327. Moralists and Misanthropes, Sociability and Individualism in Literature of the Ancien Régime
Examines texts from mid-17th- to mid-18th-century France that influenced public opinion and shaped modern moral and social ideas. Special attention is paid to the notions of sociability, honnêteté, the birth of individualism and to related questions of language and reciprocity. Readings include essays, plays and novels by authors like La Rochefoucauld, La Bruyère, Molière, Marivaux, Voltaire, Diderot, Graffigny and Rousseau.
(Jonathan David Walsh)