This biannual learning unit is being organized in 2024-2025
Teacher(s)
Language
French
Main themes
The lecture course is devoted to the literary genres pertaining to symbolic and emblematic literature and associating text and image (emblem books, imprese, hieroglyphica…). This literature is flourishing during the 16th and 17th centuries and is typical for the epistemological orientation of this period.
The course has a focus on French and Neo-Latin productions and on the interplay between Ancient et Modern elements.
The course has a focus on French and Neo-Latin productions and on the interplay between Ancient et Modern elements.
Content
Forgotten for a long time by research and fully rediscovered some forty years ago, emblematic and symbolic literature refers to a set of texts, composed of collections of emblems and imprese, which combine text and images, collections of ekphrasis (descriptions of works of art), allegorical novels, or treatises theorizing the relationship between text and image.
The course will trace the history of this literature, both secular and sacred, from the beginning of the 16th to the beginning of the 18th century, circulating throughout Europe, but also produced for distribution in the Americas and Asia. At the same time, the course will focus on the poetic, rhetorical and philosophical foundations on which all this production rests, which correspond to a large-scale cultural phenomenon, specific to the modern period.
Much of this literature is available online. A large number of these works are also present in the collections of the UCLouvain and the KULeuven libraries, and the Royal Library in Brussels. One or more visits will be planned to discover these precious books.
The course will trace the history of this literature, both secular and sacred, from the beginning of the 16th to the beginning of the 18th century, circulating throughout Europe, but also produced for distribution in the Americas and Asia. At the same time, the course will focus on the poetic, rhetorical and philosophical foundations on which all this production rests, which correspond to a large-scale cultural phenomenon, specific to the modern period.
Much of this literature is available online. A large number of these works are also present in the collections of the UCLouvain and the KULeuven libraries, and the Royal Library in Brussels. One or more visits will be planned to discover these precious books.
Teaching methods
The course will alternate between lectures and invitations from specialists. Some sessions will be organised in the form of workshops around one or more works in order to collectively practise reading and interpreting the associations of text and image.
Evaluation methods
The assessment will consist of an oral presentation by each student in a group session at the end of the term, which may take the form of a small study day or half-day.
Bibliography
Une bibliographie commentée sera donnée en début de cours.
A commented blbliography will be given at the beginning of the course.
A commented blbliography will be given at the beginning of the course.
Faculty or entity
