Jeanne-Marie Leprince de Beaumont, pédagogue et promotrice des contes littéraires pour l'éducation au 18e siècle : perpétuation d'une distinction des genres ou projet égalitaire ?

Details

Supervisors

Guiderdoni, Agnès

Faculty

Faculté de philosophie, arts et lettres

Degree label

Master [120] en langues et lettres françaises et romanes, orientation générale, à finalité spécialisée: sciences et métiers du livre

Abstract

enJeanne-Marie Leprince de Beaumont, 18th-century French writer and pedagogue, dedicated most of her literary activity to the education of young girls and women. The Age of Enlightenment was an era hostile to the intellectual and social development of women, who were constantly relegated to the private sphere, with no means of access to an egalitarian education. Seeking to educate while entertaining, the pedagogue offered her schoolgirls pedagogical treatises combining history, science and geography lessons with fairy tales, aimed at transmitting to children examples of virtuous behavior to adopt. Through a detailed study of three of Madame Leprince de Beaumont's writings (Le Magazin des enfans, Le Magasin des adolescentes and Le Mentor Moderne), this dissertation sheds light on her ambition to broaden women's intellectual horizons and questions the genuinely progressive and innovative nature of her project, while highlighting the persistence of gender stereotypes faced by women in the 18th century.