Topic: Sexs et savoir

Following the “Cartesian moment” of the seventeenth century, when
leading intellectuals redefined knowledge as something to which any
reasonable person could aspire, the association of sex and knowledge
became a prominent theme in French literature. On the one hand, the
involvement and interest of women in knowledge-making would, it was
feared, lead either to women’s sexual liberation or to their
reproductive sterility. On the other hand, libertine novelists
especially portrayed the initiation into the art of love in terms of
knowledge acquisition. We will consider the preoccupation with sex
and knowledge through a variety of literary genres by both male and
female authors. Texts to be studied, whole or in parts, include
Molière, Les Femmes Savantes (a play); Choderlos de Laclos,
Les Liaisons dangereuses (an epistolary novel); Balzac, La
Peau de Chagrin (a novel), as well as a selection of poetry. As
this course serves as an initiation to literary analysis,
assignments will focus as much on the form as on the content of the
texts in question. Grades will be determined based on two 4-page
papers, two exams, one oral presentation, and participation. The
course will be conducted entirely in French. Prerequisite is F250 or
consent of instructor. F300 fulfills A & H requirement.