Code 20522
Level of study Third/Final year
Credit value 20
Semester Across the two (this module will probably NOT run in 2012—2013)
This module will introduce students to a range of literary and historical sources from the early modern period, all dealing with the themes of the New World and the beginnings of colonisation. The aim will be to familiarise students with the work of major French thinkers from the sixteenth to the eighteenth centuries, including Montaigne, Voltaire and Montesquieu, whilst also providing a historical and literary background to colonialism. Through the study of both fictional and philosophical texts, students will analyse how early modern thinkers negotiated the relationship between France and its colonies, and more widely between Europe and the New World. This will involve looking at the rise of ethnography, the definition of the savage and the civilised, and exploring the ways in which early modern writers, particularly in the Enlightenment, dealt with issues such as slavery. Combining understanding of the historical context with close readings of philosophy and fiction, this module will aim to develop students' critical and comparative skills.