This course, including an intensive in-country component, will explore aspects of New Caledonian culture, particularly through a study of recent imaginative literature. New Caledonia has undergone considerable change in recent years, emerging from near civil war in the 1980s to a consensus for constitutional transition. Coursework will take place at the ANU and in New Caledonia, where there will also be excursions to the old convict penitentiary, the new Kanak Customary Senate, the Tjibaou Cultural Centre, and a stay in a Kanak village in the Northern Province.

The aim of the course is to give students experience of cultural diversity through the study of a French-speaking Pacific culture (New Caledonia), including via in-country fieldwork and coursework. It aims to give students an understanding of features of a society in constitutional and social transition and a grasp of the issues presented in recent imaginative literature. It also aims to develop students' capacity to be autonomous observers of a foreign culture and to develop their research skills.

The language of instruction will be French and all work will be submitted in French.

By the end of this course, you should be able to:

1. reflect upon and describe important features of the history and culture of New Caledonia
2. describe the current constitutional situation of New Caledonia
3. explain the significance of imaginative literature during the past quarter-century in New Caledonia
4. identify local varieties of French and distinguish them from standard metropolitan French
5. appreciate a non-Western (Pacific indigenous) way of life

Coursework in-class test (20%), rapport de stage: fieldwork report of 1200 words (35%) and research essay of 2000 words (45%)

For students taking the course as part of a French major: FREN3007 Intermediate French II or the permission of the Convener.