«Le monument du costume» de Rétif de la Bretonne

Abstract

Colette Bertrand : Rétif de la Bretonne's «monument du costume ». This analysis of Le Monument du Costume (1789), a neglected work by Rétif which accompanied etchings by J.-M. Moreau, attempts to show how all Rétifs texts are tightly linked by recurring themes, and how the whole can be seen as a kind of summary of many aspects of the author's thought. We find typical Rétif traits, such as the obsessional presence of women, a tendancy to be didactic, eroticism, spirited writing on contemporary problems and depiction of customs of his day. The article traces the itinerary of the work in the period 1775-1789, when it appeared in different versions with different titles, and sometimes anonymously. Finally, we see the obsessional nature of the central theme of Le Monument du Costume in all Rétifs works after 1772.