FREN 6880 - Absolutism

Spring. 4 credits. Student option grading.

M. Greenberg.

“Absolutism” is a political and cultural concept more resonant in its abstraction than most. It nevertheless appears capable of generating a proliferation of both conscious and unconscious associations by which and through which our culture constantly reinvents itself. This course will examine some of the major political theorists of the late 16th and 17th centuries who tried to define “absolutism” as a viable political program for societies in dramatic change. We will also look at literary (and artistic) works that form absolution’s cultural appropriations: plays, (Corneille, Rotrou, Racine, Molière) short fiction, theological sermons will be analysed.