The Literature Problem in the Lycée: French Education Debates Today

The discipline of French in North America has been suffering from declining enrollments and resources. The situation in France is surprisingly similar, with French literature under attack both as a cornerstone of general education at the secondary level, and as an academic discipline at the university level. The most recent crisis has taken the form of strong negative reaction to changes in the Baccalauréat exam that were instituted in 1999. The future direction of the conflict will affect not only the content and methodology of the discipline, but also France’s self-image as a nation founded on a common literary culture.