COM LIT 108Autobiography in Francophone and Anglophone Worlds
Comparative Literature · 5 units · Undergraduate upper division (100-199)
Designed for juniors/seniors. Focus on number of narratives that use autobiographical mode to situate self in relation to history of nations and biography of family members. Introduction to theories of subjectivity and to genre of self-writing in France, Africa, and Caribbean. Comparison of serial autobiographies of Assia Djebar, Annie Ernaux, and Jamaica Kincaid to better understand limits of genre. Texts represent different limit cases of autobiography and can be read as biography, auto/ethnography, and auto/historiography. Examination of differences that emerge between autobiographical pact (Lejeune) that some authors create with their readers and liberties that others take with history. Attention to way visual culture (painting, photography, film) helps authors make their point, access memory, or create metaphors of self.
P/NP or letter grading.
When it runs
Not on the schedule for any of Fall 2025 through Spring 2027. UCLA publishes only that window, so this does not mean the course is gone — check the official listing.
Requisites
UCLA lists no requisites for this course.
Requires
Everything that has to come before this course, not just the courses named in the requisite above.
Nothing — this is an entry point.
Unlocks
What this course is a requisite for, and what those courses lead to in turn.
No course in the catalog lists this as a requisite.