Voicing Desire: Family and Sexuality in Diderot's Narrative by J. E. Fowler (review)

Abstract

972 Reviews most interesting chapter is entitled 'The Art of Conversation' and includes discussion of the work by Stewart and Carole Dornier as well as many pertinent comments by Fein. The subtle use of language by characters who represent themselves in the first person is possibly the most appealing element of Crebillon's work, especially where language is used as a weapon for seduction. Fein judges Les Egarements 'as much a masterpiece of memoir-form as Les Liaisons dangereuses is a successful culmination of the epistolary novel' (p. 66). Although this comment is praise indeed, it shows how the latter text is still held up as the gold standard for French libertine narrative, often at the expense of other works. In conclusion, Fein's study is clear and precise, with an up-to-date select bibliography. Although Fein avoids a prolonged discussion of ambiguity which has complicated much of the recent debate surrounding Crebillon, this is perhaps no bad thing in view of the audience targeted by this volume. Indeed, I feel sure it will become a valuable addition to this collection. University of Louisville J.P. Greene VoicingDesire: Family and Sexuality in Diderot fs Narrative. By J.E. Fowler. Oxford: Voltaire Foundation. 2000. x+i8opp. ?14.50. The methodology forJames Fowler's study of Diderot is established in his conclusion: defining his approach against Lacan and Peter Brooks, he argues that narratological analysis must accommodate character analysis and that character and structure are functions of each other and must be studied together. Given that narrators are also characters, susceptible to a psychoanalytical approach, Fowler proceeds to study Diderot's narratives as motivated discourses subtended by various relationships. Les Bijoux indiscrets is less a satirical commentary on female sexuality than a study of male desire, which in Mangogul is marked by both misogyny and a nostalgic desire for the mother expressed in the wish to be part of a perfect couple. Le Fils naturel, viewed in the light of its associated metatext, ceases to be a triumphant celebration of secular ethics; the play is undercut by the contrasting vision of events formed by other characters, and unresolved tensions and jealousies are revealed in Dorval, whose play lets him re-enact unresolved incestuous tendencies and who also relives an Oedipal conflict with his father for control of the narrative. In La Religieuse, the key issue for Suzanne is less whether she is in or out of the convent than whether she is in or out of parental favour; after reliving ambivalent relationships with her mother through her various superiors, she switches loyalty to a series of father figures,culminating in Croismare, all the while repressing and rationalizing a sexuality of which she is more conscious than she wishes to appear. Jacques lefataliste, though less evidently focused on family relationships, is based on Jacques's desire to re-enact his relationship with his lost captain; the novel evokes a network ofhomosocial relationships between males, in which women are incidental, important only in so faras the desire ofthe other male is involved and as objects of male transactions which may involve serial duelling. Male rivalries are also paramount in Le Neveu de Rameau, where the narrator seeks to define himself by being differentfrom Lui. Moi and Lui engage in Oedipal conflicts with the models of greatness and goodness represented by Rameau's uncle and father,and Lui repeats a pattern of rebellion against nurturing bases from which he has been expelled. This series of analyses of key Diderot texts succeeds in its attempt to see them in a new light. Fowler would be the firstto admit that his studies do not take account of every aspect of the works concerned, especially Jacques lefataliste, but his approach, convincingly based on close textual reading and theoretically sophisticated without being drowned in jargon, makes for a lively, refreshing, and enjoyable read. University of Nottingham Richard A. Francis ...