Left Wing in France

Tilly Matthews - The Airloom

 

DADAISM

 Here you will find a short video about Dadaism.

The Triplets of Belleville

This animated film follows elderly Frenchwoman Madame Souza as she becomes involved in international intrigue when her grandson, Champion, a professional cyclist, is kidnapped and taken abroad. Joined by her faithful dog, Bruno, Souza embarks on a journey to find Champion, and stumbles across unlikely allies in the form of three sisters who are veterans of the vaudeville stage. Tracking down Champion's criminal captors, the quartet of old women uses their wits to try and win the day.

Art and French Revolution

 

Debate topics on “Arts During the French Revolution.”

1. Is the "Death of Marat" more a political symbol than 

an artistic masterpiece?

Argue whether the painting’s primary value lies in its 

political message or its artistic merit.

2. Does David's idealization of Marat undermine 

the authenticity of the event?

Debate whether David's portrayal of Marat as a serene 

martyr distorts the harsh realities of the Revolution and 

Marat’s true personality.

3. Is the portrayal of Marat in the painting more 

about victimhood or heroism?

Explore whether David's work emphasizes Marat's 

victimhood or elevates him as a heroic figure in the 

revolutionary cause.

4. Was the Tennis Court Oath an act of unity or defiance?

Discuss whether the gathering of the Third Estate represented 

a united effort to create a fairer government or an act of rebellion 

against the monarchy.

5. Does Jacques-Louis David’s unfinished painting accurately 

reflect the significance of the event?

Discuss whether David’s interpretation captures the spirit and 

urgency of the Tennis Court Oath or if its incompleteness leaves 

important aspects unaddressed.

6. Does "The Oath of the Horatii" represent true loyalty to 

the state over family?

Debate whether the painting’s portrayal of the Horatii 

brothers emphasizes a message of patriotism and loyalty to 

the state above personal or familial ties.

7. Was the Women’s March on Versailles the true turning 

point of the French Revolution?

Debate whether this event had a more profound impact on 

the Revolution than other key moments, such as the Storming 

of the Bastille or the Tennis Court Oath.

8. How important were food shortages in motivating the 

Women’s March on Versailles?

Discuss the role of economic factors, particularly the scarcity 

of bread, as a primary cause of the march and whether it 

was more influential than political motivations.

9. Was the painting "Napoleon Crossing the Alps" an accurate 

depiction of Napoleon’s leadership or a glorified version?

Debate whether the painting represents Napoleon as he 

truly was, or if it exaggerated his heroic qualities for the sake 

of propaganda.

10. Can the portrayal of Napoleon on a rearing horse be seen 

as an intentional myth-making tool?

Discuss whether the dramatic imagery of Napoleon astride a 

rearing horse was meant to elevate his image to near-mythical 

status, distancing him from the reality of the event.

11. Does the painting "Lady Liberty Leading the People" by Eugène 

Delacroix represent the ideal of revolutionary freedom for all 

people, or is it primarily a glorification of violent rebellion?

Discuss whether the painting's portrayal of Liberty as a 

heroic figure embodies the universal ideals of freedom and 

equality, or if it emphasizes the chaos and violence inherent 

in revolutionary uprisings.

Enlightenment 2

Enlightenment 2: 

 

1. Rousseau. The Social Contract. 

2. Government as a “necessary evil” (Rousseau).

3. Rousseau’s ideas about women. 

4. Kant and the difference between science and morality. 

5. Montesquieu. The 3 branches of government. 

6. Beccaria’s ideas about punishment. New concepts.

7. Adam Smith. The Wealth of Nations. Against the State's intervention. 

8. The Encyclopedia and the institution of monarchy. 

9. Mary Wollstonecraft.

Enlightenment

 

1. Define scientific revolution. 

2. Consequences of skepticism over religion. 

3. John Locke and his idea of the tabula rasa. 

4. Hobbes and his idea of Leviathan. 

5. The idea of a contract. (Locke)

6. Revolution is legitimate when the leader has become a tyrant. (Locke)

7. Writings and readership: the birth of public opinion. Consequences.

8. Philosophers and salons. 

9. Voltaire. Candid. 

10. Voltaire’s deism. 

11. Hume and his idea about miracles.

"Tlön, Uqbar, Orbis Tertius": Are we living in a computer simulation?

 

Varoufakis on Technofeudalism

 

1. Why, for Varoufakis, we are no longer living in a capitalist system?

2. Why does he speak about a banking system “addicted to” getting money from the central banks? (After 2008).

3. How does he define Capitalism?

4. Why are we now beyond this system? (Explore the term fief.)

5. “Platforms are expanding, markets are shrinking”, says Varoufakis. Do you agree?

6. So, what does he mean by the concept of Technofeudalism?

7. How do we work for the platforms we use?

Borges - Writing the Impossible

 

Borges and French Theory

 The link appears HERE

Borges - The Fauna of Mirrors

 The text appears HERE

Poem - Mirrors

 The poem appears HERE

Borges and I

 The text appears HERE

Marcel Duchamp, The Bride Stripped Bare by Her Bachelors, Even (The Large Glass)

Marcel Duchamp, The Bride Stripped Bare by Her Bachelors, Even (The Large Glass), oil, varnish, lead foil, lead wire, and dust on two glass panels, 277.5 × 177.8 × 8.6 cm © Estate of Marcel Duchamp (Philadelphia Museum of Art). Created by Beth Harris and Steven Zucker.

May '68. Video.

 

May ‘68. Debate. 

 

1. Students make comparisons: poor suburbs. 

2. The university is unable to affect society. 

3. Looking for a radical change in society. 

4. Protesters are not touched (they are rich, white, 

and French: they are not Algerians). 

5. A European movement against capitalism. 

6. Bourgeois dictatorship: Vive le socialisme!

An anti-capitalist and anti-imperialist movement.

All the leftists united: Trotskyists, Maoists, Situationists, 

Anarchists.

7. The government does not employ full military force.

8. May 13, 1968: Workers respond massively. 

9. Oblique confrontation. 

10. Students reject expertise and hierarchy. 

11. Everything is put into question.

12. A new civilization. 

13. A movement of the intelligentsia. 

14. No Robespierre, no Trotsky. Just a happening.

15. An open-ended paralysis. 

16. Putting revolution into question.

Chapter 12

Chapter 12: “De Gaulle’s Golden Decade Ends in Tragicomedy.”

Read this chapter, paying special attention to the following themes:

 

1. De Gaulle as the dominant French state-man of the 20th century. 

2. De Gaulle: a traditionalist, a conservative, a republican. 

3. The movement towards presidentialism (203). 

4. Depoliticize the government. Appointing technocrats. 

5. The problem of Algeria. Referendum: the colonies chose to remain within the Community (except for Guinea).

6. Terrorist attacks (FLN). 

7. The OAS. Massacre of Algerian protesters in Paris (1961). 

8. EEC: 1958. 

9. The “Trente glorieuses”. Reforms (208-209). 

10. The three “international realities” perceived by De Gaulle. 

11. André Malraux as first minister of culture (212); and the cultural revolution of the 60s (213). 

12. Literature (214). Philosophy, between structuralism and Marxism (215-216). 

13. May ‘68. No coherent political project. 

Sartre - Video

 

Chapter 10

 Chapter 10: “The Second World War: Collaboration and Resistance.”

Read this chapter, paying special attention to the following themes:

1. Terms of the armistice between France and Germany (166-167). 
2. Political thinking of Pétain and Laval. 
3. Traditionalist ideas of Pétain (169). 
4. The main characteristics of Vichy’s government. The new motto. Racism and anti-communism. 
5. The role of De Gaulle in the organization of the resistance. 
6. Systematic deportation of Jews (176-179).
7. Vichy’s government as one of the French taboos (180-182). 
8. 
   

Louis XVI

 A song (in Spanish) about Louis XVI. Maybe you can take a look at the lyrics with a dictionary.