Richardson and the philosophes.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Fowler, J. E. (James E.), author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Richardson, Samuel, 1689-1761.

French fiction--18th century--History and criticism.

French fiction.

Richardson, Samuel, 1689-1761--Influence.

Richardson, Samuel.

Enlightenment.

Philosophy, French--18th century.

Philosophy, French.

Place of Publication:

Legenda, Modern Humanities Research Association and Maney Publishing, 2014.

Summary:

In mid-eighteenth-century Europe, a taste for sentiment accompanied the 'rise of the novel', and the success of Samuel Richardson (1689-1761) played a vital role in this. James Fowler's new study is the first to compare the response of the most famous philosophes to the Richardson phenomenon. Voltaire, who claims to despise the novel, writes four 'Richardsonian' fictions; Diderot's fascination with the English author is expressed in La Religieuse, Rousseau's in Julie - the century's bestseller. Yet the philosophes' response remains ambivalent. On the one hand they admire Richardson's ability to make the reader weep. On the other, they champion a range of Enlightenment beliefs which he, an enthusiast of Milton, vehemently opposed. In death as in life, the English author exacerbates the philosophes' rivalry. The eulogy which Diderot writes in 1761 implicitly asks: who can write a new Clarissa? But also: whose social, philosophical or political ideas will triumph as a result? Book jacket.

Contents:

1 Richardson's 'Religious' Novels 21

2 Voltaire: Nanine and Paméla 40

3 Voltaire: L'Ingénu and Lettres d'Amabed 80

4 'Rousseau: Julie ou la Nouvclle Héloïse 104

5 Diderot: Éloge de Richardson and La Religieuse 144.

ISBN:

9781909662117

1909662119

OCLC:

881131352