Literary preparatory classes

The literary preparatory classes , one of the 3 dies of the Preparatory classes at the universities, prepare in two years with the contests of admission of the national universities, of the national school of the charters, the national colleges of business and management and of the political Instituts of studies and of CELSA (school of communication.)

In school Slang, khâgne is the nickname given to these preparatory classes although the term indicates the second year more precisely, called officially First the higher, the first year being called hypokhâgne or, officially, Lettres higher.

There exist four ways in the literary die:

  • letters;
  • letters and social sciences;
  • National school of the Charters;
  • Saint-Cyr military school.

Figures

In 2007:

  • higher Letters: 6.796 students (+ 1,6% compared to 2006)

    • 132 classes A/L with like average manpower 43,5 students

    • 21 classes B/L with like average manpower 41,3 students

  • First the higher: 4.444 students (of which 25% of cubes) are a ratio of 3.333/6 722 entering in higher Letters.

    • 38 khâgnes “Ulm” with like average manpower 39 students, for 4 options in general (5 khâgnes Parisian comprise more than 50 pupils)

    • 74 khâgnes “LSH” with like average manpower 29,8 students

    • 20 khâgnes “BL” with like average manpower 28,8 students

Origin of the name Khâgne

To be knock-kneed, it is to have the knees turned in-inside (drawn aside feet, brought closer knees). In second half of the 19th century, this word of knock-kneed was used to make fun of the academics, repeaters, professors or others normaliens, set on traditional studies, always plunged in their books.

For example, on February 21st, 1866, Goncourt notes: I notice that the impetuous celebrators of naked, of old athletic and gymnastic civilizations, are in general of knock-kneed academics, with poor and narrow chest, locked up in a waistcoat of flanelle.

In 1869, in the will of a joker , Vallès written: There is in tunics with green collets, they are the normaliens; they have on cranium and with the side a opera hat and a sword! A sword! not, it is undoubtedly in this leather sleeve that one places a feather of goose at the sad beard and the dirty nozzle, the feather of the prigs! Why a sword? Here is one in this uniform which is knock-kneed, lame and the leg draws. Thus give him crutches rather!

When, in 1880, the first classes of higher rhetoric (ancestor of first the higher) are created, the taupins, which, to prepare the military academies, make horsemanship and fencing, use this mockery against the pupils of rhétosup , which are plunged in traditional studies, prepare the Teacher training school and will be later university and professors. From there, knock-kneed , then the cagne . The pupils of higher rhetoric put themselves then to employ this denomination, but about the years 1910, the pseudo-Greek orthography khâgneux and khâgne work out, in order to reveal it more " savante" and to occult its real significance.

Pierre Vidal-Naquet, in the first volume of his memories, specifies that they are particularly the " cornichons" , pupils preparing Saint-Cyr military school, and not the taupins (which are interested by the Polytechnic school) which used this name by mocking remark.

History

Until worms 1890, the graduates prepared the contest of the National university while turning over in class of rhetoric (current class of first), the professors giving them exercises more difficult than to the pupils not graduates. The Louis-the-Large Lycée created a special class for these pupils of first-veterans which became the class of first higher . One added then the class of " letters supérieures" , between the class of the philosophy (current final) and first higher. This system was adopted by the Lycée Henri-Iv, and ends up becoming the rule during the Thirties, thus giving rise to the course which we know today.

Typology

There exist several types of khâgnes:

  • a first distinction can be done between the khâgnes B/L exempting a teaching in Mathématiques and Social sciences and the others khâgnes, purely arts persons. Differentiation is done as of the year of hypokhâgne and it is impossible to enter in Khâgne B/L at the time of the passage in second year. In philosophy, letters and history, teaching is similar there to that of the traditional khâgnes.

  • differentiation enters the other types of khâgne is done officially only after the first year of preparatory class. In practice, however, as of the hypokhâgne, of many establishments exempt a teaching different according to the type of khâgne considered.

    • traditional Khâgne - sometimes simply khâgne - preparing with contest A/L of ENS Ulm. Its specificity lies in its character general practitioner and multi-field. With the contest, there are six affected written tests all of the same coefficient: an essay of letters, one of history and one of philosophy, a version of old language, a version of living language, and a test with option. The test of history relates to France since 1870 and the world since 1919 and the majority of the tests of option are on program. In the other matters, there is no special program. Approximately 1.000 pupils per annum follow this formation.
    • modern, so called Khâgne “Cloud”, preparing with ENS LSH (in the past Holy Fontenay Cloud). French and the option are surcoefficientés. The study of an old language is not obligatory, but there is an obligatory test of geography. The majority of the tests are done on a program which changes every year. Approximately 3.000 pupils.
    • Khâgne chartist, preparing with the National school of the charters, section B (two languages, modern history and contemporary)

It should be noted that the section has entrance examination at the National school of the charters prepares in specific preparatory classes. However, the name of these classes is built on the model of the khâgnes, which it is of official name ( higher letters and first higher ) or about the slang name ( hypochartes and charters ).

General information on teaching

All the pupils follow a French teaching, philosophy, history-geography and living language. In all the types of khâgnes, the pupils must choose an option.

  • traditional Khâgne and B/L. With the contest of the ENS Ulm, the test with option counts as much as the other matters with the writing, it is slightly surcoefficientée with the oral examination. The options suggested are:

    • in B/L:
      • teaching of speciality in one of the five obligatory matters
      • Geography
      • old language
    • in khâgne traditional:
      • teaching of speciality on program in letters, philosophy or history-geography or geography.
      • traditional letters (i.e: two old languages, the Latin and the Greek ).
      • living languages, which implies, at the same time a test on program of first language and the study of one second living language.
      • artistic option: music, history of art, studies cinematographic or theatrical studies. This test is common to the modern and traditional khâgnes.

  • modern Khâgne: the optional subjects are same as in the khâgne traditional one, but the tests are different and the coefficient of the optional subjects is doubled.

Outlets

  • Universities

    • the National universities. It is the original objective of these preparatory classes, however, the rate of selection is there very high (4% of allowed with the ENS-LSH). The various types of khâgnes prepare to various ENS: for the traditional ones, the National university of the street of Ulm, for the modern ones, ENS Letters and Social sciences, with Lyon and the ENS of Cachan English option. For the B/L, there exists a specific contest in each of the three schools.
    • Business schools (ESCP-EAP, ESSEC, HEC, etc). They open their contests with the khâgneux one.
    • National school of the statistics and the economic administration, contest economy (for the B/L).
    • Saint-Cyr military school, contest letters. One often prepares it in special classes, the cornices , in military colleges (like that of Aix-en-Provence or the Prytanée of the Arrow)
    • National school of the charters contest, to become, generally, archivist, paleographer, historian, or curator of a museum, after a specific khâgne, a traditional khâgne or a B/L.
  • Schools of journalism (IFJ, etc) or of communication (CELSA, etc)
  • political Institutes of studies (Sciences Po). Many establishments propose, in hypokhâgne, an option to prepare the entrance examinations in second year of the IEP. However, this option is likely to lose of its importance since the Institut of political studies of Paris removed the entrance examination with bac+1, which relates to in fine the hypokhâgneux ones at the end of the first year. Those which fail cannot pass by again the examination of entry of Sciences Po to integrate a second year.
  • University: The majority of the pupils of the literary preparatory classes continue their studies at the University however. During their years of prépa, they are registered in parallel in a university which can grant equivalences to them. It is generally possible after the year of hypokhâgne to obtain an equivalence of first year of license in one or more disciplines. In the large majority of the cases, after first Khâgne, the students obtain an equivalence of second year of license, however, especially in modern Khâgne, this one is more easily granted in the matter in which the candidate follows the teaching of option. An under-admissibility at a National university makes it possible to obtain office this equivalence. After second Khâgne, one can often obtain an equivalence partial or total of third year of license. The normaliens follow a double course: in addition to the lesson specific to their school, they achieve the traditional university course.

Khâgneux famous

In the disorder: Emile Durkheim, Laurent Fabius, Alain Juppe, Francois Bayrou, Pierre Bourdieu, Georges Pompidou, Jean-Paul Sartre, Léopold Sédar Senghor, Aime Césaire, Jorge Semprún, Raymond Aron, Jean Jaurès, Eric-Emmanuel Schmitt, Maurice Merleau-Ponty, Michel Foucault, Gilles Deleuze, Charles Péguy, Alain, Gerard Genette etc It is eminently difficult to draw up a representative list of it, insofar as a very great quantity of philosophers, writers, politicians, famous etc of the 20th century passed by the preparatory classes (with notable exceptions like Roland Barthes).

External bonds

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