Making Mincemeat of Human Exceptionalism : an Interdisciplinary and Didactic Approach of Margaret Atwood's Oryx and Crake

Details

Supervisors

Bragard, Véronique ; Meunier, Fanny

Faculty

Faculté de philosophie, arts et lettres

Degree label

Master [120] en langues et lettres modernes, orientation germaniques, à finalité didactique

Abstract

Although literature is one of the main fields studied in the Bachelor’s and Master’s in Modern Languages and Literatures: German, Dutch and English, the use of literary works still remains marginal in the French-speaking Belgian secondary schools. However, dystopian and speculative novels are said to offer fertile ground to debate many different philosophical and societal issues. As a result, this thesis strives to reconcile foreign literature and English as a foreign language (EFL) didactics and, accordingly, focusses on two research questions. On the one hand, the section on literature tackles how human exceptionalism is challenged and/or deconstructed in the representation of food in Oryx and Crake (RQ1). On the other hand, the section on didactics examines how EFL teachers can concretely make use of Margaret Atwood’s Oryx and Crake to foster students’ critical minds and enhance their language skills (RQ2). Whereas human exceptionalism might seem too abstract as a concept, it is investigated and popularized through the lens of food issues which makes this paradigm very concrete for the pupils and their teachers. A didactic sequence is included in the appendix of the present dissertation.