0.0

credits

Average Course Rating

In this seminar we will read two great classics of Renaissance France: Montaigne’s Essais (1580, 1588, 1595), a hodge-podge of erudite and powerfully introspective pieces of short prose; and Aubigné’s epic poem Les Tragiques (1616), written in response to the ravages of the civil war that torn France apart in the late sixteenth century. In addition to being two masterpieces of French prose and poetry respectively, Montaigne’s Essais and Aubigné’s Tragiques share a number of common features, such as rich intertextual ties with ancient literary models (from Plutarch, Virgil and Seneca to the Bible) and a complex genetic history resulting from multiple waves of textual revision, both in manuscript and in print. A close reading of these works will therefore allow us to address broader issues in literary theory and practice advanced techniques for textual analysis. Open to advanced undergrads