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FR4125   The French Age of Enlightenment: an age of enchantment?

Academic year(s): 2023-2024

Key information

SCOTCAT credits : 15

ECTS credits : 7

Level : SCQF level 10

Semester: 2

Availability restrictions: Not automatically available to General Degree students

Planned timetable: TBC

This module invites students to study the French 18th century from a fresh and critical perspective, by addressing this period's fascination with enchantment, magic and illusions. Through this module, students will probe--and eventually debunk--the myth that the Enlightenment disenchanted the world. Each week will focus on a different topic (journeys, knowledge, nature, pleasure etc.) which we will study through a variety of sources, from paintings to fiction through to philosophical essays and music, whilst also addressing the representations of the period in the following centuries (from Verlaine's Fêtes galantes to Coppola's Marie Antoinette). With this module, we will study the role of imagination in the search for truth, and explore the extent to which the discoveries of that century reconfigured society, humanity, nature and the cosmos as sources of wonder and admiration.

Relationship to other modules

Pre-requisite(s): Honours Entry into French and Permission of the French Honours Adviser

Anti-requisite(s): take FR4125

Learning and teaching methods and delivery

Weekly contact: 1 tutorial (1.5 hour) (x11 weeks)

Assessment pattern

As used by St Andrews: Coursework = 100%


Re-assessment: Coursework = 100%

Personnel

Module coordinator: Dr M Ganofsky
Module teaching staff: Dr M Ganofsky
Module coordinator email mg216@st-andrews.ac.uk

Intended learning outcomes

  • Knowledge of a pivotal period in French/Western history
  • Development of critical thinking by re-evaluating the traditional representation of a period and its ideas
  • Research skills, as this module's coursework will invite students to explore a topic of their choice and to lead their own research project to answer an essay question
  • Language-learning skills (written and oral), as this module will be taught and assessed in French
  • Literary analytical skills, as we will be looking at 18th-century texts very closely through commentaries during the tutorials