Università Roma Tre

After having provided an overview of the historical and cultural context of the XVI and XVII centuries in France and after having highlighted some of the main aspects of the period, the course will focus on the reading and analysis of three texts: La Princesse de Clèves, Candide and Les Liasons dangereuses, with the purpose of outilining the evolution of the novel as regards its narrative strategies, stylistic changes and transition of genre.

M. Bertini (a cura di), Beaubourg. Auteurs, textes, genres de la littérature française. Le XVII et XVIIIe siècle.
J. Rousset, Forme et signification, Paris, Corti, 1962 (only the parts concerning the XVII and XVIII centuries).
Texts: Three novels to be chosen among the following : Diderot, Jacques le fataliste or La Religieuse ; Laclos, Les Liaisons dangeureuses; Madame de La Fayette, La Princesse de Clèves; Rousseau, La Nouvelle Héloïse (selection of 80 letters from all the 6 parts of the novel); Voltaire, Candide.