“FRANCION’S DREAM” IN THE NOVEL BY CHARLES SOREL: ON THE PROBLEM OF NARROWING THE BOUNDARIES OF SYMBOLIC IMAGERY IN CONDITIONS OF CENSORSHIP OF THE 1620–1630

Abstract

The article is devoted to the analysis of Francion’s dream from the point of view of the symbolic imagery, as well as to the problem of the existence of the novel “La Vraie Histoire comique de Francion” by Charles Sorel (1623–1633) in three editions. The events of the dream narrated by the main character are analysed, as well as the changes made to the text in the second and third editions – the removal and rearrangement of some episodes in order to adapt the text to the requirements of censorship due to the high-profile trial of the French poet and representative of the libertinage of the 17th century Théophile de Viau who was ideologically close to Sorel; the commentary of Raymond, which appeared in the second edition, which is a conditionally “correct” interpretation; the moralizing comment of “author”, embedded in the text only in the final version, as well as the indication in the introduction of his name – Nicolas De Moulinet sieur Du Parc, who died in 1625. In the process of analysis, we observe a change in the boundaries of the symbolic imagery of this episode under the influence of self-censorship, which are significantly narrowed in the third edition, leaving the reader much less space for critical examination and independent deciphering of the meanings inherent in the presented dream.