This graduate level course explores the emergence of urban cultures in and around large cities in France (Paris, Marseille, Toulouse) from the 1980’s to today. Initially influenced by major figures of American civil movements, as well artists and theorists of the French postcolonial world, French urban youth have endeavored to describe their lives growing up in the outskirts of large cities. Through representative examples of short fiction, rap music, street art, and film, the course will examine the different ways French urban artists analyze and represent race and ethnicity, gender, religion, and power, challenging dominant discourses. Emphasis is also given to the understanding and production of verlan and other urban sociolects. Required : French high-intermediate proficiency. 3 credits.