Copier / Coller: Écriture et réécriture chez Voltaire. Actes du colloque international (Pise, 30 juin-2 juillet 2005) by Olivier Ferret, Gianluigi Goggi, Catherine Volpilhac-Auger

Abstract

202 Reviews Copier/coller: ecriture et reecriture chez Voltaire. Actes du colloque international (Pise,30 juin-2juillet 2005). Ed. byOLIVIERFERRET, GIANLUIGI GOGGI,and CATHERINE VOLPILHAC-AUGER. Pisa: Pisa University Press. 2007. 236 pp. C18. ISBN978-88-8492-430-8. In thisscholarly volume,an elephantin the Voltaireanroomcomesunderclose scrutiny. These conference proceedingsfocusprimarily on Voltaire'spracticeof cutting andpastinghisown text, and indeedothers'texts, for use,abuse,or reuse in subsequent volumes.As Nicholas Cronk suggestsinhiswide-rangingarticle 'Voltaire autoplagiaire', thisisa practicethat was typically ascribedtohis senility, or laziness, by the philosophe's adversaries and tacitly recognized, yetdisregarded, by alliesand scholars. Cronk instead demonstrates thattextualreusepartakesof a gameofmirrors,integral toVoltaire'sidiosyncratic principle of textual creation. Each rehashed morseloftext looksdifferent inits newcontext and therefore mustbe consideredtosignify different things. AllVoltaireantext, neworold,mustbe read in theimmediate context of its'new'now.Cronk'shypothesis isarguably seminal in itsarticulation and strongly endorsedby thestudiesthatfollow. Volume con tributors comprise membersof the VoltaireFoundationeditorialsquadscurrently working on critical editions of the Essai surles mceurs(1756) and the Questionssur l'Encyclope'die (1770-74)-both labyrinthine tasks. In 'Traitement des sources' GianluigiGoggi traces howVoltaireedits,rewrites, restyles, andwhollyappropriates his sources, complementing recent editorial work by JohnRenwick. Gianni Iotti argues thatVoltaire is theultimate user ofAuerbach's 'technique duprojecteur', lifting citations andexcerpts outofcontext for propagan distic purposes, andusing 'resumes' intrademark fashion. NicoleMasson examines Voltaire'scunningtransposition of Indiansacredtexts. Myrtille Mericam-Bourdet demonstrates Voltairethehistorian'sfavouring of thevisionofChardin'sPersian travelaccountsoverMontesquieu's. SusanaMaria Seguin convincingly exposes Voltaire'sbroad incomprehension of contemporary science,despitecharacteristic mockeryof itthrough catchy, ironicimagery and anecdote. GerardLaudin asserts Voltaire'sdesiretofusehistorian withphilosopher. Francois Moureau's expansive study posits that Voltairethehistorian questionstheentire'tradition scriptuaire', andultimately history itself, highlighting his innateinability toresist responding to critics, regardless offorum. 'Variations' begins withCatherine Volpilhac-Auger's all-embracing study of the complexpatchwork of sourcesthat Voltaireenjoysreducing toridicule-from an chorsor sea-shells,tomen descended fromfish. Olga Penke explores Voltaire's revised approachtocausality inEssai surles mceurs. Marie-HeleneCotoni tracesthe curiousfate of the ApostlePeter. HenriDurantoncontendsthat Voltaire'scut-and pastepractice doesnotaffect three corehistories, whichproffer a unique, Voltairean version ofhumanexistence. GirolamoImbruglia pinpoints Voltaire'sconsistent dif ficulty inseparating historyfrom polemicwhen incorporating recent eventsinto history. 'Reemploi'addresses thecomplexity of internal and externalintertextuality. MLR, 104.1, 2009 203 OlivierFerretexploresthereconstruction of theEssai sur lesmceurs within the Questionssurl'Encyclopedie, thusinfluencing itsreception. Russell Goulbourneun tangles aweb of intertextual links betweenthe Questions and the Encyclope'die itself, withmyriadtertiary works including other Voltaireantexts, and intratextual links amongarticlesof theQuestions.FrancoisBessiregivesa fascinating readingof thegenealogyand substance of theQuestionssur l'Encyclope'die's 'Arc' article.In a splendidfinale, Christiane Mervaudwritesof textual dislocation, recomposition, recycling, and evenresuscitation, insisting thatthe Questions ultimately comprises a fascinating realm of textual metamorphoses. These articlesrefreshingly mix upcomingand establishedscholars. One must querytheunhelpful title'Actes' forsucha polishedcollection. Equally,onemight criticize shoddy editing that permits'cette communication' (p.63),orsimilar (p.91). However,thesestudies go far beyondthecomplexissueofVoltaire'scut-and-paste technique: they askcrucialquestionsabouthow toedit Voltaire'slater andgreater works.Theirclosefocus on two mammoth worksenriches notjust Voltairescholar ship, butalsomoderneditorial theory andpractice. Elephants notwithstanding, this volumeshouldbecomeessentialreading for all future editors ofVoltaire'stexts. UNIVERSITY COLLEGE DUBLIN SIOFRA PIERSE Bernardin deSaint-Pierre: A Lifeof Culture.ByMALCOLM COOK.London:Legenda. 2006. xii+182pp. ?45. ISBN978-1-900755-81-8. We tend to think of the author of Paul et Virginie as a one-hit wonder. This new biography showsthat hewas aman ofmanyparts.Born intoan undistinguished family at Le Havre in 1737, Bernardin the child was by his own later accounts a dreamer who neededotherstorescue himfrom hisownfantasies, andsomething of a rebel, butalso academically bright with a bentfor mathematics. Thepattern will continue. His protracted Wanderjahre asamilitary engineer andadventurer will take himto Malta, thenthrough muchofnorth-eastern Europe(including thecourts ofSt Petersburg, Warsaw,andVienna,wherehe styled himself'chevalier'), and in1768 70 on theKing's service toMauritius. But the countries thathe visits also become thesubject ofhiswritten observations. Thesebringtogether physical environment, culture, and social structure, towhichBernardinadds humanitarian concerns, a utopian imagination, and the eye of a poet. The record of his sea travels leads to thefirst ofhisworks tobe published(throughthegood offices ofd'Alembert), the remarkable Voyage a l'ile de France of 1773. What one might call Providential holismshapesthe much grander Etudesde la nature(1784),and itscomplement Paul etVirginie (1788).Theirgreatsuccess brings himcelebrity and-at last-some financial security. Holism alsounderlies hispolitical writings duringthefirst years of the Revolution, when he urgesall elements of thenationtounity.In 1792he is...