations
- Part II Research and Public Engagement Strategies
- Part III The Place of Women and Gender in French Studies
- Part IV The Place of Literature
- Part V The Place of Linguistics in French Studies Today
- Part VI Theatre, Cinema and Popular Culture
- Part VII Area Studies, Postcolonial Studies and War and Culture Studies
- Part VIII Adventures in Language Teaching
- Appendices. Addresses to the Future of French Studies Conference
- Appendix 1 Opening Speech. A Vast and Dynamic Field of Research and Teaching
- Appendix 2 A View from France
- Index
Summary
Professor Michael Worton,
M. le Sous-Directeur du Français, Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs,
Ladies and Gentlemen, Professors of French Studies and representatives of academic associations and societies of French Studies.
Friends,
French Studies in the UK covers a vast range of research. It includes, of course, French and Francophone literature from the Middle Ages until the present day, but it also includes research on theatre, cinema, the media and cultural studies; French linguistics and studies of the French language; medieval and modern Occitan language, politics in France and in Francophone countries and the sociology and history of those countries. Researchers in French Studies also do important research in postcolonial studies, gender studies, and studies of philosophy and French thought. Additionally, the discipline makes a significant contribution to research in comparative literature and to our understanding of the relationship between literature and the other arts (for instance, on word and image interactions). Other important areas covered by French Studies are translation and the development and analysis of the pedagogy of the French language.
The results of the Research Assessment Exercise 2008 give a very positive picture of research in French Studies at the national level. Out of 33 French Studies units assessed, 17 obtained a ranking that put them in the 3* and 4* quality levels (i.e. ‘internationally excellent’ or ‘world-leading’).
A Subject None the Less in Difficulties
Paradoxically, in spite of the overall excellent quality of French Studies, there is an ongoing decrease in the number of students studying French and a decrease in the number of posts available for teachers and researchers.
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- French Studies in and for the 21st Century , pp. 293 - 295Publisher: Liverpool University PressPrint publication year: 2011