Faculty Scholarly Dissemination Grants
Marteilhe's Enlightenment
Department
Modern Languages & Literatures Department
College
College of Liberal Arts and Sciences
Date Range
2013-2014
Disciplines
Arts and Humanities
Abstract
The examination of a galley slaves Mémoires will bring new light to the religious persecutions of Protestants after the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes by Louis XIV in 1685. Marteilhes unique contribution to the Protestant memory will be analyzed not so much from an historical and biographical perspective, which is the way in which such texts have been examined, as from a literary perspective. This narrative and stylistic study places Marteilhes Mémoires among the literary and philosophic works of the Enlightenment. Like Voltaire, Montesquieu and other writers who led the battle against religious persecutions and intolerance, Marteilhe understood that his public had to be entertained as well as enlightened. By engaging the reader in the narrative, Marteilhe hopes to win the reading public to the cause of individual freedoms. This presentation will offer a useful reminder that persuasive writing is often the best arm against arbitrary oppression.
Conference Name
2014 SCSECS CONFERENCE
Conference Location
GALVESTON, TEXAS
ScholarWorks Citation
Ward, Severine, "Marteilhe's Enlightenment" (2014). Faculty Scholarly Dissemination Grants. 707.
https://scholarworks.gvsu.edu/fsdg/707
