Khâgne

Khâgne (French pronunciation: ​[kaɲ]) is an informal French term for what are officially known as classes préparatoires littéraires, i.e. the classe préparatoire aux grandes écoles (CPGE), or classe prépa, dedicated to literature and the humanities. It contrasts with other CPGE majors such as Maths Sup in mathematics and engineering, or Prépa HEC in the business domain.

Khâgne is a two-year program after secondary school graduation (baccalauréat) to prepare undergraduate students for the competitive entrance examination to the three Écoles normales supérieures (ENS) — more specifically to their Humanities and Social science departments (Section Lettres,[1] Section Lettres et sciences humaines[2]).

More precisely, khâgne refers to the second year of the program, also known as the Première Supérieure, while the first year is known as the Lettres Supérieures or hypokhâgne (from Ancient Greek ὑπο- (hypo), "under").

In case of unsuccessful attempts at Concours at the end of their Khâgne, students are allowed to repeat that second year once or even twice. This means that students can remain in the whole programme from two up to four years in total (see also the section on slang terms).

History

Until 1890, secondary school graduates prepared for the entrance examination to the ENS by repeating their classe de rhétorique which corresponds to the final year of secondary education. Teachers would give them more difficult assignments than to high school juniors. Lycée Louis-le-Grand created a special class in order to gather those "veterans": the Première supérieure class, also called rhétorique supérieure, or rhétosup. Lycée Henri-IV then introduced the Lettres supérieures (or Lettres sup) year between the final year and the Première supérieure year. Regarded as a two-year extension of high school studies, Lettres supérieures and Première supérieure was meant to prepare students to the ENS. This system became standard by the 1930s.

As the coursework is intensive, with around 35 hours of classwork per week and a good deal of work on top of that, it can be very stressful for students. The examinations are difficult and competitive and it is common for students either to repeat the second year of classes (in slang cuber) or to fail altogether, in which case they usually obtain a Licence or other qualification. The grading system (0 to 20) reflects the general philosophy of the khâgnes: underscoring the failings of the students rather than their strengths. Consequently, most grades hover between 4 and 11, the latter grade being an excellent grade. This grading system is quite demotivating for students but is part and parcel of the intellectual "boot camp" mentality of the classes prépas educational system.

The classes involve elements of literature (modern and classical), history, philosophy, geography, languages and linguistics-–-a comprehensive humanities-based education-–-but students will normally specialise in one or two subjects. Critics claim that a disproportionate amount of resources is devoted to khâgne students as against the c. 40% of Baccalauréat students who attend a standard university (faculté). They therefore see it as a feature of the elitism of the French higher education system, especially since the majority of successful candidates originate from successful upper-class and middle-class families. Defenders see it as demonstrating an emphasis on quality.

Etymology

The word khâgne (f.) is a pseudo-Graecism, derived from the French adjective cagneux, meaning "knock-kneed". During the 19th and early 20th century, the adjective was often used mockingly to describe people in the academic strata, especially those pursuing classical studies. More specifically, the cagneux was used as a taunt by students of the military academy, whose curriculum included physical education such as equestrianism and fencing, against students in the humanities, who were perceived as crouching over their books, thus developing physical deformities.

In the early 20th century, the term cagneux was adapted by humanities students themselves as a mocking self-description but they changed the spelling (khâgneux) to make it look like a Greek loanword.

Organisation

There are two kinds of hypokhâgnes: 1) The hypokhâgne A/L which can either lead to a Khâgne Ulm or a Khâgne Lyon. 2) The hypokhâgne B/L which leads to the Khâgne B/L only. There are therefore three kinds of khâgnes: khâgne B/L, khâgne Ulm, and khâgne Lyon, respectively preparing to the following entrance exams:[3]

The common entrance examinations (social sciences section) to the three ENS:

Khâgnes de Lettres (Ulm and Lyon)

The two remaining kinds of khâgnes are literary khâgnes: khâgne Lyon and khâgne Ulm.

Each subject taught is based on an explicit curriculum which is different each year. Although all subjects have the same importance for the written part of the exam,for the oral examination one or two subjects are strongly emphasized, which makes the entrance examination to the ENS of Lyon more specialized than the one of to the ENS Ulm. 3,000 students are attending the khâgne Lyon each year.

For the students of Khâgne Lyon who choose to specialise in English, there is also the possibility of getting into the ENS Paris-Saclay, traditionally a more science-orientated ENS but with an additional 10 places offered to English specialists. The selection process involves a different emphasis put on the grades obtained in the exam for the ENS Lyon and an even more specialised oral exam, which only involves English-related subjects.

Unlike what is commonly assumed, the distinction between "classical" and "modern" opposing the khâgne Ulm to the khâgne Lyon isn't explained by the distinction between classical literature and modern literature, since classical literature is also taught in khâgne Lyon and modern literature in khâgne Ulm. The distinction is actually made between "classical curriculum" and "modern classical" drawn in 1902 by the Ministry of Public Instruction of the time, Alexandre Ribot. Before 1902, all high school classes were considered "classical", which means that ancient languages were compulsory even among students majoring in sciences. The reform created "modern" sections in which ancient languages weren't compulsory.

The hypokhâgne A/L curriculum

All hypokhâgneux must attend 5 hours of French literature, 5 hours of history, 4 hours of philosophy, 4 hours of the first modern language, 3 hours of ancient language and cultures (2 hours of Latin or Ancient Greek and 2 hours of antique culture), 2 hours of geography and 2 hours of a second modern language a week. Then comes a chosen subject which can be art, ancient languages, geography or another modern language. In khâgne, the compulsory subjects and their respective tuition hours depend on the kind of speciality chosen:

Khâgnes de Lettres et Sciences sociales (B/L)

Compared to the khâgne A/L, students of the khâgne de Lettres et Sciences sociales (B/L) (Literature and social sciences) are required to take mathematics and social sciences on top of literary subjects (philosophy, French literature, history and languages). The khâgne B/L was created in 1983 in Henri-IV and Lakanal high schools at the same time as a corresponding entrance examination was created at the ENS rue d'Ulm. The aim was to attract good high school students who majored in sciences to literary and social studies.

Both the curriculum of a hypokhâgne and a khâgne B/L is composed of the following subjects, which are considered of equal importance:

The khâgne B/L trains its students to take the entrance examinations of various schools:[4]

University

The majority of khâgneux B/L and A/L go on studying at the university once they completed the khâgne, though more and more khâgneux get nowadays enrolled in grandes écoles such as business schools or engineer schools (ENSAE, ENSAI, etc.). During their studies at the classe préparatoire, students are also immatriculated at a university so that the years spent at the classe prépa are acknowledged by universities: a student having completed the hypokhâgne is acknowledged as being able to get enrolled immediately as a sophomore student at university in a chosen subject; a student having completed the khâgne can immediately enter the third and last year of the French bachelor's programme in a chosen subject. After having repeated the khâgne, the student may be granted a partial or a total bachelor's diploma equivalence. In the case of a student who has passed the written exam but failed the oral part, there is the possibility of studying any subject they have done in the written exam at post-graduate level. Besides grandes écoles and IEPs, khâgne students can also get enrolled into selective university programmes, such as magistères.

Slang terms and folklore

Students commonly abbreviate the name of their year using acronyms, hence hypokhâgne is HK [aʃka], khâgne is just K [ka].

In student slang, a former hypokhâgneux attending the khâgne for the first time is called carré (or khârrés). A khâgneux who fails the end-of-year entrance examination to ENS may repeat the khâgne year to try their luck a second time; in which case he or she is called cube (or khûbe). The origin of these terms corresponds to the number of years spent by the student in the system: two years (HK+K) correspond to carré (cf. Fr. m² = mètres carrés = square meter), three (HK+K+K) to cube (cf. m³ = mètres cubes = cubic meter).[5]

A khâgneux who repeats the khâgne twice is called bicarré (or bikhârré), commonly abbreviated as bica. So in a classroom of khâgne, half of the students may be carrés, a third may be cubes, plus a handful of bicas who are trying their last chance at the final examination. Using derived verbs, one can say Je vais cuber. (meaning "I plan to give khâgne a second try"); or Je vais quand même pas bicater! ("I'm not going to try a third year in khâgne!").

See also

References

  1. ↑ Concours Lettres, ENS Paris-Ulm.
  2. ↑ Les concours d'entrée en Lettres et sciences humaines, ENS Lyon.
  3. ↑ Présentation des CPGE littéraires par le Ministère des l'Enseignement supérieur et de la recherche.
  4. ↑ "Présentation des débouchés par l'Association de Professeurs de CPGE B/L".
  5. ↑ Another slang term related to cube is archicube, meaning “alumnus of École Normale Supérieure”.
  6. ↑ Raymond Aron, Mémoires, Paris: Julliard, 1983, chap. 2.
  7. ↑ Philip Roth (2000). The Human Stain. Random House. p. 187ff. ISBN 978-1-4464-0053-1.
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