La Théorie du langage de Pierre-Simon Ballanche: contribution à Vétude de la philosophie linguistique du romantisme. Avec des extraits des ouvrages de Ballanche by Alan J. L. Busst (review)

Abstract

202 Reviews which corresponds to what we would call 'critique musicale' today. This ambitious project, originating in a doctoral dissertation, leads to much useful material on the periodicals studied, though the choice of titles may surprise some readers. Certainly most of the major periodicals of the period are covered, though the decision to ig? nore the Journal de musique seems unjustified. In a brief three-page introduction to the Journal and its principal editor, Framery, the author states that the journal 'va s'eteindre de lui-meme' (p. 38) a few years afterits establishment. This is true enough, but the Journal de musique, as the firstspecialized periodical on music in the period of study to include critical reviews, deserves attention, as many aspects ofthe editor's critical practice differin essential respects from those studied here. In spite of this caveat, the corpus is very broad and covers a genuinely useful sample of the major periodicals of the period. The organization of the book is as follows. Part 1gives an introduction to the differentsources studied and the writers in question. Part 11defines criticism itself, and considers the knowledge and education of the writers in question, and their style, and Part 111studies two aspects of criti? cism: aesthetics and 'un apport historique', which refers not to the historical slant of the texts themselves, but their role as precious historical documents which can tell us about musical life and the performers ofthe time, the role ofthe public (and especially the increasing power of the bourgeoisie), and the Gluckian reform of opera. The definition of 'critique musicale' is delayed until Part 11(p. 83), which is a pity because the integration of periodical criticism and books and pamphlets is awkward: placed earlier in the book, it would have been much more helpful. And a perhaps inevitable result of the subject of study is that the author's attention is spread wide, so that much ofthe comment on individual sources, and particularly the long and rather basic contextualizationof sources and topics, feels superficial. Nevertheless, the sheer amount of information gleaned from the press itself,and particularly the comparison of entries on the same performance in differentjournals (which leads to compelling evidence of the specificities of differenteditors' sympathies and practices), makes this a useful book on a hitherto neglected topic. University of Nottingham Mark Darlow La Theorie du langage de Pierre-Simon Ballanche: contributiona I'etude de la philosophie linguistique du romantisme. Avec des extraits des ouvrages de Ballanche. By Alan J. L. Busst. (Studies in the History of Philosophy, 59) Lewiston, Queenston , and Lampeter: Mellen. 2000. x + 246pp. $109.95. ISBN 0-7734-7456-0. The academic function of Alan J.L. Busst's modestly titled 'contribution' stems from his observation that 'Ballanche laisse [. . .] au lecteur la tache de completer sa pensee' (p. 100). Although Ballanche enjoys 'la vision du systeme total', the 'obscurite' of his fragmentary output has become 'proverbiale' (p. 2). In Sainte-Beuve's words, 'II avance par cercles et circuits' (pp. 2-3). This book fails into two virtually equal parts; firstBusst's admirable reading of the circular and the circuitous, and second a reprinting of judiciously selected excerpts of Ballanche's work which deal with the philosophy and history of language (particularly useful as the four-volume (Euvres cited in the bibliography was published by Barbezat in 1830). These excerpts are drawn from four works which are presented in chronological order: Essai sur les institutionssociales (1818), Essais de palingenesie sociale (1827-30), Orphee (1829), an(l Vision d'Hebal (1831). Busst's preceding interpretationstresses the way in which Ballanche 's compromises in the argument over the origins of language emblematize his negotiation of the politics of Romanticism: 'ce traditionaliste est en meme temps un liberal et un progressiste; ce defenseur du trone et de l'autel deviendra partisan d'un MLRy 98.1, 2003 203 plebeianisme radical, se scandalisant toujours davantage de l'entetement reactionnaire des Bourbons et du Vatican' (p. 6). The opening three chapters of Busst's analysis focus on debates over the 'origine de la parole'. Ballanche postulates a divine reve? lation of language to humanity, at odds with the sensualist and empiricist notion of language evolution...