Re-assessing the Marquis de Sade: Track 1

Donatien Alphonse François, better known as The Marquis de Sade, is infamous...

Donatien Alphonse François, better known as The Marquis de Sade, is infamous throughout literature and popular culture for a life and body of work that pushed boundaries. Literally synonymous with sexual and violent excess, his reputation as a writer is often clouded by the extreme nature of his work. In a series of lively and engaging discussions, Alex Barber, Angelica Goodden and Timo Airaksinen re-assess both the man and his writing in social, historical and literary contexts, providing an insight into an often-misunderstood figure with much to say about the culture that produced him. This material forms part of The Open University course A207 From Enlightenment to Romanticism c.1780-1830.

By: The iTunes U team (The Open University, Programme and web teams)

Duration: 50 mins
Published on: Monday 12th October 2009
Intermediate Level
Posted under: History & The Arts

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Track 1: Re-assessing the Marquis de Sade

A short introduction to this album.

Read a transcript of this track - you'll need a PDF viewer, such as Adobe's free Adobe Reader
See details of the Open University course this album comes from
Discover more from The Open University and iTunesU at open.edu/itunes

Tracks in this podcast:

Track	Title	Description
1	Re-assessing the Marquis de Sade	A short introduction to this album. Play now Re-assessing the Marquis de Sade
2	The materialist philosophy	De Sade's status as a literary philosopher and his relationship to materialist philosophy is expertly analysed, along with several pertinent readings from his works. Play now The materialist philosophy
3	Normalising the abnormal	De Sade's works are filled with violent and sexual excess, but what are his motives for producing such provocative material? Shock, or something more? Play now Normalising the abnormal
4	De sade and the french revolution	How did the revolution inspire and inform de Sade's writing, if at all? The historical aspect and de Sade's personal experiences are analysed and explained. Play now De sade and the french revolution
5	Horror and imprisonment	Imprisoned for much of his adult life, de Sade's writings are rife with institutional motifs. This discussion highlights and explains principal autobiographical and fictional examples. Play now Horror and imprisonment