116-217 Female Imaginary in Ancien Regime

116-007 French I: Cultural Perspectives and 116-008 French I: Language in Context II or equivalent. European studies students wishing to enrol in this subject would normally have completed first-year European studies.

Women's contribution to the field of literature in early modern France is remarkable. In both the 17th and 18th century it is they who controlled the majority of the literary production for two of the most popular genres: the novel and the epistolary. In the confines of the textual space, female authors break free of social and moral conventions that limit their sex by giving way to an audacious and often defiant narrative voice. Through the analysis of these two genres this course proposes to discuss the relationship between female narrative desire in women's fictional works and the female self-representation, particularly as it is set against the background of the male authored female narrative of Lettres portugaises.

A 1-hour in class test, a 2000-word essay, an in-class essay exam and a 10-minute in-class exposé in pairs.

• Gabriel Joseph de Lavergne, vicomte de Guilleragues, Lettres portugaises.
• Madame de La Fayette (Marie-Madeleine Pioche de La Vergne), La Princesse de Clèves.
• Françoise de Graffigny, Lettres d'une péruvienne.
• Isabelle de Charrière, Lettres de Mistriss Henley publiées par son amie.