Modèles violents et sensations fortes dans la genèse de l'œuvre de Sade

Abstract

The Essai sur l'art oratoire (1799) is the only treatise on rhetoric published during the French Revolution ; in a period of powerful public speech, its actors were suspicious of eloquence and eliminated rhetoric from school curricula. Droz's reflection takes into account political upheaval and tries to establish the conditions, forms and importance of a new democratic speech. This article studies the immediate reaction to the Essai and its practical implications by comparing