| Unit name | Me, Myself, and I: The Essais of Michel de Montaigne |
|---|---|
| Unit code | FREN30114 |
| Credit points | 20 |
| Level of study | H/6 |
| Teaching block(s) |
Teaching Block 1 (weeks 1 - 12) |
| Unit director | Dr. Tomlinson |
| Open unit status | Not open |
| Units you must take before you take this one (pre-requisite units) |
None |
| Units you must take alongside this one (co-requisite units) |
None |
| Units you may not take alongside this one |
None |
| School/department | Department of French |
| Faculty | Faculty of Arts |
Why is this unit important?
‘Lacks structure’. ‘Digressive’. ‘Speculative’. ‘Too much use of “I”’. The inventor of the ‘essay’, Michel de Montaigne, would not score well on university marking criteria. His extraordinary Essais move from the personal to the political, from sexual failings to fear of death, from cannibalism to what his pet cat’s intelligence says about what it means to be human. Switching subjects haphazardly, dismissing structure, filling his work with pilfered quotations, he writes page upon page about himself – what he thought, what he did and didn’t (and couldn’t) know, people he met, what he ate, where he went, whom he loved – declaring, with spectacular self-regard, and in a focus on the individual that was without precedent in European culture, ‘Je suis moi-même la matière de mon livre’. The Essais were a Renaissance bestseller and today regularly feature in lists of recommended reads. What is it about Montaigne’s writing that had, and continues to have, such impact? Are today’s readers of the Essais right to see in him the roots of ‘modernity’? This unit studies his idiosyncratic essays at close quarters and considers what Montaigne’s reflections on how he lives might do for us as we choose how to lead our 21st-century lives.
How does this unit fit into your programme of study?
This unit deepens your transhistorical understanding by offering a prehistory of issues – selfhood and self-expression – that are central to modern culture. It builds on the approaches to cultural and linguistic analysis that you will have developed in your earlier years of study but allows you to put your analytical skills to work intensively, and creatively, on a single – albeit radical and relentlessly influential – author. Montaigne’s writing cannot be categorized, sitting between literature, biography, philosophy, and miscellany, and so the unit reflects your degree programme’s interdisciplinary character. Montaigne is himself fascinated by method and modes of knowing and our work on him will push you to reflect on your own methods as a researcher and writer.
An overview of content
On this unit, we will work with selected chapters and excerpts from the Essais in order to answer key overarching questions, including: What was Montaigne trying to do in inventing a new form of writing, the ‘essay’? How has Montaigne’s writing been interpreted over the centuries and what do these varied interpretations tell us about the work itself and about its subsequent readers (yourselves included)? How far can we, or should we, map modern ideas (selfhood, identity, and self-expression, scepticism and fake news, misogyny and cultural relativism) on to the Essais and what does approaching those issues transhistorically do to our understanding of them?
How will students, personally, be different as a result of the unit?
You will gain nuanced knowledge of the cultural contexts in which Montaigne worked and of the ways in which the Essais innovate by exploiting inherited modes of writing. The Essais are best understood as a sustained thought experiment and working with them will prompt you to reflect on your own modes of thinking and knowing, which will be discombobulated, defamiliarized, and reinvigorated. Through your close encounters with the goading and distinctive voice of Montaigne you will sharpen your own expressive skills, orally and in writing.
Learning Outcomes
On successful completion of this unit, students will be able to:
The interactive mode of teaching on this research-intensive unit treats you as fellow Montaigne researchers from the outset, breaking down barriers between the subject expert (the lecturer) and the students. In line with Montaigne’s own radical ideas on education, the unit maximizes interaction, both with fellow students taking the class and with the ‘real world’: as academics do, you will be encouraged to share your findings with a wider public by, if your group wishes, publishing your podcast on a specially created podcast channel.
Each week, you will have a two-hour seminar that will include, broadly, two types of learning: mini lecture and discussion. Discussion will focus both on the macro and the micro: we will consider and debate major questions posed by Montaigne (how can we know anything? what is identity? what happens when we die? who and what should we love? How can we live well?) with collective close-reading of challenging passages of Montaigne’s provocatively, reader-liberating polysemous writing.
Lectures: Lectures equip you with foundational subject knowledge. Far from being a passive mode of learning, lectures help you build critical analysis and evidence-gathering skills by modelling textual interpretation and posing key questions related to the discipline.
Discussion: Discussions or seminars are a student-centred mode of learning. In pairs or small groups, you will discuss key questions about the texts, developing, sharing and defending your own arguments.
You will be given preparation for each week’s seminar. All primary sources and some of the secondary ones will be assigned, but you will be expected to navigate the unit’s set reading and the library database yourself to supplement these. Guidance from the Unit Director will support you to manage your time effectively and to engage with reading as an active process to expand your knowledge and understanding.
Beyond the classroom, you will devote much time to primary and secondary reading, essential in the humanities. You should anticipate reading in a number of different media: primary works, scholarly articles, and book chapters. Reading is sometimes misunderstood as a ‘passive’ activity, but engaged reading is an active process, as you will not only be expanding your subject knowledge, but also developing your empathy, imagination and critical judgment. Montaigne himself explicitly invites active interpretation of his work and so embodies the unit’s approach to reading.
In total, you will have 22 hours of class teaching and 178 hours of independent learning.
Tasks which help you learn and prepare you for summative tasks (formative):
250-word individual reflective account of role in podcast assessment, (0%, Not Required for Credit), which prepares you for the prose writing of the second assessment
150-word ‘blurb’, (0%, Not Required for Credit), showcasing focus and shape of essay, which prepares you for the second assessment
Tasks which count towards your unit mark (summative):
Recorded group podcast (40%) [ILOs 1-5]
3000-word essay, with 250-word abstract (60%) [ILOs 1-4]
When assessment does not go to plan
When required by the Board of Examiners, you will normally complete reassessments in the same formats as those outlined above. However, the Board reserves the right to modify the form or number of reassessments required. Details of reassessments are normally confirmed by the School shortly after the notification of your results at the end of the academic year.
If this unit has a Resource List, you will normally find a link to it in the Blackboard area for the unit. Sometimes there will be a separate link for each weekly topic.
If you are unable to access a list through Blackboard, you can also find it via the Resource Lists homepage. Search for the list by the unit name or code (e.g. FREN30114).
How much time the unit requires
Each credit equates to 10 hours of total student input. For example a 20 credit unit will take you 200 hours
of study to complete. Your total learning time is made up of contact time, directed learning tasks,
independent learning and assessment activity.
See the University Workload statement relating to this unit for more information.
Assessment
The Board of Examiners will consider all cases where students have failed or not completed the assessments required for credit.
The Board considers each student's outcomes across all the units which contribute to each year's programme of study. For appropriate assessments, if you have self-certificated your absence, you will normally be required to complete it the next time it runs (for assessments at the end of TB1 and TB2 this is usually in the next re-assessment period).
The Board of Examiners will take into account any exceptional circumstances and operates
within the Regulations and Code of Practice for Taught Programmes.
