Ramond, Catherine. Roman et théâtre au XVIIIe siècle: le dialogue des genres. Oxford: Voltaire Foundation, 2012. ISBN 978-0-7294-1043-4. Pp. 264. 80 a. This perceptive study explores various forms of exchange between the novel and the theater in eighteenth-century France in a progression toward an increasing “hybridization” and complexity of forms. As Ramond states in her introduction: “Le roman semble avoir voulu imiter le théâtre, au point de se transformer lui-même, de ‘se faire théâtre’, produit des œuvres inclassables”(2). Ramond traces the evolution of this subversion of generic boundaries and examines the literary conditions that produced it, focusing on three distinct periods, corresponding to three types of exchange. Using a broad range of examples, the study culminates with works by Diderot, Sade, and Rétif that defy generic description altogether. First, the theater enters the novel in the form of theatrical “scenes,” beginning with Prévost, then Marivaux, who uses scenes extensively to augment dialogue and descriptive elements that in fact resemble stage directions. For Crébillon, this technique becomes a fullblown method of composition that moves the novel toward real-time and away from digressions and flashbacks. At mid-century, the dynamic is reversed and the novel influences the theater, moving it away from artificial conventions toward the truth and emotion of the novel. Richardson is a pivotal model for French novelists as the inventor of the epistolary form—a hybrid that shares with theater its lack of dominant narrative voice and speech given over to characters. Theories of drama also brought together the theater and the novel. Diderot and his followers introduced the idea of “vérité” into drama, taking as their model scenes from real life that would move the spectator. Plays were often adapted from novels and began to be accompanied by elaborate stage direction, a kind of paratext aimed at readers rather than at spectators: “[Le dramaturge] peut écrire pour un lecteur potentiel, et lui offrir une lecturespectacle , au même titre que le romancier. A contrario, [...] le romancier peut espérer susciter la même émotion chez son lecteur que s’il était devant un spectacle”(241). The aim was to use these effects to convey feeling in a way that would touch and even transform the reader or spectator. Finally, in the second half of the century, hybridization led to a proliferation of forms and categories with heterogeneous effects. The dialogue as a form emerges in this period in the works of Diderot. This tendency toward hybridization can be seen as an attempt to reconcile two genres until the boundary between them becomes nonexistent. These new forms, such as certain works by Sade or Rétif, are“monstres,”where“[r]oman et drame ne se distinguent plus”and “le drame peut [...] prendre des dimensions inusitées, impropres à la représentation” (243). The result is a renewal of both forms:“Une esthétique nouvelle vise à émouvoir le lecteur ou le spectateur, par des effets communs, ou comparables: lui faire entendre des personnages, lui faire voire des tableaux touchants. Le roman peut se faire spectacle, toucher l’imaginaire” (244). Boston University Gillian B. Pierce 230 FRENCH REVIEW 89.2 ...
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Feb 28, 2023
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