Understanding the Enlightenment Period: Reason, Freedom, and Literature

📚 Denis Diderot creates a comprehensive encyclopedia to empower individuals and challenge authority.

🌍 The French encyclopedia becomes a bestseller, offering knowledge on various subjects to 18th-century readers.

💡 The Enlightenment emerges in Europe, with advances in science and influential thinkers like Newton and Linné.

🌹 Life during the 18th century is challenging and unpleasant, prompting the idea of using science to improve society.

📚 The Enlightenment period was characterized by a shift towards embracing change and questioning authority.

🔍 The central idea was that all individuals have the ability to think for themselves and that freedom and independence are important.

🌍 There was a sense of optimism that through science and reason, the world's problems could be solved.

📘 The novel genre flourished in Britain during this time due to the thriving book market.

🏝️ The novel 'Robinson Crusoe' by Daniel Defoe, published in 1719, became a worldwide success and one of the most translated books.

⛵ The story follows the protagonist, Robinson Crusoe, who survives a shipwreck and builds his own society on a nearly uninhabited island.

🏝️ Robinson Crusoe embodies the ideals of the Enlightenment, using reason and observation to solve problems and transform his life on the island.

👨‍🏫 The book challenges the concept of freedom and equality, as seen in Robinson's relationship with Friday, and has been criticized from a postcolonial perspective.

📚 The use of the first person narrative and diary-like style makes the book engaging and accessible, while also highlighting Robinson's arrogance and belief in his superiority.

📚 En viktig egenskap för författaren i upplysningens litteratur är att vara tålamodig och kämpa för att sprida upplysningens budskap.

🎥 Upplysningens litteratur är kännetecknad av en stil som liknar att titta på film samtidigt som man läser.

📖 Skönlitteraturen under upplysningen användes som ett verktyg för att lära, uppfostra och göra människor bättre.

😂 Satiren användes under upplysningen för att kritisera samhället och förbättra det genom humor.

📚 Satire in literature, exemplified by Jonathan Swift's 'A Modest Proposal' and Voltaire's 'Candide', plays a significant role in the Enlightenment movement.

💡 Both Swift and Voltaire utilize satire to criticize societal issues, with Swift ironically suggesting the consumption of Irish children as a solution to the famine in Ireland.

👩‍🎓 Anna Maria Lenngren, a Swedish poet, also employed satire and irony in her works, challenging gender roles and advocating for women's education.

⚡️ Pornography was used as a form of social criticism in literature during the Enlightenment period.

📚 Critiques of the monarchy and demands for freedom and equality were prominent during the French Revolution.

💀 The Enlightenment ideals led to a revolution in France, which resulted in a period of violence and terror.

📚 The Enlightenment was a significant time for the launch of modern democracy, with a focus on freedom and equality.

🏝️ The genre of 'Robinsonades' emerged from the adventure of Robinson Crusoe, where individuals must survive on deserted islands.

💡 The Enlightenment emphasized the importance of education and the ability to shape and improve society.