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Module Code - Title:

FR4623 - FRENCH LITERATURE AND CULTURE 3 THE ENLIGHTENMENT

Year Last Offered:

2026/7

Hours Per Week:

Lecture

1

Lab

0

Tutorial

2

Other

0

Private

7

Credits

6

Grading Type:

N

Prerequisite Modules:

Rationale and Purpose of the Module:

To examine the development of Enlightenment ideas in France in relation to the social, cultural and political climate of eighteenth-century Europe To enable students to apply critical skills to the study of eighteenth-century French texts. To develop students' skills in communicating ideas in oral and written French

Syllabus:

Students are introduced to the Enlightenment in France through the study of a selection of cultural and literary texts. Texts are selected with a view to their linguistic accessibility and to their appropriateness on aesthetic, philosophical and historical levels.

Learning Outcomes:

Cognitive (Knowledge, Understanding, Application, Analysis, Evaluation, Synthesis)

Cognitive: Knowledge, Comprehension, Application, Analysis, Synthesis, Evaluation On successful completion of this module, students should be able to: Demonstrate familiarity with a selection of French literary and cultural texts from the eighteenth century; Discuss the set texts in relation to their general cultural context; Evaluate character, plot, concepts, or theories as they relate to the prescribed texts; Discuss their evaluations in a critical context both orally and in writing (in French); Utilise the reading, writing and talking done in respect of literary texts as the basis for further, autonomous cultural and linguistic development; Make an oral presentation to class in French on a prepared textual extract; Write an essay in French on a prescribed topic relating to the syllabus which demonstrates discursive ability in French; Utilise the reading, writing and talking done in respect of literary texts as the basis for further, autonomous cultural and linguistic development.

Affective (Attitudes and Values)

Utilise the reading, writing and talking done in respect of literary texts as the basis for further, autonomous cultural and linguistic development.

Psychomotor (Physical Skills)

N/A

How the Module will be Taught and what will be the Learning Experiences of the Students:

Teaching and learning involve a mix of activities, including lecture-style presentations of texts and contexts, informal seminar discussion of selected topics, small-group activities, formal oral presentations on agreed topics and extracts by each student, submission of a critical essay on an appropriate relevant question - all in the target language (French).

Prime Texts:

MONTESQUIEU, C.-L. de Secondat, baron de (1973) Lettres persanes , Gallimard (Folio)
Diderot and d'Alembert (eds.) (1986) L'Encyclopédie , Flammarion
Voltaire, François-Marie Arouet de (1990) Candide , Larousse

Other Relevant Texts:

MASON, H. (1992) Candide: Optimism Demolished , Twayne
OUTRAM, D. (1995) The Enlightenment , Cambridge University Press
SCHAUB, D. J., (1995) Erotic liberalism: Women and Revolution in Montesquieu¿s Persian Letters , Rowman & Littlefield

Programme(s) in which this Module is Offered:

BACHELOR OF ARTS
BACHELOR OF ARTS IN APPLIED LANGUAGES
BACHELOR OF ARTS IN EUROPEAN STUDIES
BACHELOR OF ARTS IN LANGUAGES AND LITERATURE
BACHELOR OF ARTS INTERNATIONAL ADVANCED ACCESS
BACHELOR OF EDUCATION IN LANGUAGES

Semester(s) Module is Offered:

Autumn

Module Leader:

michael.g.kelly@ul.ie