Presentation Type
Research Study
Release Option
Event
Description
As an aspiring educator in foreign languages, my project is a lesson plan for a 12th grade class for low-intermediate French-level students. Since comics are considered the 9th art in the French and Francophone world, I am using Asterix the Gaul (1959) and Aya of Yopougon (2005) to teach how comics reflect historical facts and the use of culturally specific French. Precisely, I seek to teach how puns are utilized in Asterix the Gaul as part of the French literary tradition of calembours (puns) and how French in Ivory Coast is the result of colonialism incorporating literal translations of expressions in African languages in Aya de Yopougon. Asterix the Gaul is a Belgian adventure comic whose plot is rich with historical lessons of the Gauls and the Romans as it fixates on a theme of French nationalism against the Romans specifically. Aya of Yopougon is an Ivorian fictional story inspired by the author's memories of growing up in the suburbs of Abidjan in the 1970s with several themes of social issues related to colonialism, gender, and class. Using Aya of Yopougon, students will explore the French expressions used in Ivory Coast that stem from idioms in African languages. Both Asterix the Gaul and Aya of Yopougon are valuable tools in teaching French through a cultural lens. Students will not only vastly improve their French learning skills by incorporating new expressions and wordplay, but also, they will learn about Francophone culture and history through comics.
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.
Faculty Mentor
Dr. Hapsatou Wane
Department of Primary Presenter's Major
Department of Foreign Languages
Primary Presenter's Major(s)
Foreign Languages
Location
Virtual Symposium
Symposium Year
2021
Teaching French and Francophone Culture Through Comics
Virtual Symposium
