| Unit name | Burning Books: Radicalism Before the Revolution |
|---|---|
| Unit code | FREN20065 |
| Credit points | 20 |
| Level of study | I/5 |
| Teaching block(s) |
Teaching Block 2 (weeks 13 - 24) |
| 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 |
Popular understanding of radical thought in France tends to be dominated by the drama and violence of the French Revolution. But there is a rich history of radicalism and utopian thinking to be explored well before the iconic events of 1789, a history of censorship and conservatism that sees radical writers clash with authorities as they put their pens above the parapet to claim rights and freedoms long before the mantra of égalité, liberté, and fraternité.
The unit opens with an introduction to the cultures of censure and censorship in the early modern period, from the Italian preacher Savonarola’s 1497 ‘bonfire of the vanities’, which saw piles of books burned publicly, to the Catholic Church’s Index of Prohibited Books, from the execution of the French printer Etienne Dolet for heresy to acts of correction that saw controversial passages in books covered over with pretty pictures.
We will then study a selection of works published in the centuries before the Revolution that were deemed so controversial as to be expurgated, banned and, in some cases, their authors forced to flee France and go into exile, or hunted down and put on trial. These works will take us to the heart of disputes over freedom of expression, gender exploitation, sexual orientation, political tyranny, inequality, and religious control. You will learn about the burning questions that drove thinkers and writers to risk their reputations and their lives by publishing boldly irreverent works and will discover how censure and censorship put in place to prevent religious heresy became embroiled with questions of taste and sexual licence. Developing your skills of close reading, you will investigate how writers dodged censure and censorship, whether through creative use of genre, the veil of satire and humour, or through playful modes of publishing. By the end of the unit you will have gained a nuanced understanding of the literary cultures of pre-Revolutionary France but will also have used the questions raised to reflect on the freedoms and restrictions faced in our own times.
On successful completion of this unit student will be able to;
1) demonstrate a nuanced understanding of how writers responded to the cultures of control censure and censorship in the early modern period in relation to France
2) demonstrate this understanding through an informed and creative analysis and synthesis of the characteristics of one of the set primary texts
3) work in small groups to case a filmed court trial that places one of the prescribed authors in the dock
4) identity, examine, synthesize and evaluate appropriate scholarship on early modern cultures of censure and censorship
5) generate, construct, express with clarity, and justify through use of evidence from primary and secondary texts nuanced arguments in the form of an essay, as appropriate to level H
6) compare and contrast early modern and modern cultures of censure and censorship, applying the implications of the knowledge acquired of unfamiliar cultures to known contexts
2 hour seminar/lecture
Groupwork: research, write, perform, and make or record a film of a 20-minute court trial of one of the primary texts studied (40%) (ILO 1, 2, 3)
Individual assessment 2000-word essay (60%) (ILO 1, 4, 5, 6)
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. FREN20065).
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 Faculty 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. If you have self-certificated your absence from an
assessment, you will normally be required to complete it the next time it runs (this is usually in the next assessment period).
The Board of Examiners will take into account any extenuating circumstances and operates
within the Regulations and Code of Practice for Taught Programmes.
