Rhétorique et amour : une lecture de Salvien, Epist. 4

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Abstract In Letter 4, Salvian wishes to reconnect with his in-laws, who have not accepted his conversiuncula , an ascetic turn characterized in particular by total continence. The extremely elaborate writing of the letter is marked by the strong imprint of rhetoric. However, this does not call into question the sincerity of the feeling. Salvian experiences rhetoric as a discursive mediation allowing the constructed analysis of the personal crisis he is facing and conditioning the formal modalities of the response he intends to provide in an attempt to resolve it. Rhetoric, however, is not an end in itself. There is a concrete goal here. The end sought by Salvian is love—love of his family and love of God.