Unit information: The Censor's Scissors, 1750-1830 in 2019/20

Unit name	The Censor's Scissors, 1750-1830
Unit code	FREN30112
Credit points	20
Level of study	H/6
Teaching block(s)	Teaching Block 1 (weeks 1 - 12)
Unit director	Dr. Clare Siviter
Open unit status	Not open
Pre-requisites	None
Co-requisites	None
School/department	Department of French
Faculty	Faculty of Arts

Description including Unit Aims

The freedom of expression was a key belief of the Enlightenment but the transition from monarchy to Revolution was a brutal one where speaking your mind could also cost you your life. This Unit examines the constraints to which authors were subjected during the second half of the eighteenth century in France by focusing on five main forms of texts: libertine literature; the press; theatre; the classification of knowledge; the art of the essay. We will consider how censorship shaped literature; how authors, publishers, and booksellers circumvented governmental authority, including the transnational circulation of texts across Europe; how censorship changed with the advent of the Revolution. Finally, we will ask how these censored texts, from the Encyclopédie to pornography, continue to influence our relationship to ‘dangerous works’ even in the twenty-first century.

Each literary form will focus on one main text to be read alongside a selection of further contemporary documents in seminars which will be made available via Blackboard.

The Unit aims to:

• Familiarise students to a range of illicit texts and the means of publication during the latter half of the eighteenth century;
• Develop students’ knowledge of the process of authorship and censorship during this time period;
• Engage with theoretical models of censorship, political engagement, and readership;
• Introduce students with the appropriate tools to trace eighteenth-century censorship (through police reports, for example).

Intended Learning Outcomes

On successful completion of the init, students will be able to::

1. Analyse primary sources from different political regimes in French from a variety of media (bibliographical listings to modern databases) at a depth appropriate for level H;
2. Apply an appropriate range of cultural and political theories to interpret these texts;
3. Demonstrate knowledge of the cultural, political, and social context during this time period as appropriate for level H;
4. Carry out independent research at a standard appropriate to level H.
5. Present arguments clearly in an extended essay using both primary and secondary materials
6. demonstrated an understanding of different cultural (and temporal) approaches to censorship
7. Write a concise technical report

Teaching Information

1 x weekly lecture

1 x weekly seminar per week

Assessment Information

1 x 4000 word essay (75%) assessing ILOs 1-6

1 x 1500 word censorship report (25%) assessing ILOs 4, 5 and 7

Reading and References

Diderot, Denis, ed., Encyclopédie ou Dictionnaire raisonné des sciences, des arts et des métiers (1751) – extracts

Mirabeau, Ma Conversion, par M. D.R. C. D. M. F. (1783)

Extracts from the Counter-Revolutionary Press, 1792–1800

Staël, Germain de, De l’Allemagne (1810/1814)

Jouy, Étienne de, Bélisaire, tragédie (1818/1825)