Uses examples from literature and history to discuss the persistence into the eighteenth century, generally considered the time of the Enlightenment, of traditional French literary concepts and intellectual constructs for understanding the New World and its people.

Explores the French colonization in North America. Presents background information on New France, focusing on the French in Canada. Covers topics, such as how the French became interested in North American expansion, the French in Louisiana, colonial economics, and the reasons for the collapse of New France. Includes a bibliography. (CMK)