Course Details in 2026/27 Session

Module Title	LH From Princesses to Poisoners: Gender, Identity and Society in Seventeenth-century French texts
School	Lan, Cult, Art Hist & Music
Department	Modern Languages
Module Code	09 34926
Module Lead	Nicholas Hunter
Level	Honours Level
Credits	20
Semester	Semester 2
Pre-requisites
Co-requisites
Restrictions	None
Contact Hours	Lecture-10 hours Seminar-20 hours Guided independent study-170 hours Total: 200 hours
Exclusions
Description	The seventeenth century is a highly significant period in the cultural, social and literary history of France. This module will examine how identity, gender and power are represented and intersect in a wide range of seventeenth-century French writing. This includes canonical texts by well-known authors such as Molière, non-canonical fiction and more ephemeral documents such as police reports, letters and conduct literature. Students will understand the intersecting demands and tensions operating upon prominent and less prominent members of 17th-Century society. They will analyse how different modes of writing privilege certain groups and individuals and construct others as marginal or transgressive. They will investigate how representations of certain categories of people – for example criminals, cross-dressers and cuckolds – both resist and help to define social norms.
Learning Outcomes	By the end of the module students should be able to: demonstrate a sophisticated knowledge and understanding of a variety of texts and genres written mainly in the period 1640-1715 as well as the social context in which they were produced; recognise and critically analyse the main textual strategies writers use to construct and represent key facets of identity in this writing; synthesize and evaluate critically secondary material relevant to the key themes and texts; write critically in English about representations of gender, identity and power in this period.
Assessment	34926-01 : Essay in English (4,000 words) : Coursework (100%)
Assessment Methods & Exceptions	Assessment: One essay in English (4000 words) (100%). Reassessment: No resits are permitted in final year. If students miss the assessed task owing to extenuating circumstances, the failed task would be rescheduled at a later date.
Other
Reading List