Modern Languages and Cultures

The information contained in this module specification was correct at the time of publication but may be subject to change, either during the session because of unforeseen circumstances, or following review of the module at the end of the session. Queries about the module should be directed to the member of staff with responsibility for the module.
Title FRENCH DRESSING: SIX CENTURIES OF CLOTHING AND CULTURAL HISTORY IN FRANCE
Code FREN335
Coordinator Dr RJ Dixon
Modern Languages and Cultures
Rebecca.Dixon@liverpool.ac.uk
Year CATS Level Semester CATS Value
Session 2020-21 Level 6 FHEQ Second Semester 15

Pre-requisites before taking this module (other modules and/or general educational/academic requirements):

 

Modules for which this module is a pre-requisite:

 

Co-requisite modules:

 

Teaching Schedule

  Lectures Seminars Tutorials Lab Practicals Fieldwork Placement Other TOTAL
Study Hours 8

14

        22
Timetable (if known)              
Private Study 128
TOTAL HOURS 150

Assessment

EXAM Duration Timing
(Semester)
% of
final
mark
Resit/resubmission
opportunity
Penalty for late
submission
Notes
             
CONTINUOUS Duration Timing
(Semester)
% of
final
mark
Resit/resubmission
opportunity
Penalty for late
submission
Notes
Catalogue Entry There is a resit opportunity. Standard UoL penalty applies for late submission. This is an anonymous assessment.  -1500 words    30       
Essay There is a resit opportunity. Standard UoL penalty applies for late submission. This is an anonymous assessment.  3500 words    70       

Aims

To introduce students to the ways in which French cultural productions from the fifteenth to the twentieth centuries (e.g. paintings, lifestyle journalism) using clothing to convey and shape identity;

To develop students' ability to apply theoretical approaches or critical secondary literature to the study of clothing;

To enhance students' skills of critical analysis and independent thinking.


Learning Outcomes

(LO1) Ability to evaluate critically the role and significance of fashion in French culture from the late Middle Ages to the twentieth century.

(LO2) Apply theoretical approaches or critical secondary literature to the analysis of a range of artefacts in different visual media and from diverse periods in French history, both individually and comparatively.

(LO3) Understand concepts and approaches relating to the history of fashion and consumption, especially in relation to individual and group identity.

(S1) Critical thinking and problem solving - Critical analysis

(S2) Communication (oral, written and visual) - Academic writing (inc. referencing skills)

(S3) Global citizenship - Cultural awareness

(S4) Critical thinking and problem solving - Problem identification

(S5) Personal attributes and qualities - Independence


Teaching and Learning Strategies

Teaching Method 1 - Lecture
Description: The purpose of the lectures is to introduce students to the historical, cultural and theoretical background to the artefacts studied.
Attendance Recorded: No

Teaching Method 2 - Seminar
Description: Seminars will involve the discussion of preassigned literary and visual texts. There will also be tutor-led 'master-classes' on the analysis of visual materials. One seminar session will take place in the dress collection of the Museum of Liverpool, subject to Museum availability.
Attendance Recorded: Yes


Syllabus

 

Topics covered during the module may include:

Prise de contact. Key aspects of the study of (historical) fashion;

Ways of seeing clothes;

The Middle Ages;

Visual analysis masterclass x 3;

René d’Anjou, Le Livre du Cœur d’amour épris: Images, allegory and courtly identity;

The Renaissance; Jean and François Clouet: Fashioning the court of France;

The seventeenth century;

Daniel Rabel’s designs for the ballet de cour: Semiotic play and regal performance;

The eighteenth century;

Jacques-Louis David: Empire lines and imperial splendour;

The nineteenth century;

Writing the garment in the nineteenth century: Mallarmé’s Dernière Mode  and lifestyle journalism;

Fashion plates and painted dreams: Journaux de mode, aspiration, and identity in the nineteenth century;

The twentieth century;

Paris Fashion Week and fashion’ s global reach;

Museum of Liverpool visit (subject to museum availability);

Buying into fashion in the twentieth century: Clothing, consumption and identity;

Fashion in the frame: Art, advertising and Adèle Blanc-Sec;

Paris Fashion Week: The media and la mode;

Paris Fashion Week: Situating French fashion on the global stage.


Recommended Texts

Reading lists are managed at readinglists.liverpool.ac.uk. Click here to access the reading lists for this module.