Approaches to Teaching Sand’s Indiana ed. by David A. Powell, Pratima Prasad (review)

Reviews 233 Powell, David A., and Pratima Prasad, eds. Approaches to Teaching Sand’s Indiana. New York: MLA, 2016. ISBN 978-1-60329-210-8. Pp. 232. $24. Divided into two parts, this volume provides fresh and innovative insight into teaching the novel commonly referred to as the “precursor” to Sand’s other fictional works because of its prevalent themes: “the constraints placed on married women by the Napoleonic Code, class inequities, the parallels between marriage and slavery, and the political circumstances of the Bourbon restoration and the July Monarchy” (vii). Having conducted a survey prior to beginning the volume, Powell and Prasad ascertained that Indiana is the most consistently taught novel of all Sand’s works, both in the United States and abroad. Moreover, beyond the novel being included in French literature survey courses as well as specialized courses on nineteenth-century French narrative and culture, French women writers, and French colonial literature, it is frequently taught in English as part of women’s and gender studies offerings and comparative literature courses, “where it is teamed up with novels such as Harriet Beecher Stowe’s Uncle Tom’s Cabin and Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre”(vii). Given such a wide range of courses that include Indiana, this pedagogical volume is much needed. The aim of “Part One: Materials”is to assist instructors with the rich and varied literary and social history of Indiana. In just over six pages, it provides concise information on French editions and English translations; a note on bibliographic notations in Approaches; background readings on French, literary, and colonial history and biographies of George Sand; and, studies of Indiana. “Part Two: Approaches” is divided into four sub-sections:“History and Geography;”“Race, Femininity, and Masculinity;” “Comparative Perspectives;”and“Literary Contexts.”The wide breadth of topics covered in the twenty-one essays will appeal to instructors of courses ranging from French romanticism and realism to interdisciplinary ones on French colonial history or law. Of particular note is how contributors not only described how they teach Indiana, but how they do so in a particular course to a particular group of students. For example, Carolyn Vellenga Berman details in “Creole Emancipation: Indiana and French Colonial Slavery” her strategy for teaching the novel in English translation to upperlevel undergraduates in a self-designed liberal arts degree program: “Since there are generally no prerequisites where I teach and undergraduates with diverse educational backgrounds mix with highly educated auditors in each class, the challenge is to bring students together in a meaningful collective project” (26). Allan H. Pasco explains in “Romantic Realism in Indiana,” that while reviewing the long list of salient themes in Indiana (e.g., frustrated love, passion, melancholy, etc.),“it is also possible to highlight other important but less emphasized preoccupations like youth, the present, narrative devices, and the realism that preoccupied writers throughout much of the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries” (185). The volume is essential for those who are new to teaching Indiana and ideal for those seasoned professionals who want to infuse their courses with new perspectives. Fulbright Specialist (NY) Eileen M. Angelini Film edited by Michèle Bissière Boukhrief, Nicolas, réal. Made in France. Int. Malik Zidi, François Civil, Nassim Si Ahmed. Radar, 2015. Made in France a largement été mentionné dans la presse comme le film que les distributeurs ont préféré ne pas sortir parce que son intrigue rappellerait de façon trop aiguë les tragiques massacres du 11 novembre 2015.Voir le film, distribué malgré tout en VOD, permet de constater que s’il propose une immersion au sein d’une cellule qui s’apprête à monter un attentat terroriste, Made in France ne montre rien qui ressemble aux événements en question: pas de massacres dans une salle de concert ou à la terrasse d’un café.En effet,ce qui intéresse Boukhrief,ce sont surtout l’hétérogénéité du groupe et les tensions qui le traversent au fur et à mesure qu’approche le fatidique passage à l’acte. Ces rapports de force nous sont présentés à travers le regard de Sam (Malik Zidi), un journaliste qui a infiltré la cellule et qui...