The French Enlightenment's Africa, 1650-1800
FREN 325
Spring 2012 not offered
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| Crosslisting:
COL 325 |
With a few notable exceptions, European missionaries, soldiers, slavers, and natural historians rarely penetrated into the interior of sub-Saharan Africa until the 19th century. Nonetheless, travel accounts by those who did venture to the continent during the early modern era provided an abundance of raw material for a sustained and complex discussion of the black African in Europe. Not surprisingly, whatever the context within which the African was evoked, be it in discussions of cultural relativism, the state of nature, or comparative anatomy, the Ethiopian, Hottentot, or Guinean functioned as a yardstick against which European civilization measured its presumed technical, cultural, and, increasingly, biological superiority. This was, of course, most acutely true after the later part of the 18th century when pseudoscientific racial theories were used to justify the continued existence of the slave trade. In this seminar we will examine both the genres of representation and the ideology behind European views of the black African in French thought. While this class will begin with an overview of the history of cultural contacts existing between North Africa, Europe, and sub-Saharan Africa, this seminar is anything but a class on African history. Rather, the members of this seminar will become familiar with the European representation of Africa and Africans by reading selections from travel accounts and natural history treatises as well as novels featuring European perceptions of the African. Works to be studied include Buffon's Histoire naturelle, Raynal's Histoire des deux Indes, Montesquieu's De l'esprit des lois, Bernardin de Saint-Pierre's Paul et Virginie, and Voltaire's Candide and Essai sur les moeurs et l'esprit des nations. |
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Essential Capabilities:
Intercultural Literacy, Writing
Frequent papers and analysis of writing
Ethnography, Ethnology, Analysis of Race
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| Credit: 1 |
Gen Ed Area Dept:
None |
| Course Format: Seminar | Grading Mode: Graded |
| Level: UGRD |
Prerequisites: None |
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Fulfills a Requirement for: (COL)(FRST)(RMST) |
Major Readings:
Jean-Baptiste Labat, Voyage aux Isles
Buffon, Histoire naturelle
Raynal, Histoire des deux Indes
Montesquieu, De l'esprit des lois
Bernardin de Saint-Pierre, Paul et Virginie
Voltaire, Candide
" , Essai sur les moeurs et l'esprit des nations.
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Examinations and Assignments:
2 papers and re-writes
Multiple class presentations
term paper |
Additional Requirements and/or Comments:
While any student who has completed FREN 215 with a minimum grade of B or has placed out of FREN 215 through the placement test may sign up for this course, it is an advanced course intended for students who have already taken two courses in French beyond 215 or already studied abroad in a French-speaking country. Students who are not admitted to the course through pre-registration are strongly encouraged to submit an enrollment request and attend the class the first day. |
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