‘Cactus’ by Jean-Joseph Rabearivelo : grasping prickly subjects and their teaching in francophone (post-)colonial (eco)criticism

Abstract

Among my many satisfactions as a research-led learner is to take my students at all degree levels on a journey that trains their fresh pairs of eyes on seemingly impenetrable pre-1945 texts to discover ‘topical’ issues they care passionately about. This article therefore derives from my grasping of two singular opportunities as an academic teacher, the first already known. I am the new convenor of ‘French Literature from the Nineteenth to the Twenty-First Century’, a second-year, semester-two, research-led module. Its topics, genres and critical approaches prepare students both for their year-abroad encounters with francophone cultures and for honours modules offered in the post-Revolutionary period.