Paola Sosso (review)

Abstract

Revaews 826 that thefictional pupils, therealauthor andtheeighteenth century areallgetting older. Kaltz'spresentation offiers a goodbiographical overview, andseventy pagesof introductions (regrettably without running heads todistinguish them). Theprovenanceofthetexts usedishidden inrandom footnotes (for example, 28,IO5,306). Theintroductions canbe surprisingly shaky oncultural history, seeming tothink thatWelemaque was'destine auxgarSons' (p. 33),orthat'ideesgeometriques' are aboutgeometry (p.60; comparep.36). However, theyprovidea wealthof information oncontemporary editions, translations andcritical reception, constitutinga considerable (andongoing) scholarly contribution toourknowledge ofawhole dimension oftheEnlightenment. Thereare alsogoodprimary and secondary bibliographies, illustrations ofseveral title-pages, andan index tothewhole. The presentation isaneducation too. BIRKBECK COLLEGE, LONDON ROBIN HOWELLS ean-acquesRousseau: Imagination, illusions, chimeres. By PAOLA SOSSO. Paris: Champion. I999. 269PP. Thisisanimportant topic. InRousseau thedesire for theideal(love, fictions, the goodpolitical order, original plenitude, 'l'autre monde') iscentral. Inthe period his refusal ofreality and demandfor'ce qui n'estpas' marks theshift from the circumscribed wisdom oftheclassical view totheabsolute aspirations ofRomanticism . Thisbookhowever doesnomore than gesture towards theperiod shift, and makes apoor jobofits explicit topic. Chapter I,'PO1YSemie d'imagination, chimeres, illusions', sketches thefamiliar classical distrust ofimagination (butignores the preceding baroquefascination withillusion), and thenblandly callsthis'la conception traditionnelle' (p. 29)which Rousseau will modify. Subsequent chapters go through Rousseau's writings, mostly work byworkand section bysection. Successively considered are 'L'Origine de l'imagination' (absent in thestateof nature, yet perhaps related to'pitie') (p.45);LaAouvelle Heloise (saidtobe'leroman del'illusion') (p.8I); Emile (saidtorepresent 'despositions totalement diffierentes' (PP.II0,2I9),despite thediscovery within this chapter ofanimportant similarity (PP.I28-3I)); andRousseau's views on theatre (which begins quiteirrelevantly with 'Alltheworld's a stage', andendswith Starobinski's 'fete'). Thereisa more perceptive chapter onimagination andillusion as 'levains dela theorie politique', though itgives only half a sentence tothefundamental fact that this theory issaid byRousseau himself tooriginate ina vision. 'Le Chemin de l'autobiographie' is trodden, noting that imagination inRousseau alsoproduces suspicion andparanoia, butwith nothing onthe'monde ideal'intheDialogues. Thereisa very brief and simplistic 'Conclusion'. Thencomes an 'Annexe' inwhich quotations mentioning imagination from contemporary writers are listedapparently at random(for instance, MmeduChatelet isfollowed byChateaubriand, andthen Foscolo (the only non-French writer) intranslation). There isanindex of persons, oneof'Themes etnotions' which however omits 'roman\esque' (compare pp.I63-64)and'modele' (compare pp.62, 92, I59; thereis no awareness in thebookofthePlatonic implications ofthis theme), anda substantial bibliography. Too muchofeach chapter consists oflongquotations withimprecise and inconsistent commentaries. Anumber ofthese quotations areusedtwice (p.3I and again pp.I50,68(note) andI28,70and86,II8 andI27),oneeven thrice (pp.3I, 78,I59),with noapparent awareness andsometimes with mistakes (atleastfour diffierences inthe'same'quotation pp.3I andI50).Ifwewant toknow what they MLR,96.3,200 I 827 signify we maybe oXered waffle ('la laceration stridente qui separel'attente confiante desbrumes dureel')orinsouciant self-contradiction (Julie hasa 'ferme volonte denepasregarder aufond d'elle-meme', but'l'interiorite estlaseule realite vecuepleinement parJulie'(pp.IOI, I03)). Thereis a sprinkling ofmisprints. Rigorous editing wouldhaveeliminated someofthemoreobviously defective elements inthis book, though itscritical worth would still fall far short ofits topic. BIRKBECK COLLEGE, LONDON ROBIN HOWELLS Sedaine, Greuze andthe Bo?lndaries ofGenre. ByMARK LEDBURY. (Studies onVoltaire andtheEighteenth Century, 380)Oxford: TheVoltaire Foundation. 2000. xi+ 355PP £69 Thisisa very welcome addition tomodern studies ongeneric experimentation in Francein thelatter halfoftheeighteenth century. One ofitsmostrewarding features isthecombination ina single volume oftwo distinct artforms, theatre and painting, ina waythat gives equalimportance toeach.Indeed, incertain respects this isalmost twostudies for theprice ofone:Mark Ledbury tends for much ofthe text toconcentrate on oneofhistwosubjects ata time, andanyspecialist who chooses toreadonly thechapters onSedaine oronly those onGreuze will find that eachknits together intoa coherent whole, that contains muchtointerest andto stimulate discussion. Thisisan impressive feat: very fewscholars couldwrite so impressively inthetwodistinct areasofarthistory andtheatre history asLedbury, whose footnotes reveal a wealth oferudition inboth areas.Thework is,however, worth much more than thesumofits parts, with considerable interest arising from theparallels drawn between thecareers ofitstwosubjects. Perhaps there isa little toomuch sleight ofhandinthewaythat a satisfying conclusion tothenarrative is produced bya changeofartist, substituting DavidforGreuze, something that would havecomeaslessofa surprise haditbeensignalled inthetitle. Perhaps too theevidence given for someoftheconclusions drawn aboutoutside influencesthe influence ofDiderot andGrimm onboth Sedaine andGreuze, orofSedaine on David-is a little lesscompelling than issometimes suggested, although itistrue that Ledbury never presents these conclusions as anything other than speculative. Theseare,however, smallpoints in a work which is...