Das literarästhetische Potenzial von Laura Alcobas Roman "Le bleu des abeilles". Ansätze und Aufgaben für den fremdsprachenunterrichtlichen Einsatz aus raumsemantischer Perspektive

Abstract

The understanding of literary aesthetics seems to be on the fringes of what can be taught in foreign-language classrooms. Curricula tend to see literature as just one of many text types used to enhance intercultural knowledge and communicative skills, and literature didactics seem to be wedded with Reception Theory, an approach that does usually not focus on the text itself. Yet, foreign literature teaching should also provide an access to textual aesthetics. To realize this, we suggest a three-step approach based on Lotman’s space semiotics. More precisely, we develop tasks for Laura Alcoba’s Le bleu des abeilles – a narration creating three different concepts of space in relation with Paris. Through intensive text work and the use of digital tools, students deepen their understanding of the conception and interaction between real places and fictional spaces. Ultimately, this trains their eye for the symbolic nature of literary language and the artful construction of fictional texts.