 2014 - 2015 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| 0625-6254-01 | The Libertine Novel: Sexual Representations in Literature | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| FACULTY OF HUMANITIES | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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University credit hours: 2.0
Course description
The course examines the perception of sexuality and its representations in the literary discourse of the 17th and 18th centuries in France. This period is considered revolutionary in the fields of science and cultural philosophy. We will examine how the perception of man and his physical body, theories of reproduction and birth, and new gender theories all significantly affect written discourse. We will study how they often shape literary writing and groundbreaking unique genres such as the pornographic novel and the libertine novel.
We will study the libertine novel as a literary genre possessing unique characteristics and we will create a reading network to analyze several libertine works. We will also examine the connection between libertine imagination and the perception of sexuality during the enlightenment and how this theme became the central focus in scientific and social research. We will study the close connection that developed between sexuality, sex, love, philosophy, and the theory of discourse in the libertine novel.
We will read and analyze the 17th century pornographic novels L’école des filles and Vénus dans le Cloître and we will see how these works shed light on the religious criticism that is veiled in literature. We will also read libertine novels of the 18th century that discuss other religious and social issues: Laclos’ Les Liaisons Dangereuses, Crébillon fils and Vivan Denon's novels.
The seminar will focus on: 1) how different areas of discourse sustain both a dynamic relationship and reciprocal influence; 2) the attempt to become free from the chains of religious morality and to establish a materialistic and hedonistic approach to the body and its pleasures; 3) the centrality of the Enlightenment to the existential shift in man’s perception of himself.
At the same time, theoretical literary aspects of the period will provide an important axis for analysis: 1) the different meanings of the epistolary novel; 2) the structure of utterance and role switching among speakers; 3) time and space in the novel; and 4) heterogeneity and polyphony.
The final grade is composed as follows: 10% of active participation in class, 20% work in the middle of the semester, 70% Final Exam
We will study the libertine novel as a literary genre possessing unique characteristics and we will create a reading network to analyze several libertine works. We will also examine the connection between libertine imagination and the perception of sexuality during the enlightenment and how this theme became the central focus in scientific and social research. We will study the close connection that developed between sexuality, sex, love, philosophy, and the theory of discourse in the libertine novel.
We will read and analyze the 17th century pornographic novels L’école des filles and Vénus dans le Cloître and we will see how these works shed light on the religious criticism that is veiled in literature. We will also read libertine novels of the 18th century that discuss other religious and social issues: Laclos’ Les Liaisons Dangereuses, Crébillon fils and Vivan Denon's novels.
The seminar will focus on: 1) how different areas of discourse sustain both a dynamic relationship and reciprocal influence; 2) the attempt to become free from the chains of religious morality and to establish a materialistic and hedonistic approach to the body and its pleasures; 3) the centrality of the Enlightenment to the existential shift in man’s perception of himself.
At the same time, theoretical literary aspects of the period will provide an important axis for analysis: 1) the different meanings of the epistolary novel; 2) the structure of utterance and role switching among speakers; 3) time and space in the novel; and 4) heterogeneity and polyphony.
The final grade is composed as follows: 10% of active participation in class, 20% work in the middle of the semester, 70% Final Exam