Module description
Moving beyond narrow definitions of autobiography, we will look at the ways in which the modern and contemporary idea of the self and of identity may be re-considered and enriched through the study of literary modes of self-expression. This is a particularly strong tradition in French literature, in which, since Montaigne, the notion of the construction or exploration of the self through writing has been a privileged feature. A series of canonical and less than canonical texts from the 18th century onwards will offer opportunities to engage analytically with the concept of the self and with the different ways in which the self is imagined and modelled. While primary texts from the 18th century such as those by Rousseau can serve to introduce the key motifs of confession, sensibility, and the notion of self-image, set texts will also be chosen which bring to the fore the relations between writing, identity and gender. We will also consider such critical concepts and tools as the notion of the autobiographical pact, the historical uses of confession, and the relations between identity, memory and narrative.
Assessment details
Assessed coursework of 1500-2000 words worth 25% submitted during the semester and a 2 hours exam (75%) at the end of the module.
Educational aims & objectives
Learning outcomes
By the end of the module, the students will be able to demonstrate intellectual, transferable and practicable skills appropriate to a Level 5 module and in particular will be able to demonstrate:
- detailed knowledge of the primary texts studied.
- a broad grasp of the significant trends in thinking and writing about the self in French literature since 1700.
- an ability to relate theories of identity to literary texts.
- a familiarity with the principal literary theories related to self-expression.
- improved written and oral skills
Teaching pattern
Two classes per week (a lecture and a seminar).
Suggested reading list
Unless otherwise stated, students are expected to buy their own copy of all core texts.
- Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Les Confessions (bks I and II only); for ab initio students Confessions, trans. Angela Scholar, ed. Patrick Coleman (Oxford World’s Classics, 2008)
- Benjamin Constant, Adolphe (Folio); for ab initio students, Adolphe, trans. Leonard Tancock (Penguin, 1980)
- Simone de Beauvoir, Mémoires d’une jeune fille rangée (Folio), for ab initio students Memoirs of a Dutiful Daughter, trans. James Kirkup (Penguin, 1959 [2007)
- Nathalie Sarraute, Enfance (Folio, 1985), for ab initio students, Childhood, trans. Alice Yaeger Kaplan (Chicago UP, 2013)
- Hervé Guibert, À l’ami qui ne m’a pas sauvé la vie (Gallimard); for ab initio students, To the Friend Who Did Not Save My Life, trans. Linda Coverdale (Semiotexte, 2020)