Enlightenment literature: An introduction

Code

MLAC2122

School

Modern Languages and Cultures

Level

2

Credits

10

Semesters

Autumn UK

Summary

Incan princesses, tortured lovers, imprisoned nuns, social outcasts, hermits and shipwrecks: eighteenth-century fiction was rich in both its characters and its themes, and written in a time of great experimentation in both ideas and literature. 
This module aims to introduce you to some of these developments through the study of three very different novels of the French Enlightenment: Françoise de Graffigny’s Lettres d’une Péruvienne (1747), Denis Diderot’s La Religieuse (1796) and Jacques-Henri Bernardin de Saint Pierre’s Paul et Virginie (1788). 
Alongside an investigation of how fiction developed during this era, we'll be looking at some of the key questions that thinkers and writers grappled with: What is happiness and how do we find it? How do we understand our personal identity and our relationship to society? How does language shape our thoughts and our relationships with others? How important is personal freedom? Are people naturally good? How do we live well with others?

Target Students

Only available to students studying MLAC2082 French 2.

Co-requisites

Modules you must take in the same academic year, or have taken in a previous year, to enrol in this module:

• French 2 (MLAC2082)

Classes

• One 1-hour seminar each week for 11 weeks
• One 1-hour lecture each week for 11 weeks

The School of Cultures, Languages and Area Studies operates an attendance policy. The details of this policy can be found in the student handbook on Workspace and in module handbooks.

Assessment

• 100% Coursework 1: Essay 1800 - 2000 words

Assessed by end of autumn semester

Educational Aims

Learning Outcomes

A. Knowledge and understanding. A student completing this module will have been given the opportunity to develop detailed knowledge and a critical understanding of the following areas:

The literature of the French Enlightenment, based on the study of four representative texts (A4)

The specific problems raised by the literature of the period and the historic and philosophical background of the age (A4)

Techniques of literary and textual analysis appropriate to the study of the period (A5)

B. Intellectual skills. A student completing this module will have been given the opportunity to learn how to:

Develop techniques of literary appreciation acquired in Year 1 (B1)

Read and interpret texts in ways appropriate to an understanding of the period (B1, B2, B4)

Make critical use of primary and secondary written source material (B2);

Develop an understanding of complex ideas in their socio-historical context (B3);

Develop arguments in discussion and in writing

C. Professional/practical skills. A student completing this module will have been given the opportunity to learn how to:

Understand, process and express complex ideas (C3)

Read and critically evaluate sophisticated texts in French (C1, C3)

Work independently on primary and secondary sources (C5)

D. Transferable/key skills. A student completing this course will have been given the opportunity to develop the following skills:

Effective communication of information and ideas in appropriate registers of both oral and written English (D1);

Gathering, processing and critically evaluating material from a variety of sources (D2)

Working productively independently (D3)

Organise time and work programmes effectively (D7)

Working productively under pressure

General personal skills: self-reliance, flexibility, initiative, self-confidence (D10).

Conveners

• Dr Rebecca Ford