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To what extent was the Enlightenment universal? Who were the dissenting voices in 18th-century French literature and thought? What is the anti-Enlightenment? During the first half of the semester, we will identify the basic tenets of les Lumieres: the belief in humankind's perfectibility, the certitude that knowledge leads to progress, and the conviction that the human condition was somehow universal. In the second half of this course, the fissures in such an all-encompassing program will be cataloged, first by examining how such optimistic notions contrast markedly with discourses on race and the status of women in 18th-century France. We will also read a series of writers who disavowed Enlightenment philosophy by preaching debauchery and/or nihilisti c views of the human condition. This course will also include a slide lecture of European views of Africa and discussion of the Metropolitan Museum of Art film "The Eighteenth-Century Woman."
COURSE FORMAT: Lecture
Level: UGRD Credit: 1 Gen Ed Area Dept: HA RLAN Grading Mode: Graded
Prerequisites: NONE
Last Updated on MAR-24-2000
Copyright Wesleyan University, Middletown, Connecticut, 06459