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1994 Number 42
CARR, THOMAS M., JR., éd. Réflexions sur l'éloquence des prédicateurs (1695) and Philippe Goibaut du Bois, Avertissement en tête de sa traduction des "Sermons" de Saint Augustin (1694). Genève: Droz, 1992.
Review: F. Deloffre in RBPH 71 (1993), 770–71: Volume qui présente "les protagonistes de la querelle sur l'éloquence des prédicateurs dans les années 1694–1695, Du Bois et Arnauld." Edition soignée, richement annotée; index des noms propres et des matieres.
Review: P. J. Salazar in PFSCL 31 (1994), 231–232: Two editions centered around the "refus de la rhétorique" of the period: ". . . on assiste à un alignement hétérodoxe des partisans de l'imagination . . . ."
Review: Pierre Zoberman in DSS 182 (Janvier Mars, 1994), 191–192: Textes importants et utiles qui présentent les deux faces de la querelle de l'éloquence à la fin du 17e siècle.
CHARNLEY, JOY. "La vie et l'oeuvre d'Antoinette Bourignon jugées par Bayle." PFSCL 21 (1994), 443–452.
Studies Pierre Bayle's sexist attacks against Bourignon.
BAMFORTH, STEPHEN. "Béroalde de Verville and Les Appréhensions Spirituelles." BHR 56 (1994), 89–97.
"The purpose of this article is to make a modest contribution to this area [the poet's early years], chiefly by drawing attention to one or two striking features of the dedications contained in Béroalde's first published collection of his own work, Les Appréhensions spirituelles of 1583."
GIORDANO, M. J., ed. Studies on Béroalde de Verville. PFSCL/Biblio 17, 72 (1992).
Review: C. Randall Coats in PFSCL 52.1–2 (1994), 28–29: "This provocative, eclectic collection compiles interdisciplinary approaches to the important but hitherto neglected oeuvre of Béroalde de Verville.... In addition ... it includes a groundbreaking archival discovery by Gisèle Mathieu-Castellani which definitively ascribes L'Amour brave en faveur des dames to Beroalde .... While it should be obvious that the entire collection is one of great scholarly merit ... the most exciting contribution is the essay by Tom Conley".
Review: J. R. Fanlo in BHR 56 (1994), 266–67: "Ce petit volume associe aux essais d'exégèse l'information érudite, qui nous vaut deux decouvertes: un recueil de sonnets, L'Amour brave en faveur des dames, digne d'un mystérieux pseudonyme, est restitué à Verville par G. Mathieu Castellani, et N. Kenny, en se fondant sur l'examen des ornements typographiques, parvient à fixer la date et le lieu de la première édition du Moyen de parvenir (Paris, 1616, Chez Anne Sauvage, Veuve Guillemet, qui avait déjà imprimé le Palais des Curieux.)"
Review: Michel Renaud in DSS 182 (janv-mars 1994) 199–200: Collection d'articles "diversement convaincants" permettant de mieux connaître l'oeuvre d'un auteur longtemps négligé.
ELMARSAFY, ZIAD. "Actors, Lovers and Madmen: Theatricality and Identity in Charles Beys' Les illustres fous." PFSCL 31 (1994), 81–94.
Views the play as a "meditation on the fluid nature of human subjectivity" through the equivalence set up between madness and acting.
JORET, PAUL. Nicolas Boileau Despréaux: Révolutionnaire et conformiste. PFSCL/Biblio 17, 49 (1989).
PINEAU, JOSEPH. L'univers satirique de Boileau: L'ardeur, la grâce et la loi. Geneva: Droz, 1990.
Provides a convincing appraisal of B.'s "personnalité satirique" as it appears in his verse writings.
Review: Robert T. Corum in EMF 1 (1994), 236–238: C. praises P.'s treatment of Boileau's various personae, i.e., "legislator of Parnassus, theorist of the sublime... plagiarist, [and] master of bad taste," among others. Supporting P's argument that incisive analysis of Boileau lies in noting the "association des éléments antilogiques," C. nonetheless criticizes P. for looking only at parts of poems, instead of entire works. C. states that Joret "shares many of Pineau's psychological preoccupations," but that ultimately J.'s interpretation of Boileau relies on "an anti-rationalist operation which aligns Boileau with Pascal." Although valuable, J.'s book suffers from "a self-conscious style" and occasionally "interminable sentences."
RILEY, PATRICK,trans. Bossuet: Politics Drawn from the Very Words of Holy Scripture. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1991.
A solid and scholarly introduction avers the historical importance of Bossuet in spite of the neglect his catholicism and his royalist absolutism have earned him.
DECLERCQ, GILLES. "Rhétorique des Entretiens d'Ariste et d'Eugène du père Bouhours (1671) ou la grâce de la bagatelle." PFSCL/Biblio 17, 80 (1993), 195–208.
An attempt to demonstrate the literary and esthetic qualities of the work.
COATS, CATHARINE RANDALL. "Drink Deep from the Text: Wooing and Warning the Reader in Brantôme's Dames galantes and Dames illustres." MLS 23.2 (1993), 84–91.
Whereas Robert Cottrell, in his 1970 study (Droz), called B. "the portraiturist of his age," C. "would like to suggest a complementary critical reading . . . of B.'s Dames galantes, in which B., through the medium of his text, also becomes the portraiturist of himself." For C., the French writer's "self portrait is a representation of B. caught in the creative process, reacting to life and art, creating art, writing and assessing his audience."
DUCHENE, JACQUELINE and ROGER, eds. Bussy Rabutin, Histoire amoureuse des Gaules. Paris: Gallimard, 1993.
Review: V. Maigne in PFSCL 31 (1994), 238–239: The original edition of 1665; includes a history of the manuscripts, excerpts of the version that was most often reprinted during the century, and excerpts of Bussy's and Mme de Motteville's memoirs. The preface demonstrates how Bussy inaugurates a new form of the novel at a time when the historical roman fleuve reigns supreme: "Grande innovation: Bussy raconte sans masque à l'antique des histoires contemporaines, essentiellement des galanteries; sa technique narrative, proche de celle de Madame de Lafayette, consiste à coudre des faits réels à des aventures fictives sans suture apparente." An edition that shows the true importance of this work belonging to the "textes fondateurs de la prose classique."
DUCHENE, JACQUELINE ET ROGER. "Bussy Rabutin, ou les chances de l'exil." PFSCL 21 (1994), 337–343.
The unexpected results of Bussy's unhoped for exile in Burgundy in 1666: "Sans l'exil, point de Bussy ni de Sévigné dans la littérature française."
VERNET, MAX. "Cueillette, recueil et recueillement: Jean Pierre Camus, du rhétorique au narratif (et retour)." PFSCL/Biblio 17, 80 (1993), 219–229.
Examines the relationship between exemplum and short story in Camus.
ARTIGAS-MENANT, GENEVIEVE, JACQUES POPIN, et MARIE-EMMANUELLE PLAGNOL, eds. Leçons sur Les illustres Françaises de Robert Challe. Actes de la Table Ronde de Créteil. Paris: Université Paris Xll Val de Marne; Diffusion Champion Slatkine, 1993.
Review: Malcolm Cook in JES 24 (1994), 57–58: Almost all the essays collected in this book began as papers presented at a 1993 Créteil conference. "The principal aim was . . . to clarify the text, to seek out the truth about the author and his work." "Many of the contributions try to put C. into a contemporary context . . . ," and numerous approaches are employed. "This . . . volume will be of use to students of the text looking for authoritative interpretations. There is little in the way of new research here," nor was that intended. "The book itself is poorly produced," in the reviewer's opinion: "the binding is weak and soon comes unstuck and the illustration on the front cover is so poor as to be useless."
DELOFFRE, FREDERIC. Robert Challe., Un destin, une oeuvre. Textes et documents inédits. Paris: SEDES, 1992.
Review: M. H. Cotoni in RBPH 71 (1993), 775–76: Ouvrage en deux parties complémentaires: 1) une synthèse biographique; 2) un choix de textes divers: des lettres de Québec, des fragments du Journal ou des Mémoires, la continuation de Don Quichotte, des lettres sur Les illustres Françaises, deux morceaux des Difficultés sur la religion.
WEIL, MICHELE. Robert Challe romancier. Genève: Droz, 1991.
Review: Pierre Malandain in RSH 228 (1992), 255–56: Book described as the "première véritable étude sur l'oeuvre texte de C." In M.'s opinion, W.'s "point fort est de rendre clairement sensibles l'émergence de l'idéologie des Lumières, l'expérimentation de formes nouvelles ...." M. calls C. not only "l'aventurier, le déraciné, l'anticlérical militant," but also "le principal artiste, entre Molière et Watteau, de cette période obscure et fervente de notre histoire (1680–1715)."
ADAM, MICHEL. "Pierre Charron en son milieu." RFHL 80–81 (1993), 337–348.
A study of Charron's two stays in Bordeaux from 1576 to 1588 and from 1589 to 1594. His life in Bordeaux and the way in which he performed his religious duties contradict Father Garasse's views and attacks.
MAGNIEN, MICHEL, ed. Guillaume Colletet. Vie d'Etienne Dolet. Geneva: Droz, 1992.
In 1648, while preparing vitae of various 16th-century literary figures, the scholar Guillaume Colletet composed, though he left unpublished, a life of Dolet (printed here from a non-autograph manuscript, NAF 3073 in the Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris), with the intention of correcting the extreme evaluations, both favorable and unfavorable, of the poet".
BAKER, SUSAN READ. Dissonant Harmonies: Drama and Ideology in Five Neglected Plays of Pierre Corneille. Tübingen: Gunter Narr Verlag, 1990.
Review: François Lagarde in EMF 1 (1994) 218–221: L. finds B.'s study to be "original," "éclairant," and "un bon exemple d'équilibre entre la théorie critique et la critique historique." Agreeing with B.'s argument that the five Corneille plays in question failed because of a sizable disparity between "personation" and "impersonation," L. recommends the work to specialists, but warns that B's approach is often overly expansive and scattered.
CLARKE, DAVID. Pierre Corneille: Politics and Political Drama under Louis XIII. Cambridge: Cambridqe University Press, 1992.
Review: D. A. Watts in MLR 89 (1994), 767–68: Study of Corneille's "serious plays from 1630 to 1643" is based on the author's conviction that in France, under Richelieu,"'matters of poetics were never very far from matters of political ideology'." The first part of the study provides insights into C.'s "Normanness" along with contextual quotes from novelists, theologians, and political commentators of the period. The second part deals with dramatic theory and explores the tension between the pleasure prinicple and the utilitarians. Reviewer finds this study a major authoritative work on C.'s "place in the history of moral and political ideas." However, he is uneasy with "suggestions of a rigorous ideological determinism. "
CLARKE, DAVID. "Plutarch's Contribution to the Invention of Sabine in Corneille's Horace." MLR 89 (1994), 39–49.
Clarke examines Plutarch's "real, if indirect contribution to the genesis of Horace" through the 'Lives' of Romulus, Numa, and Coriolanus. These narratives "show just the same preoccupation with the moral ambiguities of the City's first steps to Empire as does Corneille's invented Sabine at the outset of his play."
DRAGACCI PAULSEN, FRANÆOISE. "L'héroïsme féminin dans Attila." PFSCL 31 (1994), 95–112.
Sees the play as announcing the end of aristocratic individualism. The heroine is subject to the same decline as the male hero: "Tous deux dès lors ne sont plus ni héros ni héroïne mais favori et favorite du roi; toute prééminence aristocratique en eux a été aplanie par le nivellement social auquel procède la monarchie." Cornelian heroism thus has two successive moments, one masculine and the other feminine.
FORESTIER, GEORGES, ed. Suréna, général des Parthes, Tragédie, 1674. Paris: Librairie Générale Française, 1993.
Review: M. O. Sweetser in PFSCL 31 (1994), 242–243: An excellent addition to the "Livre de poche classique" collection. The introduction summarizes modern research on the play.
FOX, DOREEN ANN. "Corneille, an Artisan of History." (Purdue Univ. 1993) DAI 54:3 3457A.
F. contends that C.'s five major tragedies are largely influenced by historical sources. As a result, C. evolves into a historian as well as a dramatist. While C. generally respects historical fact, he nonetheless embellishes and manipulates it to serve his aesthetic purposes. Thus, the key to C.'s genius lies in discerning between the dramaturge's "autonomy" as an artist and his accuracy as a reader of history.
KNIGHT, R. C. Corneille's Tragedies: The Role of the Unexpected. Cardiff: University of Wales Press, 1991.
Review: D. A. Watts in MLR 88 (1993), 975–76: "This eminently readable book, often incisive, sometimes profound, will quickly take its place among the more important recent studies of Corneille but one may feel that the perfect introduction in English to this elusive dramatist remains to be written."
LASSERRE, FRANÆOIS. Corneille de 1638 à 1642. La crise technique d'Horace, Cinna et Polyeucte. PFSCL/Biblio 17, 55 (1990).
Review: Alain Couprie in DSS 182 (Janvier-Mars 1994), 200–01: Remettant en question la perspective traditionnelle, ce livre présente C. de cette époque en pleine crise artisitique et morale.
MAHER, DANIEL. "La vraisemblance au XVIIe siècle: Corneille lecteur d'Aristote?" PFSCL 21 (1994), 519–531.
Maher concludes that C. makes fine distinctions among the kinds of verisimilitude in order to limit the role of the concept and place truth itself on an equal footing with it.
MURATORE, M.J. Cornelian Theater: The Melodramatic Dimension. Birmingham, Alabama: Summa Publications, 1990.
Review: Jacqueline Van Baelen in EMF 1 (1994) 201–204: Van B. finds M's study both "exciting" and "disappointing." On the one hand, Van B. contends that M.'s assertions are "suggestive, in some cases excellent," especially with respect to Horace. On the other hand, Van B. believes M's reliance on Abel's concept of metatheatre to be both misapplied and, at times, excessive to the point of "exclud[ing] moral considerations."
POIRIER, GERMAIN. Corneille témoin de son temps. II: Le Cid (1636). PFSCL/Biblio 17, 84 (1994).
Review: Susan Read Baker in EMF 1 (1994) 198–200: B. finds P's assertion that Corneille's tragicomedy Clitandre was written "to defend the Society of Jesus against its detractors," to be unconvincing. According to B., P. undermines his own argument by contending that while the genesis of Clitandre is drawn from extra-textual concerns, Corneille's objective "was total textual self-containment."
SERROY, JEAN, ed. Pierre Corneille, Le Cid. Paris: Gallimard, 1993.
Review: M. O. Sweetser in PFSCL 31 (1994), 296–297: A volume in the "Folio Théâtre" series that "nevertheless bears the marks of a serious scholarly endeavor." Edition stands out from the crowd because of its textual accuracy and excellent critical apparatus.
TRETHEWEY, JOHN. Corneille: L'Illusion comique and Le Menteur. London/New York: Grant and Cutler, 1991.
Review: W.D. Howarth in FS 47 (1993), PAGE: A well written guide to C. s plays which presents " a rounded and complete picture of the dramatist at work."
Review: N. A. Peacock in MLR 89 (1994), 766–67: ". . . a useful and informative introduction to two richly theatrical works." Focus for L'Illusion comique is on "theatrical illusion, structure, characters, and themes"; focus for Le Menteur is on "sources, moral issues, theatricality, and poetry."
WATTS, DEREK A. Corneille: Rodogune and Nicomède. London: Grant & Cutler, 1992.
Review: Christopher Smith in JES 24 (1994), 175–76: This volume, published in Critical Guides to French Texts collection, offers what S. calls "an excellent commentary" on these two plays; he judges the book to be a "brisk, informative and jargon free study." "The perennial problem of the Cornelian concept of tragedy is discussed sympathetically, with special attention to the notion of 'admiration.' "Above all, however," says the reviewer, "W. leaves us with the impression that C.'s abiding ambition was to create absorbing entertainment in the theatre."
ALCOVER, MADELEINE. "Cyrano in carcere." PFSCL 21 (1994), 393–418.
The search for additional original editions of Les Estats et Empires de la Lune uncovers a Harvard University edition whose different "paratexte" sheds new light on both the Lune and the Soleil.
SICK, FRANZISKA. "Cyrano de Bergerac: le monde dans la perspective de l'Autre monde." PFSCL 31 (1994), 65–80.
Argues that the author adopts both the biblical thesis of man's greatness and the contemporary Copernican view of man's place in the world, viewing humanity as having a "destination intramondaine." Cyrano thus contributes to the break with Scholastic thought.
FANLO, JEAN RAYMOND. "Deux pamphlets anonymes d'Agrippa D'Aubigné." BHR 55 (1993), 611–44.
Découverte de deux nouvelles oeuvres de D'Aubigné écrites en 1622: L'Explication Familière, Et toutefois mystérieuse, de l'excellente lettre qui porte pour titre, A Nostre Trescher fils en Christ, Louys de France tres chrestien, Gregoire Pape XV & c. par Pere A. de la vraye Société de Jesus (s.l. 1622) et Le docteur d'Hildeberg traduit d'Allemand en Français (s.l.1623).
SALIBA, JAIMEE R. "Regulating the I you: Gender, Dialogue, and the Epistolary Text." PFSCL 31 (1994), 177–185.
Explores topics of Bakhtinian dialogue, identity formation, and subjectivity in novels written by women in the late 17th century, especially in Mme d'Aulnoy: "To the demand for this sort of epistolary writing that limits the potential for interaction between a writer and her various interlocutors, she [Mme d'Aulnoy] offers a novel instead that calls into question the prescriptions of male editors and critics through the character of Mendosa, an alternative Portuguese writing woman."
KNUTSON, MILTON BUSH. "(Dis)simulation and tromperie in the works of François de Rosset." (Univ. of Arizona, 1993) DAI 54:4 3767A.
K. examines the concepts of intertextuality, dualism and semeiology in de R.'s poetry and prose, arguing that de R.'s texts "reflect tensions between a near-medieval worldview and an emergent, but sporadic rationalism."
LEGROS, PHILIPPE. "L'esthétique de Saint François de Sales. Etude de quatre méditations de l'Introduction à la vie dévote." PFSCL 31 (1994), 9–30.
Studies meditations five through eight to show the influence of contemporary painting techniques. Concludes that there is nothing ostentatious about the method because of the goal of creating an edifying work.
PERRIN, JEAN-FRANÆOIS. "Rousseau et Saint François de Sales: Les lettres à Sophie ou la voie spirituelle." RHL 94.2 (1994) 221–30.
P. argues that Rousseau's Lettres morales reveal a contemplative process akin to that found in Introduction à la vie dévote and Traité de l'amour de Dieu. R's assertion that the exploration and conservation of memory leads the human mind to a pure state of consciousness derives from St. F., and also manifests itself in the Confessions and the Emile.
BAILLET, ADRIEN. Vie de M. Descartes. Paris: Éditions de la Table Ronde, 1992.
Review: J. Brun in EP 3 (1993), 409: This edition — though not a critical one — is deemed very useful: "Il faut remercier les Editions de la Table Ronde d'avoir publié en livre de poche la biographie de Descartes par Baillet".
CARR, THOMAS M., JR. Descartes and the Resilience of Rhetoric: Varieties of Cartesian Rhetorical Theory. Carbondale/Edwardsville, Ill: Southern Illinois University Press, 1990.
Review: Sylvie Romanowski in EMF 1 (1994) 205–209: R. praises C.'s work for illuminating "the situation of rhetoric in the seventeenth century, when serious problems began for it with Descartes' reconfiguration of knowledge." According to R., C. argues convincingly that rhetoric affirms its presence in Port Royal writers such as Malebranche and Lamy.
COLE, JOHN R. The Olympian Dreams and Youthful Rebellion of René Descartes. Urbana: U of Illinois P, 1992.
Review: Richard Parish in FS 48 (January 1994), 94–95: Questions the importance and the centrality to the 17th century thinkers of the endeavors attributed to D.'s famous dream.
Review: Robert Stoothoff in P&L 18 (1994), 154–55: "D. had three bizarre dreams on the night of 10 November 1619, the fateful day when he conceived his plan for reforming the sciences. He recorded and interpreted his dreams in a notebook, now lost .... As the author points out, commentators . . . have rationalized the dreams, explained them away, ignored them, or even denied that they ever occurred. None has attempted seriously to relate them to D.'s personal life or to his philosophical work. In this fascinating book . . . C. does just that." The French thinker's "intellectual declaration of independence is clearly associated with D.'s personal rebellion against the established vocational path which his father had expected him to follow .... C. connects the dreams with another aspect of D.'s philosophy: his identification of the self as a pure res cogitans." The study is described as "a model of scholarship," and the reviewer "recommend[s] it highly."
COTTINGHAM, JOHN, ed. The Cambridge Companion to Descartes. New York: Cambridge UP, 1992.
Review: M. Losonsky in Choice 31 (1994), 1307: "An important collection that both specialists and general readers will find very useful. All the essays combine clarity, good philosophy, and sensitivity to historical contexts. C.'s introduction elegantly serves both as a general introduction to the philosophy of D. and as an overview of the 13 essays in this volume. The essays . . . are arranged chronologically, from [D.'s] early development and scholastic background to his last Treatise on the Passions and the reception of his philosophy in 17th century Europe." Also included in the collection are pieces on D.'s "method, algebra, physics, physiology, epistemology, rational theology, and philosophy of mind."
GARBER, DANIEL. Descartes: Metaphysical Physics. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1992.
Review: Abraham Anderson in PhQ 44 (1994), 101–09: G.'s book is reviewed along with Kant and the Exact Sciences, by Michael Friedman (Harvard UP, 1992). "G. stands in the historicist tradition of the history of ideas ...." A.'s assessment of G.'s work is mixed. "... G. is unable to take seriously, or even to understand . . ., D.'s claim to be unconditioned by influences and contexts: G.'s understanding of historical method tends to make this claim inconceivable for him. Yet that claim is the ground of this method. On the philosophical side, G.'s failure to understand the radicalism of D.'s method deprives him of the opportunity to reflect on the relation between that method and subsequent versions of the project of modernity ....
Review: A. Menuge in SCN 52.1–2 (1994), 18–19: "Garber provides the first systematic attempt to link Descartes' work in physics and metaphysics as Descartes himself understood it." This book is "impressive in its scope and the power of its synthesis. Arguably, it marks out a new genre in scholarship: history of metaphysical physics".
HEYNDELS, RALPH. "Camera obscura de la mémoire: Descartes." PFSCL/Biblio 17, 80 (1993), 259–266.
The role of remembering and forgetting in D.'s thought.
MARION, JEAN-LUC. Questions cartésiennes. Méthode et métaphysique. Paris: PUF, 1991.
Review: J.-M. Gabaude in RPL 92.1 (1994), 121–122: This new book by Marion is a collection of seven major essays published between 1975 and 1991. "L'unité du présent recueil provient du questionnement histo-historique et métaphysique de Descartes par l'auteur à propos des rapports entre méthode et métaphysique et des problèmes de l'ego, de la cogitatio et de l'ontologie". The quality of these essays confirm the importance of Marion's research which has "radicalement renouvelé, depuis 1975, l'approche de Descartes".
RUNG, DONALD. "Images of Rainbows: the Rhetoric of Admiration in Descartes"s Les Météores." PFSCL 21 (1994), 453–469.
A study of the "passion of admiration" as the inspiration for the composition of Descartes' work: "The 'poétique d'admiration' so useful to the Jesuits in their goal of ascending from the terrestrial to the divine realms, plays a similar role in Descartes's scientific works."
SENIOR, MATTHEW. "Quand même je dormirais": Philosophy and Secondary Revision in Descartes." RR 84.2 (1993) 405–422.
S. discusses the role of dreams in Cartesian reasoning, especially in terms of the relationship between language and the "cogito." D's first work, Olympica, serves as a guide for the process of transforming disordered "dream language" into ordered, "philosophical discourse."
TOMLINSON, PHILIP, éd. Jean Desmarets de Saint Sorlin: Aspasie: comédie. Geneve: Droz: 1992.
An edition highlighting the role of C.'s play in supporting Richelieu's cultural policies.
Review: J. Dryhurst in MLR 89 (1994), 479: Welcome critical edition of D.'s first play "based on the Comédie Française Library's copy of the 1636 Camusat version." Tomlinson discusses "the moral, allegorical, and symbolic significance of Aspasie and notes the influence on Molière.
DOGLIO, MARIANGELA MAZZOCCHI, ed. Nicolas Drouin, dit Dorimond, Théâtre. Fasano/Paris: Schena Nizet, 1992.
Review: C. Mazouer in PFSCL 21 (1994), 594–595: D's complete theatrical works.Reviewer finds the edition to be important and carefully done although the editor appears not to have produced her own extended analysis of the works.
GREGORIO, LAURENCE A. The Pastoral Masquerade: Disguise and Identity in L'Astrée. Saratoga, Ca.: Anma Libri, 1992.
Review: G. J. Mallinson in MLR 89 (1994) 766: Examination of the theme of disguise which "moves from an analysis of its different forms (sexual, social, and behavioral) to a discussion of the problems of identity implicit in the recurrent confusions which it causes." Reviewer finds some valuable insights, but also finds the study lacking in analytical rigor."
Review: John Trethewey in FS 48 (January 1994), 94: Despite a confusing abundance of details, the monograph's political perspective of the motif of disguise is an original interpretation.
JUDOVITZ, DALIA. "Emblematic Legacies: Hieorglyphes of Desire in L'Astrée. EMF 1 (1994) 31–54.
After examining the relation between visual metaphor, trompe l'oeil, and the baroque, J. discusses how emblem corresponds to baroque allegory in L'Astrée. She argues that while the text does not present actual emblems, it is "structured emblematically," since the novel's preoccupation with "illusion," "doubling," and "transvestitism," among others, convey d'Urfé's "emblematic world view."
R0HOU, JEAN, ed. Pierre Du Ryer: Dynamis. Exeter: University of Exeter Press, 1992.
Review: C. Shith in MLR 89 (1994), 768–69: Dynamis interpreted "as an orthodox tragi comedy that reflects both the political concerns of the late 1640's and the developments in dramaturgy which had taken place over the previous decade or so."
MARVICK, LOUIS W. "Fontenelle and the Truth of Masks." MLS 23.4 (1993), 70–78.
"The device of the mask has been recognized as a favorite property and symbol of Mannerism in every period.... By the beginning of the Enlightenment, however, F. was putting his consciously mannered style to a new purpose: that of clothing truths which were directly or indirectly subversive of the Ancien Régime and the scholastic tradition in a garb which asked not to be taken seriously.... Yet his mask, his manner, is more than just a disguise: it epitomizes the nature of the truth he had to tell. Each mask conceals, not a living face, not a vital core of certainty, but another mask, another partial and imperfect likeness of a face which is always elsewhere." "What distinguishes Mannerism," says M., "is not which tropes it uses but how it uses them. The debate as to whether Mannerism is passionate or dispassionate might be resolved if this point were taken: for Fontenelle, as for Marino, for Gongora, for Desportes, for Sir Thomas Browne, the passion is in the doing, not in the thing done."
MURATORE, M. J. "Loveless Letters: Narrative Deceits in Guilleragues's Lettres portugaises." SYM 47.4 (1994): 289–300.
"Throughout the letters, the preoccupation with masking real sentiments, the preference for style over sincerity, the expressive (as opposed to communicative) tenor of the documents suggest that for Marianne, writing is not a means to an end, but an end in itself." Muratore examines how G. "subverts the conventional function of epistolary exchanges, transforming it from a dialogue into a monologic endeavor."
MATHIEU, JEAN MARIE. "Huet et Origène," in Pierre Daniel Huet (1630–1721). Actes du colloque de Caen (November 12–13, 1993). PFSCL/Biblio 17, 83 (1994), 29–236.
Assesses H.'s roles as editor and critic of the thinker's works.
GARAPON, ROBERT, ed. Journée La Bruyère, Cahiers de l'Association Internationale des Etudes Françaises, 44 (May 1992), pp. 245–377.
Review: P. J. Salazar in PFSCL 31 (1994), 244–245: Seven papers: two on practitioners of the genre other than LaB., two on LaB. as critic and ideologue, and three studies of rhetoric in Les Caractères.
RICORD, MARINE. "Les mangeurs de La Bruyère." PFSCL 21 (1994), 419–429.
The author's critique of gluttony: "Le réseau de portraits s'affirme contre une pensée linéaire et contribue par un système d'échos, de rappels et de touches successives à déterminer les caractéristiques de la passion de la nourriture et à en élaborer le contrepoint moral et la condamnation." R. concludes that "les portraits des mangeurs constituent donc une mise en garde contre le pouvoir corporel, danger pour la vie en société."
GANIM, RUSSELL. "Emblem as Meditative Icon in La Ceppède's Théorèmes." PFSCL 31 (1994), 31–44.
"Many of La C.'s sonnets can be read as emblems which . . . reveal the human in the divine through the iconographic portrayal of images, either written or graphic."
HENRY, PARTICK, ed. An Inimitable Example: the Case for the Princesse de Clèves. Washington, D.C.: The Catholic University of America Press, 1992.
Review: E. Pósfay in PFSCL 21 (1994), 589–590: A study that is "une plaidoirie collective en faveur de l'héroïne . . . ." Feminist, sociological, religious, and psychological studies. Contains an introduction on the critical reception of the novel from 1678 to the present. A volume that is "un ensemble brillant . . . ."
KELLY, VAN. "Reducing Polyphony: The Princesse de Clèves Among Voices." PFSCL 31 (1994), 157–175.
Studies character in the context of Bakhtin's notions of polyphony and dialogue and concludes that the novel "remains discreetly dialogistic": "Mme de La Fayette's refusal to continue the depiction of her heroine's inner thoughts may appear to limit the freedom of the character's voice, but this closure also permits both heroine and author to have the last word.
NIDERST, ALAIN. "L'exil dans les romans de Mme de Lafayette." PFSCL 21 (1994), 357–362.
Exile as separation from court life: "Quitter la cour, c'est peut être échapper aux passions, mais c'est se rapprocher de la mort."
REDHEAD, RUTH WILLARD. Themes and Images in the Fictional Works of Madame de La Fayette. New York: Peter Lang, 1990.
Review: Byron R. Wells in EMF 1 (1994) 239–241: W. evaluates R's thesis that four of La Fayette's main works present the protagonist's dilemma as "a four-stage process" involving "deception, separation, disillusionment and death." While W. praises the book's "originality" and "formal structure," he nonetheless faults R. for excessive plot summary and general lack of "critical reading."
TERZIAN, DEBRA LYNN. "Growing up Female in Fiction: Reading Women's Developmental Narrative in Madame de La Fayette, Germaine de Staël and George Sand." (Brown Univ. 1993) DAI 54:4 3770A.
T. cites L. as the inspirational model for her nineteenth-century successors. Besides emphasizing intertextuality, T. stresses that the three novels focus on "relational issues": among them "the heroines's relationto the preoedipal."
DANDREY, PATRICK. La Fabrique des Fables: Essai sur la poétique de La Fontaine. 2nd ed. Paris: Klincksieck, 1991.
Review: T. Allott in MLR 89 (1994), 480–81: ". . . important study of La Fontaine's poetry and poetics aims to demonstrate the coherence of the fabulist's project. His motto of diversity is to be taken not as a sign of careless dispersion but as a pointer to an aesthetic of ambiguity and glissement."
DROST, WOLFGANG. Jean de La Fontaine dans l'univers des arts: Richesses inconnues et inédites du Musée Jean de La Fontaine à Château Thierry. Heidelberg: Carl Winter, 1991.
Review: Honor Levi in FS 48 (January 1994), 96–97: A guide to the Museum's collections revealing the importance and continued influence of La F.'s visual poetry.
LEPLATRE, OLIVIER. "'Tirer marrons du feu,' ou comment un discours critique parasite la production d'une fable ("Le Singe et le Chat"), La Fontaine, Fables, IX 17." PFSCL 21 (1994), 431–442.
An "economic" study of one fable that draws a parallel between the theme of the parasite—the creation of something extra—in that fable and in the genre of the fable in general: "Prendre du plaisir aux fables, c'est se rappeler que le désir n'aime pas la rectitude de la raison et lui préfère les volutes délicieuses de l'imagination. Toujours reculer la jouissance, la fin de l'inépuisable prélude, du lent désordre du texte, c'est gagner les limites du plaisir et toujours les repousser en les contournant."
RUBIN, DAVID LEE. A Pact with Silence: Art and Thought in the "Fables" of Jean de La Fontaine. Columbus: Ohio University Press, 1991.
Review: T. Allott in MLR 89 (1994), 481: Three essays and a concluding section present a series of provocative hypotheses. His first essay offers a broad theoretical consideration of the fable genre, seeking to define it in a formalist way . . . . The chapter on the influence of Lucretius in the Fables teases out the innovations and modifications that the poet introduced in his borrowinq. The third chapter employs the defining categories to tackle the perennial problem of the organization of the books within La Fontaine's collection of fables. . . . To round off the book and take again the broad viewpoint, R. briefly examines the place of the Fables within the context of seventeenth-century lyricism.
Review: B. Norman in PFSCL 21 (1994), 599–601: A general study of the Fables: the relevance of genre, La F.'s lucretian epicureanism, the charting of a "contour" or "norm" for each book, and La F.'s debt to 17th century lyricism. A rich study that "helps free us from the blinders of an 'order centric' view of classicism."
VINCENT, MICHAEL. Figures of the Text: Reading and Writing (in) La Fontaine. Amsterdam/Philadelphia: Benjamins, 1992.
Review: T. Allott in MLR 89 (1994), 769: Skillful, rewarding examination of seven short texts informed by critical theories of reader reception and intertextuality. V.'s aim is "to explore the ways in which La Fontaine is not simply producing texts but using texts to mediate on textuality itself."
Review: Jean Pierre Collinet in DSS 182 (Janvier mars 1994), 204: Un "séduisant ouvrage" qui réunit 7 études fines et bien documentées sur l'oeuvre de La Fontaine.
Review: Maya Slater in FS 48 (January 1994), 95–96: A perspicacious application of modern critical theory to demonstrate the complexity of the reader writer relationship in La Fontaine.
DANIELOU, CATHERINE F. "'Ils détruisent leur espèce': La Rochefoucauld et l'amenagement des rapports humains." SYM 47.4 (1994): 275–88.
R. "entend avant tout rapprocher les hommes et les encourager à 'aménager' le désordre [qui caractérise les rapports humains], ce à quoi ils peuvent parvenir en suivant un idéal d'honnêteté."
KUIZENGA, DONNA. "Mixed Media: Word and Image in Les peintures morales." EMF 1 (1994) 76–89.
K. discusses the dynamic at work between the engravings and the poetic and prose texts in the Peintures morales. Examining the variety of rhetorical registers Le M. presents to his readers, K. contends that Le M. "plays constantly with the interface of discourse and illustration." While both visual and verbal image exist in a semi-symbiotic state, it is the verbal which holds a wider range of interpretive possibilities for Le M., as "only discourse can show both the thing and its hidden significance."
VINCENT, MICHAEL. "Ekphrasis and the Poetics of the Veil: Le Moyne's "Acteon" and La Fontaine's "Le Tableau." EMF 1 (1994) 90–112.
V. applies the Horatian concept of "ut pictura poesis" to Le M. and La F., focusing on the technique of ekphrasis, which V. defines as "descriptions in literary texts of visual art works." In both authors, the development of ekphrasis relies on the aesthetic of the veil, which represents "a metavisual and metalinguistic figure." Ekphrastic technique, by blending speech, painting and thought, allows writing to evolve "from the intersection of the visual and the discursive."
HOURCADE, PHILIPPE. Entre Pic et Rétif, Eustache le Noble (1643–1711). Paris: Klincksieck, 1990.
Review: Jacques Chupeau in DSS 182 (Janvier-Mars 1994), 202–03: Une contribution soignée et importante aux recherches sur les romanciers du 17e siècle.
NADLER, STEVEN. Malebranche and Ideas. New York & Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1992.
Review: W. H. North in SCN 51.3–4 (1993), 61–62: "Pursuing a twofold radical revision, Nadler focuses on Malebranche's Theory of Ideas." He seeks to present the "correct interpretation" of "the nature and role of ideas" in Malebranche's philosophy. Although the reviewer has reservations about Nadler's theses, he finds his ideas "ingenious ... provocative, boldly presented and worth consideration.
RILEY, PATRICK, trans and ed. Treatise on Nature and Grace. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1992.
Review: W. H. North in SN 51.3–4 (1993), 62–63: The reviewer is impressed with "the richness of Riley's commentary" and deems his translation of Malebranche's treatise to be "admirable".
GIRAUD, YVES. "Quelques observations sur l'édition de 1646 des Oeuvres de Maynard." CM 18 (1992–93), 9–13.
Compares certain variants noted in personal copy with Garrisson ed., criticizes Roberts' typology method (CM 16, pp. 5–10). Suggests further research to be done.
LASSALLE, JEAN PIERRE. "Du nouveau sur l'Ode 'Alcippe reviens dans nos bois.'" CM 18 (1992–93), 14–15 & 2 n. p.
L. has found an early version of Ode cited in a sale catalog and wrongly attributed to Balzac. Hopes MS. will reappear, to be studied for all its variants.
LASSALLE, JEAN PIERRE. "Un sonnet inédit de Maynard; Une copie manuscrite du sonnet à Puget de la Serre." CM 18 (1992–93), 4–8 & 3 n. p.
Reproduces, transcribes, analyzes MS discovered in private coll. Satirical sonnet represents author's ambivalent attitude toward an ungrateful Mazarin. Second sonnet not in M's hand, but contains many typical variants from the 1646 publ. version.
LASSALLE, JEAN PIERRE. "Notes diverses." CM 18 (1992–93), 70–75.
Treats critical reception of 1810 Tristan; reproduces MSS. from Delmas collection, including Drouhet letters, and other notarial docs.
LESTRADE, MICHEL. "Un procès de Charles de Maynard." CM 18 (1992–93), 16–21.
Transcription, situation of legal docs. concerning litigation against M's son.
NAJID, ABDELLATIF. "L'adverbe dans la poésie de François Maynard (Recueil de 1646)." CM 18 (1992–93), 22–65.
Extract from N's thesis. Close, classified study of M's syntax discusses source, etymology, exact meaning and use. Supported by quotes from numerous 17th c. authors. Includes frequency tables, bibliography. A precise tool for more exact analysis of M's poetry.
NAJID, ABDELLATIF. Etude sémantique du lexique de la poésie de François Maynard (Recueil de 1646). Toulouse: Université de Toulouse le Mirail, 1991.
Doctoral thesis in linguistics, directed by J. P. Lassalle, is the second on M. after that of Drouhet. Treats adverb, adjective, verb, tenses, modes, & structures, lexico semantic fields of the noun.
ROBERTS, WILLIAM. "De nouvelles anomalies dans le recueil de 1646." CM 18 (1992–93), 78–87.
Reply to Giraud article outlines difficulties of critically establishing M's text, because of differing layouts and variants in extant copies. Attempts to localize Garrisson's original source base. Hypothesizes rationale for M's last minute inclusion of Ode to Balzac.
MATHIEU CASTELLANI, GISELE. "'Consacrer la mémoire': art de la mémoire et rhétorique dans le traité Des décorations funèbres du Père Menestrier." PFSCL/Biblio 17, 80 (1993), 343–352.
M. "a su convertir les préceptes de l'art profane en préceptes de l'art sacré, en se rappelant que ce lieu de mémoire qu'est l'édifice lors des obséques solennelles peut devenir un livre entièrement lisible, plus persuasif qu'un texte lu."
ARMOGATHE, JEAN-ROBERT. "An sit Deus: les preuves de Dieu chez Marin Mersenne." EP 1–2 (1994), 161–170.
Armogathe examines the origin of the "an sit deus" theological argument, which at the beginning of the 17th century had become central in religious controversies between Catholics and Protestants, and studies its evolution in Mersenne from his Quaestiones in Genesim (1623) to his letter to Crusius in 1645. This evolution corresponds to the changes in the intellectual context: "il convient de s'en souvenir lorsqu'on commente son illustre contemporain et ami René Descartes".
BAILHACHE, PATRICE. "L'harmonie universelle: la musique entre les mathématiques, la physique, la métaphysique et la religion." EP 1–2 (1994), 13–24.
Bailhache studies Mersenne's theory of sound and music in his Harmonie universelle. Though we can criticize his methodology and "lui reprocher de manquer parfois de netteté dans la décision intellectuelle" we should acknowledge his "qualité inestimable, celle qui est à la base de sa fécondité ...: son infatigable curiosité".
BEAULIEU, ARMAND. "Les pédagogies de Mersenne." EP 1–2 (1994), 1–12.
Beaulieu analyzes Mersenne's relationships with friends and scientists and shows how his pedagogical approach served in his contribution to scientific discussions among his younger peers.
BLAY, MICHEL. "Mersenne expérimentateur: les études sur le mouvement des fluides jusqu'en 1644." EP 1–2 (1994), 69–86.
Blay shows how Torricelli was influenced by Descartes and Mersenne's research. "Mersenne et Descartes, l'un plus expérimentateur et l'autre plus théoricien, sont donc bien parvenus en 1643 à la loi dite de Torricelli .... La loi de Torricelli mériterait, sans conteste, de s'appeler loi de Torricelli-Descartes-Mersenne".
BUZON, FREDERIC DE. "Harmonie et métaphysique: Mersenne face à Képler." EP 1–2 (1994), 119–128.
De Buzon studies Mersenne's Traité de l'harmonie universelle (1627) and its links with Kepler's musical theory. In his later years, Mersenne will reject some of own views and take an anti-keplerian attitude but "il ne renonce nullement à une métaphysique qui ne peut s'expliciter que dans l'image du concert et des harmonies ineffables".
CARRAUD, VINCENT. "Mathématique et métaphysique: les sciences du possible." EP 1–2 (1994), 145–159.
According to Carraud, Mersenne's work as a mathematician and meta-physician should be evaluated in a theological perspective: "Mersenne, exégète et savant, ne fait oeuvre ni de métaphysicien ni de théologien, mais travaille en permanence à partir de principes et pour des enjeux théologiques".
DEAR, PETER. "Mersenne et l'expérience scientifique." EP 1–2 (1994), 53–67.
P. An appraisal of Mersenne's contradictory views on scientific experience: "Ce que Mersenne entendait par expérience scientifique s'enracinait dans les préceptes banals de la scolastique aristotélicienne, mais son engagement de temps en temps dans la pratique littéraire de l''expérience expérimentale' montre combien sa sensibilité réflétait aussi les tendances émergeant au XVIIe siècle dans la science de la nature".
LAGREE, JACQUELINE. "Mersenne traducteur d'Herbert de Cherbury." EP 1–2 (1994), 25–40.
Lagrée analyzes Mersenne's translation of the treatise De Veritate published by his English contemporary, Herbert, Lord of Cherbury. Even though Mersenne was motivated by a spirit of "irénisme religieux", he adapted and distorted Cherbury's conception of God since he could not accept his "naturalisme stoïcien à peine christianisé".
MARION, JEAN-LUC. "Le concept de métaphysique selon Mersenne." EP 1–2 (1994), 129–143.
Marion assesses the "contribution négative" of Mersenne to the history of the concept of metaphysics. Though he developed ideas and values borrowed from Thomistic scholastics, he was more than instrumental in Descartes's shift from emphasis on theology and ontology to emphasis on epistemology.
NARDI, ANTONIO. "Théorème de Torricelli ou théorème de Mersenne" EP 1–2 (1994), 87–118.
Nardi elaborates a comparative study of Torricelli's Opera geometrica and Mersenne's Cogitata Physico-Mathematica, both published in 1644, and assesses their scientific and epistemological value.
WARUSFEL, ANDRE. "Deux textes mathématiques de Mersenne." EP 1–2 (1994), 41–51.
Wondering if "Mersenne: minime mathé-maticien, ou mathématicien minime?", Warusfel explores Mersenne's errors and omissions as a mathematician.
ALBANESE, RALPH, JR. Molière à l'école républicaine. De la critique universitaire aux manuels scolaires (1870–1914). Saratoga: Anma Libri, 1992.
Review: L. Riggs in PFSCL 31 (1994), 219–221: An erudite study of the 19th century's appropriation of Molière for its own purposes as a "national resource."Reviewer is fascinated by this "comic image of Third Republic French education presided over by the femmes savantes!"
BERMEL, ALBERT. Molière's Theatrical Bounty. Carbondale: Southern Illinois University Press, 1990.
Review: Susan W. Tiefenbrun in EMF 1 (1994) 229–232: T. explores B.'s approach to Molière's plays as "dramatic production[s] which [are] for the most part enigmatic and ambiguous," as opposed to "finished work[s] of literature." T. is generally sympathetic to B's "directorial" perpsective, a critical viewpoint which emphasizes "roles and the interactions among characters and settings" over the discovery of "systems" and "structures" which can lead to closed interpretations. Yet, T. does find B's "anti-analytical," "anti-systematic" approach to be somewhat nebulous, stating her wish that the "essence" of B's method would have been better formulated.
BOURQUI, CLAUDE. Polémique et stratégies dans le Dom Juan de Moliere. PFSCL/Biblio 17, 69, (1992).
Review: J.L. Pallister in SCN 51.3–4 (1993), 72–73: "In this revision of his mémoire de licence, Claude Bourqui offers a two part study of Molière's Dom Juan. In part I, he studies the polemical context of the play .... In part II, Bourqui considers Molière's state of mind and his intention in writing a play based on ... Le Festin de pierre .... The bibliography is somewhat out of date and limited; and while some of the ideas here are iconoclastic, the outline approach itself is old-fashioned in style".
Review: D. C. Potts in MLR 89 (1994), 481–82: "Lively and intelligent monograph" demonstrates that Molière's polemical intention in Dom Juan is not incompatible with artistic integrity. "However, to let the fact that it was polemical ardour which first fuelled Molière's writing of the play determine its interpretation once and for all, as Bourqui (fortified by a dose of E. D. Hirsch) seems to want to do, is misguided.
CALDER, ANDREW. Molière: The Theory and Practice of Comedy. London: Athlone, 1993.
Review: Christopher Smith in JES 24 (1994), 55–56: "Written with enthusiasm as well as erudition and offering both information and insights, this . . . study . . . presents M. in a serious light" without ignoring "the funny side" of his comedies. C. argues "that to understand . . . [M.] best we need to view him in the perspective of the great moraliste tradition stretching from antiquity through Montaigne to seventeenth-century Paris where it crystallized into the concept of honnêteté. Similarly M.'s concept of his craft is related . . . to the theories and methods of the New Comedy. Both cases are argued well ...." Dom Juan and Le Tartuffe receive special attention. In a chapter on "M.'s Philosophy," C. asserts "that the function of his comedies is to please with a unique blend of New Comedy and closely observed topical satire which dramatically highlights mankind's limitless capacity for self deceit." S. describes the book as an "attractive, thoughtful and accessible critical study."
CARMODY, JIM. Rereading Molière: Mise en Scène from Antoine to Vitez. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 1993.
Review: R. A. Naversen in Choice 31 (1994), 1447–48: Although N. considers this study to be "a must for directors, designers, and dramatists involved in staging the plays of M.," the reviewer asserts that the work "is not suitable for undergraduate collections." "The author provides detailed descriptions and interpretations of five significant productions of M.'s works .... Using these productions, C. constructs a chronicle of the interpretation of M.'s works within the context of 20th century production practices and demonstrates the evolutionary process of dramatic genres from naturalism to postmodernism. The book examines the critical issue of the directors' attitudes toward M.'s neoclassical texts and their individual strategies for adapting the performative, dramaturgical, and scenographic aspects of production to modern audiences .... Unfortunately," N. states, "the only production photograph is on the book jacket, depriving the reader of the opportunity of accompanying C. into the mise en scènes"[sic].
Review: K. Wolfe in PFSCL 21 (1994), 564–565: A study that "goes further than most to date in exploring the implications of approaching M's work as creations that exist fully only in staged performances . . . ." Because of the lack of information about 17th century performances, C. chose to focus on 20th century ones. A very valuable study of the "changing perceptions of French cultural history . . . ."
CLARKE, JAN. "The Function of the Décorateur and the Association of the Crosnier Family with Molière's Troupe and the Guénégaud Theatre." FS 48 (January 1994), 1–16.
Article discusses the functions of and the essential role played by the décorateur in 17th century theater.
DE PHALESE, HUBERT. Les mots de Molière. Les quatre dernières pièces à travers les nouvelles technologies. Paris: Nizet, 1992.
Review: M. Vernet in PFSCL 31 (1994), 282–285: A statistical computer study of the lexical elements and certain themes by a group of Paris university professors writing under a pseudonym and for readers preparing for the 1993 Agrégation exam. Despite many problems, the study is a valuable reference tool which sheds new light on the four plays: for example, characters are differentiated on the basis of differences in the language they use.
GOODKIN, RICHARD E. "Molière and Bakhtin: Discourse and the Dialogic in L'école des femmes." PFSCL 31 (1994), 145–156.
Argues that Bakhtin's theories, contrary to their author's own reservations, may be used to illuminate classical theater. Molière's text contains a dialogism that goes beyond the apparent dialogism of his characters.
GRIMM, JURGEN. Molière en son temps. PFSCL/Biblio 17, 75 (1993).
Review: H. Knutson in PFSCL 31 (1994), 246–247: A French translation of a study written originally in German: ". . . within a limited historico ideological framework, the Molière student will appreciate an informative, cogently argued and occasionally insightful introduction to the dramatist."
HALL, HUGH GASTON. "Le répertoire de l'Illustre Théâtre des Bejart et de Molière." AJFS 30.3 (1993), 276–91.
H. trace une liste des pièces crues représentées par la troupe avant 1658 et propose des influences possibles sur Molière dramaturge. Allusions à Magnon, Desfontaines, Du Ryer, et Tristan l'Hermite.
KAPP, VOLKER, éd. Le Bourgeois gentilhomme: Problèmes de la comédie ballet. PFSCL/Biblio 17, 67 (1991).
Review: D. Whitton in MLR 88 (1993), 976–77: Nine articles in French and German treat a range of issues—aesthetic, ideological, generic—but are weighted toward historical studies. Collection is uncertain in focus.
RIGGS, LARRY W. Molière and Plurality. Decomposition of the Classicist Self. New York/Bern/Frankfurt/Paris: Peter Lang, 1989.
Review: M. Vialet in PFSCL 31 (1994), 288–290: For the author, "Molière's comedies mock the entire classical enterprise of legitimizing a system of master values through a metaphysics of rationality, unity and universalism."Reviewer deems the study "thought provoking" but calls for "more precise textual evidence."
RONZEAUD, PIERRE, ed. Les femmes savantes et Le malade imaginaire. Paris: Magnard, 1992.
Review: C. Mazouer in PFSCL 31 (1994), 291–292: The 1682 version of the two plays prepared as class editions and accompanied by 20 chapters of lengthy excerpts of critical commentary.
RONZEAUD, PIERRE, ed. Molière, des Fourberies de Scapin au Malade imaginaire. Paris: Klincksieck, 1993.
Review: M. O. Sweetser in PFSCL 31 (1994), 293–295: Six conference papers on M.'s last plays: "La Comédie du ridicule," "M. et la comédie fantasmatique," "La Comtesse d'Escarbagnas et Le Malade imaginaire: deux comédies ballets," "La Question des tons dans Le Malade imaginaire," "M. et le jeu des mots," and a study of the problem of Cartesian dualism in the context of comedy.Reviewer calls this a volume "d'une extrême richesse."
ROTHBERG, MICHAEL. "Marketing Power: The Seduction of Rhetoric in Dom Juan." RR 84.2 (1993) 387–404.
R. examines the historical, financial and aesthetic reasons behind the notion that DJ becomes "a substitute" for the Tartuffe in Louis XIV's France. The play strives to avoid censorship through rhetorical strategies which correspond to the economic, political and philosophical norms of the period.
SCHULTZ, ROBERT EDWARD. "L'Ecole des femmes: Experiment in Comedy, Challenge to Tragedy, (Columbia Univ., 1993). DAI 54:1, 2603A.
S. argues that the Ecole consitutes M.'s closest link to the dramatic theory of Corneille and d'Aubignac. Tragedy serves as a surprising inspirational model for M's characters, as the dramatist parodies the traditional heroic protagonist so as to "reinvent" character on a "dialectic basis."
TESSON, PHILIPPE. "Masques." RDM (janv. 1994), 193–95.
Réflexions sur "la superbe représentation" de Dom Juan de Jacques Lassalle à la Comédie Française. La vision de L. "est intellectuellement très séduisante: elle rompt avec la sacro sainte interprétation de la séduction; Dom Juan ici a un destin, et il est condamné à un parcours tragique qu'il acoomplit paisiblement. Il va à la mort avec certitude et élégance. Avec une esthétique, à défaut d'une morale." A. Sewerin , joue le rôle de D.J.; mise en scène "très élaborée, fondée sur des décors et des costumes recherchés."
TOBIN, RONALD W. Tarte à la crème: Comedy and Gastronomy in Molière's Theater. Columbus, Ohio: Ohio State University Press, 1990.
Review: James F. Gaines in EMF 1 (1994) 225–228: A highly favorable review in which G. commends T's examination of "ingestion, digestion and elimination in Molière's canon." Of particular note is the distinction raised between "manger" and "goûter" in L'Ecole des femmes, as well as the analysis of appetite in Dom Juan.
WHITTON, DAVID. Molière: Le Misanthrope. Glasgow: University of Glasgow French and German Publications, 1991.
Review: C. J. Gossip in MLR 88 (1993), 976: Excellent study of play as a performance script "aiming to examine the playwright's use of the theatre and the nature of the dramatic experience thus created." The majority of the monograph is a "detailed and sensitive lecture expliquée of each of the five acts in turn, concentrating on the theatrical procedures and audience responses.
GARAPON, JEAN. "Mademoiselle et l'exil." PFSCL 21 (1994), 345–355.
The effects of exile on the writer: "C'est l'exil qui révèle son goût, et lui fait enfin entrevoir peu à peu un mode de vie indépendant, à la fois féminin et propice à l'héroïsation, unissant la civilité de cour et l'innocence d'une vie proche de la nature, la vie mondaine et la retraite."
NYNAULD, JEAN DE. De la Iycanthropie, transformation et extase des sorciers, 1615. Edition critique augmentée d'études sur les Iycanthropes et les loups garous. Paris: Frénésie Editions, 1990.
Review: Jean Decottignies in RSH 227 (1992), 247: "Très intéressante édition d'un texte peu connu. Plusieurs études la complètent, ainsi qu'une abondante bibliographie et un lexique. Les premières sont relatives à l'auteur et au texte. Maxime Préaud propose une courte et précise notice biographique. Jean Céard présente les sources, parmi lesquelles il distingue Bodin et Jean Wier." Other essays in the volume are also mentioned. "Le parti pris d'admettre que la figure du loup garou soulève un 'problème métaphysique' suffit à signaler l'originalité de ce recueil."
ASSAF, FRANCIS, ed. Les Aventures de Zéloïde et d'Amanzarifdine. PFSCL/Biblio 17, 82 (1994).
BOLD, STEPHEN CHRISTOPHER. "Pascal Geometer." (New York Univ. 1993). DAI 54:1 2600A.
B. explores geometry as "a means of discovery" in P.'s collected works up through the Pensées. Geometry is fundamental to understanding P.'s "concern with the problem of invention," which derives from Classical rhetoric as well as notions of "method" held by Ramus, Bacon and Descartes. P.'s invention is based on the "combinatoire"—a series of creative processes stemming from "medieval meditative and dialectical practices" which aid P.'s reinterpretation of Cartesian epistemology.
CARRAUD, VINCENT. Pascal et la philosophie. Paris: Presses Universitaires de France, 1992.
Review: J.-F. Tock in RPL 91.92 (l993), 472–473: The book's objective is to study the relationship between Pascal and philosophy. Though the problem is not new, Carraud's contribution brings forward "un apport essentiel qui met en lumière plusieurs thèses originales". Pascal may have claimed to discredit Epictetus and Montaigne but, by doing so, he took over Descartes's concepts and method while subverting them. Carraud is also able to study the formation and evolution of Pascal's logical lines, and he offers "une confrontation quasi quotidienne avec les mécanismes de l'auteur des Pensées".
JAOUËN, FRANÆOISE. "From Faith to Bad Faith: Pascal, Valéry, Nietzsche." FLS 20 (1993), 21–30.
J. discusses Pascal's "bad faith," or authorial deception, as a part of the construction of the Pensées, relating this notion to Valéry's comments on Pascal, as well as to Nietzsche's theory of aphoristic writing.
KELLY, VAN. Pascalian Fictions: Antagonism and Absent Agency in the Wager and Other Pensées. Birmingham, AL: Summa, 1992.
Review: E. Koch in PFSCL 21 (1994), 591–593: Kelly's "exegesis of [the two fragments on the wager] displays remarkable analytical rigor and patience while pointing to a general strategy of fictionality that subtends Pascal's entire apologetical conversional discourse."
Review: Louis MacKenzie in P&L 18 (1994), 407–09: This book "is a densely written, deftly argued reading of two important fragments from the Pensées. From those fragments, numbers 135 and 418 in the Lafuma edition, V. K. mines the riches of Pascal's anti Cartesianism." "Chapters 2 through 4, comprising the bulk of the book, amount to a breath-by-breath reading of the Pascalian wager." The reviewer judges the study to be essential reading for "anyone remotely interested in Pascalian thought ...." M. raises questions in passing about some aspects of K.'s analysis, but praises his "brilliant and resourceful commentary" and concludes by saying, "I do not hesitate to reiterate my enthusiasm and . . . my gratitude for this altogether remarkable book."
Review: David Wetsel in SoAR 59.1 (1994), 131–34: "The meticulous source and linguistic scholarship of this new study is accompanied by an equally imaginative exercise in postmodern literary interpretation." K.'s book "presents the thesis that in fragments 135 and 418 (in Lafuma's edition)—and a fortiori, throughout the Pensées—we see a coherent dialectic with Descartes and Cartesian thought. K. asserts that these two fragments contain a strident and active attempt on the part of P. to grapple with and subvert D.'s ontological premises and to replace them with categories more germane to his system of Christian apologetics." The study "focuses—via an innovative analysis of structure, form, and syntax—on narrative fiction as a mode of discourse in the Pensées and particularly in the famous pari." W. raises questions about K.'s "methodology and conclusions." As. for K.'s use of narrative theory, W. asks: "Might it not be more appropriate to appreciate P.'s fragments as a poetics rather than as a 'narrative' . . . ?" But W. has also made clear that this study "will certainly prove required reading for those seeking the Cartesian shadow over fragments 418 and 135."
KIM, HYUNG KIL. De l'Art de persuader dans les Pensées de Pascal. Paris: Nizet, 1992.
Review: E. Van Der Schueren in RBPH 71 (1993), 781–85: L'auteur "entreprend la lecture du texte inachevé de Pascal "De l'esprit géometrique" et . . . en extrait une theorie de la persuasion dont il retrouve la pratique dans les Pensées." Des "lacunes effarantes de bibliographie" et manque de situer les textes "dans leur statut respectif."
MAGNARD, PIERRE. Pascal, la clé du chiffre. Paris: Editions universitaires, 1991.
Review: J.-F. Tock in RPL 91.92 (1993), 472: Magnard shows a profound knowledge of Pascal's works. He defines what he thinks Pascal attempted throughout his Pensées: to find a language. Anguished by the new Copernician universe, he sought to "retrouver la langue de la Nature qui n'est plus audible pour tous à tout moment". Thus Pascal's intention did not pertain to apologetics but to hermeneutics. "On en retire un grand plaisir et l'ouvrage nous permet de retrouver un Pascal étrangement humain et proche".
MESNARD, JEAN, ed. Pascal, Abrégé de la vie de Jésus Christ. Paris: Desclée de Brouwer, 1992.
Review: D. Wetsel in PFSCL 31 (1994), 271–276: An edition of one of the oldest of Pascal's "grands écrits religieux." Mesnard shows that Pascal deliberately sought an archaic, poetic style that would contrast with the popular speech of pedantic humanism. Pascal's Berullian Christology consists "à se situer par rapport à lui." The editor presents the work as a "profound and extended meditation on the mystery of the Incarnation."
THIROUIN, LAURENT. Le Hasard et les règles: Le Modèle du jeu dans la pensée de Pascal. Paris: Vrin, 1991.
Review: Christian Meurillon in RSH 234 (1994), 194–96: Book published in Bibliothèque d'Histoire de la Philosophie series. According to M., the critic "prend le jeu au sérieux" and is justified in doing so: "sa lecture des Pensées comme du reste de l'oeuvre selon ce point de vue unifiant se révèle toujours féconde et souvent lumineuse." The study focuses on three "domaines de réflexion . . .: le hasard, constitutif de la condition humaine; le jeu des hommes, dans les règles politiques; et le grand jeu de Dieu, où se pense le pari." M. finds T.'s writing style "à la fois alerte et rigoureuse ...." "ll est agréable de recommander une telle lecture," declares the reviewer. "Située dans l'important courant actuel d'étude des notions élaborées par P., elle ouvre superbement une perspective majeure et originale pour qui veut saisir la pensée de cet auteur dans son dynamisme et son amplitude."
WETSEL, DAVID, ed. "Meaning, Structure and History in the Pensées de Pascal. PFSCL/ Biblio 17, 56 (1990).
Review: C. Randall Coats in SCN 52.1–2 (1994), 27: This "volume does clearly delineate how, methodologically, Pascal scholars come out on the issue of interpreting the Pensées". Ranging from textual exegetis to "focus on the flawed nature of language", the essays put together constitute, according to the reviewer "an inflated rubric for an insubstantial volume".
WETSEL, DAVID. "Pascal's Attack on Deism: the Pensées and the Quatrains du déiste." PFSCL 31 (1994), 45–63.
Uses the Quatrains to define a "religion à la mode"—a pot pourri of libertine ideas et deism proper—that was the object of P.'s attack.
BRESSON, AGNES, ed. Lettres à Claude Saumaise et à son entourage (1620–1637). De Nicolas Claude Fabri de Peiresc. Firenze: Olschki, 1992.
Review: M. C. Pitassi in BHR 55 (1993), 785–86: Cette édition "impressionnante de rigueur, de savoir et de richesse informative" contient 67 lettres, 39 de P. à S. et 28 de P. à d'autres correspondants.
SIMONSEN, MICHELE. Perrault: Contes. Paris: PUF, 1992.
Review: R. Howells in MLR 89 (1994), 211–212: "This is a short and fairly straight forward study, directed to,the wider readership, as the series [Etudes Litteraires] requires."
GEVREY, FRANCOISE, ed. Jean de Préchac, Contes moins contes que les autres précédés de L'illustre Parisienne. Paris: S.T.F.M., 1993.
Review: E. Méchoulan in PFSCL 21 (1994), 582–583: A critical edition of works aimed more at the "masses" that add perspective to the role of more "important" works.
BASSINET, STEPHANE, ed. Philippe Quinault, Atys. Edition critique avec introduction et notes. Genève: Droz, 1992.
Review: B. Norman in PFSCL 31 (1994), 222–223: The text of the first edition (1676), variants, glossary, notes and an introduction to this tragédie en musique. An excellent edition, but reviewer calls for a presentation of the genre on its own terms.
NORMAN, BUFORD. "'Le théâtre est un grand monument': l'évocation du passé et des passions dans l'Alceste de Quinault." PFSCL/Biblio 17, 80 (1993), 321–329.
The interplay between emotion and memory in the play.
DESCOTES, MAURICE. Racine: guerre et paix. Réalités et mythe. Pau: Université de Pau et des pays de l'Adour, 1991.
Review: C. Spencer in PFSCL 31 (1994), 236–237: A traditional biographical historical approach to the study of the war theme. The reviewer states that ". . .on a affaire ici à un travail curieusement démodé, d'une pesante littéralité."
FORESTIER, GEORGES, ed. Racine, Bajazet. Paris: Librairie Générale Française, 1992.
Review: J. Dubu in PFSCL 31 (1994), 240–241: A worthy addition to the "Livre de poche classique" collection. The introduction contains a good analysis of action in the play and fruitful comparisons with the pastoral genre and Corneille. The reviewer regrets that the poetic qualities of the play are ignored.
HAMMOND, NICHOLAS. "Racine et la mémoire." PFSCL/Biblio 17, 80 (1993), 307–319.
Examines the theme in the contexts of R.'s rhetoric, Augustinian theology, and prudence.
LOW, PETER. "Credulity and Credibility: Pellegrin's Critique of Racine's Thésée." AUMLA 80 (1993), 81–92.
L. discusses "the Phèdre of Racine and another wonderful tragedy . . ., arguably one of the highest peaks in the long range of eighteenth century opera, . . . Hippolyte et Aricie (1733), a tragédie lyrique with music by Rameau and text by Pellegrin." This is abbé Simon Joseph Pellegrin (1663–1745). L. cites ". . . P.'s critique of Racine's Thésée, that the king's credulity is incredible, and that credibility should matter to an author, since it matters to the spectators." L.states his own opinion "that T.'s credulity is indeed a problem, but . . . one that can be remedied by presenting him on stage as an impetuous man of action. Good acting and directing," in L.'s view, "can make Racine's T. credible where he wouldn't be otherwise." Unlike R., P. "opts to contrive a happy ending for the young lovers." "R.'s tragic vision . . . seems flawed," says L: "events in real life are more often affected by virtuous love (such as that of Hippolyte and Aricie, on whom P. focuses) than by the insane passion experienced by Phèdre."
MASKELL, DAVID. Racine: A Theatrical Reading. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1991.
Review: W. D. Howarth in MLR 88 (1993), 977–78: "Not only does Maskell seek to make us more aware of the missing visual dimension as we read the plays; he is at the same time arguing that this is a far more vital component of Racine's dramaturgy than has been generally conceded."
PARISH, RICHARD. Racine: The Limits of Tragedy. PFSCL/Biblio 17, 74 (1993).
Review: R. Tobin in PFSCL 31 (1994), 279–281: Shows how Racine deals with and turns to his own advantage the limits of genre, stage, order, and language. The reviewer, despite the author's failure to cite some previous scholarship and propensity at other times to cite too much, finds real strengths which are ". . . based on one of the most minute examinations of Racine's tragic corpus . . . ."
PITTALUGA, MARIA G. Aspects du vocabulaire de Jean Racine. Fasano/Paris: Schena/Nizet, 1991.
Review: M. O. Sweetser in PFSCL 31 (1994), 286–287: Studies key words and images including "feu," "nature," devices used to create local color, and hunting imagery.Reviewer calls it an "excellent petit livre."
PITTAS-HERSCHBACH. Time and Space in Euripides and Racine: The Hippolytos of Euripides and Racine's Phèdre. New York: Peter Lang, 1990.
Review: Richard Goodkin in EMF 1 (1994), 233–35: While finding the study's goal of exploring the link between "theatrical architecture and drama" to be instrinsically valuable, G. claims that P-H. largely fails to "integrate" these two elements in any effective manner. G's principal criticism is that the "background material" concerning the "conditions of Athenian [and French neo-classical] dramatic production" is, "not put to good use in the discussion of the plays." Nonetheless, G. claims that some of P-H's historical contextualization could be of use "to those teaching undergraduate or graduate courses on theater."
ROHOU, JEAN. Jean Racine: Entre sa carrière, son oeuvre et son Dieu. Paris: Fayard, 1992.
A clear and scholarly study in which the life and works of R. are examined as the manifestations of a dramatist presented as a psychic enigma.
VENESOEN, CONSTANT. "Le dénouement de Britannicus: le sens du récit d'Albine." PFSCL 31 (1994), 113–120.
"Albine a été le témoin de la déchéance du prince [Néron]."
WORTMANN, ANKE. Das Selbst und die Objektbeziehungen der Personen in den weltlichen Tragödien Jean Racines. Würzburg: Königshausen & Neumann, 1992.
Review: V. Schröder in PFSCL 21 (1994), 605–607: A Freudian analysis of R.s characters.Reviewer states that although the study "ne manque certes pas d'intérêt," W. fails to take historical and literary factors into account.
WYGANT, AMY. "Leo Spitzer's Racine." MLN 109 (1994), 632–49.
"My project in what follows will be to trace the lines of argument which results in the baroqueing of the voice of Théramène, and, working at the level of Racine's language itself, to try to understand the critical modalities through which Spitzer reads the wave.
BERTIERE, SIMONE. "Un récidiviste de l'exil au XVIIe siècle: le Cardinal de Retz." PFSCL 21 (1994), 363–373.
Reviews Retz'life as one that was constantly under the shadow of exile.
LYONS, JOHN D. "Saint Genest and the Uncertainty of Baroque Theatrical Experience." MLN 109 (1994), 601–616.
"The present essay is meant not to invalidate current interpretations of Saint Genest, by proposing a 'pagan' view but to complement earlier studies by restoring to the text its problematical, and hence dramatic, quality, a quality that arises from the text's contradiction and ambiguity. The central rhetorical figure of the play might well be aporia or doubt."
WATTS, DEREK, ed. Jean Rotrou. Vencelas. Exeter: University of Exeter Press, 1990.
Review: W. Brooks in MLR 88 (1993), 974: Excellent edition "concentrates on the playwright's successful reconciliation of baroque exuberance with the influence of Cornelian sobriety in his adaptation of a chaotic Spanish original."
COSPER, DALE. "Iconophilia and Iconophobia in Saint-Amant." EMF 1 (1994) 55–75.
C. considers the paradox of pictorialism and anti-pictorialism operating at the same time in Saint-Amant's later poetry, especially Moïse sauvé. Ultimately, a "conceptual shift" occurs which renders Saint-Amant's lyric "more discursively narrative and less iconic."
SAINT PIERRE FOURIER. Correspondance 1598–1640. Nancy: Presses Universitaires, 1991.
Review: Jacques Hennequin in DSS 182 (janvier-mars 1994), 189–90: Ce 5e tome d'une entreprise monumentale est essentielle à l'intelligence des premiers tomes.
MERRY, BARBARA L. Menippean Elements in Paul Scarron's Roman comique. New York/Bern/Frankfurt/Paris: Peter Lang, 1991.
Review: D. Kuizenga in PFSCL 31 (1994), 264–265: The shifting role of the primary narrator, the text's residual orality, dialogism, and the inclusion of other genres exemplify in the novel the rupture that is the essence of Menippean satire.Reviewer finds that the definition of rupture is so broad as to be of debatable usefulness.
BIET, CHRISTIAN AND DOMINIQUE MONCOND'HUY, eds. Georges de Scudéry, Le cabinet de Monsieur de Scudéry. Paris: Klincksieck, 1991.
Review: F. Faré in PFSCL 31 (1994), 224–230: Edition of this work of 110 poems commenting on 110 real or imaginary paintings by the same number of artists. Nationalist tendencies, art criticism, and poetry stand out in this work. An excellent edition that will interest both the art historian and the literary scholar.
DUTERTRE, EVELINE. Scudéry, théoricien du classicisme. PFSCL/Biblio 17, 66 (1991).
Review: T. Allott in MLR 88 (1993), 974–75: "The analysis presented by Dutertre, sometimes in schematic form, brings us a useful source book and guide to a neglected contributor to classical theory."
DUTERTRE, EVELINE and DOMINIQUE MONCOND'HUY, eds. Georges De Scudéry: Le Prince déguisé. La Mort de César. Paris: Société des Textes Français Modernes, 1992.
Review: Valerie Worth Stylianou in FS 48 (January 1994), 95: An interesting juxtaposition of two very different plays.
NIDERST, ALAIN. "Sur les clefs de Clélie." PFSCL 21 (1994), 471–483.
Niderst makes a foray into the web of links between fictional characters and real personages arguing that such an undertaking both clarifies the text and draws the modern reader into a position similar to that of the readers of 1660.
DUCHENE, ROGER. Madame de Sévigné et la lettre d'amour. Nouvelle édition augmentée. Paris: Klincksieck, 1992.
Review: André Blanc in DSS 182 (Janvier-Mars 1994), 205: Cette réédition de la thèse de M. Duchêne est "plus agréable à lire" et augmentée de 2 chapitres.
LADENSON, ELISABETH. "The Law of the Mother, Proust and Madame de Sévigné." RR 85.1 (1994) 91–112.
L. discusses the "cult of Sévigné in Sodome et Gomorrhe, examining how S's Lettres become the "texte-matrice," if not "Scripture" for the grandmother and mother of Proust's hero. The reason for the primacy of the Lettres in P's text, L. asserts, is that "the mother-daughter relation is what is specifically at issue, and Sévigné is the exemplary canonical mother." L. suggests that within the contexts of mother-worship and text-worship, a high degree of idolatry exists which in turn translates into Freudian and Lacanian models of fetishism.
DEBAISIEUX, MARTINE. Le procès du roman: écriture et contrefaçon chez Charles Sorel. Saratoga, California: Anma Libri, 1989.
Review: Andrew G. Suozzo, Jr. in EMF 1 (1994) 182–184: S. claims that D.'s book "makes a significant contribution to an ever growing body of critical literature on Sorel's comic novels." What S. finds particularly valuable is D's emphasis on Sorel's "modernity" which takes the form of "discontinuity" in the portrait of Sorel's "most famous character, Francion."
VIALET, MICHELE E. "Portrait d'un poète en prison: 'Lettre de Théophile à son frère' (1624)." PFSCL 31 (1994), 191–203.
Study emphasizes both the emotional and the rhetorical traits of the poem.
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