Contemporary Short French Fiction: Social and Literary Trends since 1990
MIT's course examines short stories and short novels published in France over roughly two decades, taught entirely in French. Readings trace how French writers respond to colonial legacy, the reexamination of the Vichy years, Holocaust memory, the AIDS epidemic, shifting gender relationships, new family structures, and immigration. The course includes a syllabus, weekly reading assignments, and discussion questions drawn from primary literary texts rather than secondary commentary, giving students direct engagement with contemporary French prose. Materials are provided through MIT OpenCourseWare at no cost, with no certificate offered. The approach treats identity and social change as subjects within literary history and language study, using fiction to trace how French writers have processed national trauma and social transformation since 1990, rather than promoting any particular activist stance.