This seminar will explore representations of non-European cultures in
18th-century French literature. Why is the reflection on cultural
difference, cultural "otherness", so central to the Enlightenment
project? Is the figure of the cultural "other" a mere propaganda tool
for 18th-century French writers, or is their interest in such a figure
a sign of genuine perception of different cultures and their
specificity? How did Enlightenment thinkers see the relationship
between the diversity of peoples and cultures on one hand, and the
unity or universality of human nature on the other?  Such questions as
these will be raised during the course of the semester. Readings will
focus mainly on the Enlightenment proper, but we will begin the course
with texts from the 16th and 17th centuries and end with works
from the 19th and 20th centuries. A research paper, an oral
presentation, and a final exam will be required.

Tentative Reading List:
Montaigne		"Des cannibales"
			"Des coches"
Mme de La Fayette 	Zaïde
Montesquieu 		Lettres persanes
Prévost 		Histoire d'une Grecque moderne
Mme de Grafigny 	Lettres d'une Péruvienne
Voltaire	 	L'ingénu
Lahontan 		Dialoques curieux
Diderot 		Supplément au voyage de Bougainville
Rousseau 		Discours sur les sciences et les arts
			Discours sur l'origine de l'inégalité
			Essai sur l'origine des langues
Chateaubriand	        Atala
Mme de Duras	        Ourika
Lévi-Strauss		Tristes tropiques