Women's Empowerment and Knowledge



The aim of this course is to examine how literature represents women’s empowerment, and their relationship with knowledge. In the last twenty years we have witnessed a remarkable development of studies and debates on women’s history. This course wishes to highlight the specific way literary fiction questions the norms of society regarding women’s access to knowledge and agency. We will combine four types of explorations in the course :

- literary analysis : we will study two major authors of French literature (Molière and Sand), combined with various other literary excerpts (novel and theater)

- creative writing : every week, students will write a literary text on a theme linked with the subject of the course

- visual arts study : we will analyze other material : films, graphic novels, and paintings on these themes

- debates and presentations on selected excerpts from historical and literary essays.



Required texts:

- MOLIERE, Les Femmes savantes, Paris, Hatier, 2016, « Classiques & Cie Lycée », 2016, ISBN : 978-2-218-99755-6. (3€20).

- George SAND, Mademoiselle Merquem, Paris, Babel n°218, 1996,

ISBN : 978-2-742-70849-9