MONASH UNIVERSITY FACULTY HANDBOOKS

Arts Undergraduate Handbook 1996

Authorised by Academic Registrar, April 1996

FRN3270

The Enlightenment and the origins of the French Revolution

David Garrioch and Wallace Kirsop

Synopsis Understanding the French Revolution is impossible without a knowledge of the society in which it erupted. This subject looks at the changes in French society, culture and politics in the half-century before the revolution. Central themes are the shift from religious to secular politics; changes in government and administration; the development of the new political ideologies and their challenge to the Old Regime state; demographic change and its social impact; the social and political consequences of economic growth and overseas expansion. The subject will conclude with a study of the 1789 Revolution and its immediate causes.

Assessment Short essay (1500 words): 30% + Research essay (4000 words): 50% + Examination (1 hour): 20%

Prescribed texts

• Recueil de textes Monash U

Recommended texts

• Chartier R Les Origines culturelles de la Révolution française Editions du Seuil
• Cranston M Philosophers and pamphleteers OUP
• Darnton R Edition ets édition: L'univers de la littérature clandestine au XVIII siècle Gallimard
• Darnton R The great cat massacre Penguin
• Doyle W Origins of the French Revolution OUP
• Lewis G The French Revolution: Rethinking the debate Routledge