2002 Number 50
French 17 seeks to provide an annual survey of the work done each year in the general area of seventeenth-century French studies. It is as descriptive and complete as possible and includes summaries of articles, books, and book reviews. An item may be included in several numbers should a review of that item appear in subsequent years. French 17 lists not only works dealing with literary history and criticism, but also those which treat bibliography, linguistics and language, politics, society, philosophy, science and religion.
In order to be as complete as possible, the editor warmly encourages scholars to provide her or her co-editors with information about their published research.
Suzanne C. Toczyski
Editor
Department of Modern Languages and Literatures
Sonoma State University
1801 E. Cotati Avenue
Rohnert Park, CA 94928
suzanne.toczyski@sonoma.edu
At Indiana University in 1968 Jerry Vedvik accepted the post of General Editor of the French 17 Bibliography. He was persuaded to do this by his colleague and mentor Francis Gravit, who was also in charge of the French Section of the MLA Bibliography. Since taking up this baton, Jerry conscientiously managed to wheedle, persuade, cajole, seemingly threaten—possibly even bribe—a long series of editorial team members, some of whom became top scholars in the 17th C. field. The final deadline for them to feed him their analytic material was a busy time: just before Thanksgiving vacation. For the greater part of his tenure, desktop computers had not even been heard of. Yet by Christmas time he would manage to sort, edit, alphabetize, cross-reference, and manually weld together hundreds and hundreds of 4x6 paper fiches into each of 31 annual volumes. Under great pressure he got them retyped, proofread, printed, bound, and later shipped out to subscribers and libraries in various parts of the world. As a reward, he was privileged to select the color of the cover stock. Following in the Eustis-Delakas-Gravit-Harvey tradition he would regularly bring a suitcase full of brand new Bibliographies to each MLA Meeting, for early purchase by colleagues. Or else he would send them with the late NASSCFL Secretary Bob Nicolich, or another surrogate.
Besides doing all the detailed assembly and dissemination process he had to agonize over latenesses, over contributor drop-outs, and about where to get replacements for these. Nonethless he kept a varying volonteer team together from 1968 through 1999, bridging the gap between the founders of 1953 and the energetic new group that Suzanne Toczyski has assembled. Quiet, steady, modest and cheery, he has not claimed personal publicity nor public credit for his long efforts.
When Colorado State was overrun by a disastrous flood some years ago, Jerry's Departmental offices were inundated. Besides his own books and professional and teaching notes, all the back numbers of French 17 and all the c.70,000 4x6 slips, so carefully crafted and checked by so many chercheurs—were ruined and reduced to solid blocks of paper. He then had to reconstitute a supply of past volumes for new subscribers.
Now retired, without his institutional subsidy and student aide, he is working on an Index for the past volumes. This project could set the groundwork for an eventual updated CD-ROM edition of 50 years of the French 17 Bibliographies. Every dix-septiémiste should wish him the greatest success in whatever he can do toward implementing this important goal!
William Roberts
The following list is internally alphabetical. Where no abbreviation is given, titles are alphabetized as if abbreviated. All abbreviations are those of the Modern Language Association.
By the good will and hard work of the contributing editors of French 17, all recent issues of journals marked with an asterisk should be covered in this issue or in a recent or forthcoming issue. Scholars who publish in journals that are not marked with an asterisk should consider sending an offprint to the editor to insure coverage.
AION-SR | Annali Instituto Universitario Orientale — Sezione Romanza* |
AJFS | Australian Journal of French Studies* |
ALM | Archives des Lettres Modernes |
Ambix | |
AnBret | Annales de Bretagne |
Annales de l'Est | |
Annales de l'Institut de Philosophie | |
Annales-ESC | Annales-Economie, Société-Culture |
Arcadia | |
Archiv | Archiv für das Studium der Neveren Sprachen und Literaruren* |
ArsL | Ars Lyrica |
Art in America* | |
AUMLA | Journal of the Australasian Universities Modern Language and Literature Association |
Baroque* | |
BB | Bulletin du Bibliophile |
BCLF | Bulletin Critique du Livre Français* |
BILEUG | Bolletino dell'Instituto de Lingue Esters (Genoa) |
BJA | British Journal of Aesthetics |
Belfagor | |
BFR | Bibliothèque Française et Romane* |
BHR | Bibliothèque d'Humanisme et Renaissance* |
BRMMLA | Rocky Mountain Review of Language and Literature |
BSHPF | Bulletin de la Société Historique du Protestantisme Français |
Bulletin de la Bibliothèque Nationale | |
Bulletin de la Société Archéologique et Historique du Limousin | |
Bulletin de la Société d'Agriculture, Sciences et Arts de la Sarthe | |
Bulletin de la Société de l'Histoire de l'Art Français* | |
Bulletin de la Société de l'Histoire de Paris et Ile-de-France | |
Bulletin de la Société Scientifique et Littéraire des Alpes-de-Haute Provence | |
Bulletin Historique et Scientifique de l'Auvergne | |
Burlington Magazine* | |
CRB | Cahiers de la Compagnie Madeleine Renaud-Jean-Louis Barrault* |
Cahiers du Chemin | |
Cahiers Saint-Simon | |
CAEIF | Cahiers de l'Association International des Etudes Françaises* |
CAT | Cahiers d'Analyse Textuelle |
CdDS | Cahiers du Dix-Septième* |
Choice* | |
CHR | Catholic History Review |
Chum | Computers and the Humanities |
CIR17 | Centre International de Rencontres sur le Dix-Septième Siècle |
CL | Comparative Literature* |
ClassQ | Classical Quarterly* |
CLDSS | Cahiers de Littérature du Dix-Septième Siècle* |
CLS | Comparative Literature Studies |
CM | Cahiers Maynard* |
CMLR | Canadian Modern Language Review* |
CMR17 | Centre Méridional de Recherche sur le Dix-Septième Siècle |
CNRS | Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique |
Collectanea Cisterciensia | |
CollG | Colloquia Germanica* |
CompD | Comparative Drama* |
Continuum | |
Convivum | |
CQ | Cambridge Quarterly |
Criticism* | |
Critique* | |
CritI | Critical Inquiry* |
CTH | Cahiers Tristan l'Hermite* |
CUP | Cambridge University Press |
DAI | Dissertation Abstracts International* |
DFS | Dalhousie French Studies |
Diacritics | |
Diogenes* | |
DownR | Downside Review* |
Drama* | |
DSS | Dix-Septième Siècle* |
ECL | Etudes Classiques* |
ECr | Esprit Créateur* |
ECS | Eighteenth Century Studies |
EF | Etudes Françaises* |
EFL | Essays in French Literature* |
ELR | English Literary Renaissance* |
ELWIU | Essays in Literature (Western Illinois) |
EMF | Studies in Early Modern France* |
EP | Etudes Philosophiques* |
Epoca | |
Esprit* | |
Etudes | |
Europe* | |
Le Fablier* | |
FCS | French Colonial Studies* |
FHS | French Historical Studies* |
Filosofia | |
Figaro | |
FL | Figaro Littérature |
FLS | French Literature Series (University of South Carolina) * |
FM | Le Français Moderne |
FMLS | Forum for Modern Language Studies* |
Forum | |
FR | French Review* |
Francia | Periodico di Cultura Francese |
FrF | French Forum* |
FS | French Studies* |
GAR | The Georgia Review |
GBA | Gazette des Beaux-Arts |
GCFI | Giornale Critico Della Filosofia Italiana |
Gesnerus | |
GRM | Germanisch-romanisch Monatsschrift* |
Histoire | |
Historia | |
History Today | |
HZ | Historische Zeitschrift* |
IL | Information Littéraire* |
Infini* | |
Isis* | |
JAAC | Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism* |
JES | Journal of European Studies* |
JHI | Journal of the History of Ideas* |
Journal de la Société des Sciences, Inscriptions et Belles Lettres de Toulouse | |
Journal des Savants | |
Kentucky Romance Quarterly ~ see Romance Quarterly | |
L&M | Literature and Medicine |
LA | Linguistica Antverpiensia |
LangS | Language Science |
Le Point* | |
Les Livres | |
LetN | Lettres Nouvelles |
LFr | Langue Française* |
LI | Lettere Italiane* |
Library Quarterly* | |
Littérature* | |
Littératures Classiques* | |
LR | Lettres Romanes* |
LWU | Literatur in Wissenschaft und Unterricht |
M&C | Memory and Cognition* |
M&T | Marvels & Tales |
Magazine Littéraire | |
MD | Modern Drama* |
Mémoires de l'Académie des Sciences, Inscriptions et Belles Lettres de Toulouse | |
Mémoires de la Société de l'Histoire de Paris et Ile-de-France | |
Mémoires de la Société d'Histoire et d'Archéologie de Bretagne | |
MHRA | Modern Humanities Research Association |
MLJ | Modern Language Journal* |
MLN | Modern Language Notes* |
MLQ | Modern Language Quarterly* |
MLR | Modern Language Review* |
MLS | Modern Language Studies* |
Mosaic* | |
MP | Modern Philology* |
MusQ | Musical Quarterly |
NCSRLL | North Carolina Studies in Romance Languages and Literatures |
Neophil | Neophilologus* |
New Literary Criticism* | |
New Republic* | |
NFS | Nottingham French Studies |
NL | Nouvelles Littéraires* |
NLH | New Literary History* |
Nouvelle Revue de Psychanalyse | |
NRF | Nouvelle Revue Française* |
NYRB | New York Review of Books |
NYT | New York Times* |
NYTSBR | New York Times Sunday Book Review* |
OeC | Œuvres et Critiques* |
OL | Orbis Litterarum* |
P&L | Philosophy and Literature* |
P&R | Philosophy and Rhetoric |
Paragone | |
Pensées | |
PFSCL | Papers on French Seventeenth-Century Literature* |
Philosophisches Jahrbuch | |
PhQ | Philosophical Quarterly* |
Physis | |
PMLA | Publication of the Modern Language Association of America |
Poetica | |
Poétique* | |
PQ | Philological Quarterly* |
Preuves | |
PRF | Publications Romaines et Françaises |
PUF | Presses Universitaires de France |
PUG | Publications de L'Université de Grenoble |
QL | Quinzaine Littéraire* |
RBPH | Revue Belge de Philologie et d'Histoire* |
RdF | Rivista di Filosofia (Torino) |
RDM | Revue des Deux Mondes* |
RdS | Revue de Synthèse* |
RE | Revue d'Esthétique |
Ren&R | Renaisssance and Reformation/ Renaissance et Réforme |
RenQ | Renaissance Quarterly* |
Revue d'Alsace | |
Revue de l'Angenais | |
Revue d'Histoire et de Philosophie Religieuse | |
Revue du Louvre | |
Revue du Nord | |
RevR | Revue Romaine* |
Revue Savoisienne | |
RF | Romanische Forschungen* |
RFHL | Revue Française d'Histoire du Livre* |
RFNS | Rivista di Filosofia Neo-Scolastica |
RG | Revue Générale* |
RHE | Revue d'Histoire Ecclésiastique |
RHEF | Revue de l'Histoire de l'Eglise de France* |
Rhist | Revue Historique |
RHL | Revue d'Histoire Littéraire de la France* |
RHMC | Revue d'Histoire Moderne Contemporaine |
RHS | Revue d'Histoire de la Spiritualité* |
RHSA | Revue d'Histoire des Sciences et de Leurs Applications* |
RHT | Revue d'Histoire du Théâtre* |
RIPh | Revue Internationale de Philosophie |
Rivista di Storia e Litteratura Religiosa | |
RJ | Romanistiches Jahrbuch* |
RLC | Revue de Littérature Comparée* |
RLM | Revue des Lettres Modernes* |
RLR | Revue des Langues Romanes* |
RMM | Revue de Métaphysique et de Morale* |
RMS | Renaissance and Modern Studies* |
RomN | Romance Notes* |
RPac | Revue de Pacifique |
RPFE | Revue Philosophique de la France et de l'Etranger* |
RPh | Romance Philology* |
RQ | Romance Quarterly (formerly Kentucky Romance Quarterly)* |
RPL | Revue Philosophique de Louvain* |
RR | Romanic Review* |
RSH | Revue des Sciences Humaines* |
RSPT | Revue des Sciences Philosophiques et Théologiques |
Saggi | Saggi e Richerche di Letteratura Francese |
SATOR | Société d'Analyse de la Topique Romanesque |
SC | The Seventeenth Century* |
SCFS | Seventeenth Century French Studies |
SCN | Seventeenth Century News* |
SEDES | Société d'Edition et d'Enseignement Supérieur |
Semiotica* | |
SFIS | Stanford French and Italian Studies |
SFr | Studi Francese* |
SFR | Stanford French Review |
SFrL | Studies in French Literature* |
SN | Studia Neophilologica |
SoAR | South Atlantic Review* |
SP | Studies in Philology* |
Spirales | |
SPM | Spicilegio Moderno: Saggi e Ricerche di Letterature e Lingue Straniere |
STFM | Société des Textes Français Modernes |
Studia Leibnitiana | |
Studi di Litteratura Francese | |
SubStance* | |
SVEC | Studies on Voltaire and the Eighteenth Century |
SYM | Symposium* |
TDR | TDR — The Drama Review* |
TheatreS | Theatre Studies* |
THES | [London] Times Higher Education Supplement* |
Thought | |
ThR | Theatre Research International* |
ThS | Theatre Survey |
TJ | Theatre Journal* |
TL | Travaux de Littérature Publiés par ADIREL* |
TLS | [London] Times Literary Supplement* |
TM | Temps Modernes* |
TraLit | Travaux de Littérature |
TSRLL | Tulane Studies in Romance Languages and Literatures |
UTQ | University of Toronto Quarterly* |
VQR | Virginia Quarterly Review* |
WLT | World Literature Today* |
YFS | Yale French Studies* |
Yale Review* | |
YWMLS | Year's Work in Modern Language Studies* |
ZFSL | Zeitschrift für Französische Sprache und Literatur |
Zeitschrift für Kunstgeschichte | |
ZRP | Zeitschrift für Romanische Philologie* |
ADAMS, ALISON, STEPHEN RAWLES, & ALISON SAUNDERS. A Bibliography of French Emblem Books of the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries. Vol. I. Genève: Droz, 1999.
Review: J. Britnell in MLR 97.2 (2002), 423–24: First of two volumes arranged alphabetically by author (A – K) and chronologically by edition; second volume to be published with indexes and a supplement. "The publication of Volume II will complete a hugely valuable tool of research, indispensable to all scholars concerned with emblems, and indeed of immense use to anyone interested in early-modern printing."
ALBRECHT, JÖRN. Literarische Übersetzung. Geschichte-Theorie-Kulturelle Wirkung. Darmstadt: Wiss. Buchgesellschaft, 1998.
Review: W. Pöckl in RF 113 (2001), 233–235: This welcome and indispensable volume on literary translation, its history, theory and cultural influence complements previous studies such as those by Wolfgang Pöckl and the contributors to Literarische Übersetzung (1990), Henri van Hoof's Histoire de la traduction en Occident (1991), Paul Chavy's Traducteurs d'autrefois (1988), Mary Snell-Hornby et al.'s Handbuch Translation (1998) and Mona Baker's edited Routledge Encyclopedia of Translation Studies (1998).
ARVEILLER, RAYMOND. Addenda au FEW XIX (Orientalia), édités par Max Pfister. Tübingen: Niemeyer, 1999.
Review: R. Kiesler in ZRP 118 (2002), 89–92: Highly praised as an indispensable work for all scholars interested in Oriental elements as well as for diachronic lexicographers. This important tool contributes numerous new examples from hundreds of new sources. Although many of the orientalisms came into French in the 16th c., others, such as "couscous" was in its present form since 1637 (A. 339).
BENSELER, DAVID P. & MOORE, SUZANNE S. "Doctoral Degrees Granted in Foreign Languages in the United States: 2001." MLJ 86, no. 3 (2002), 423–439; French section, 429–431.
Cites dissertations (and directors) first by discipline, then by institution, then by author, with all periods intermixed. These listings began in 1926.
COLOMBAT, BERNARD. La Grammaire latine en France à la Renaissance et à l'Age classique. Théories et pédagogie. Grenoble: ELLUG, 1999.
Review: G. Holtus in ZRP 116 (2000), 799–800: Welcome and valuable work not only for Latinists but also for Romance scholars. Considers themes as crucial and diverse as tradition, function, motivation of author, public, influences, presentation, reception, etc. (799). Colombat demonstrates a triple development with regard to modification of theories, especially concerning syntax, modification of acquisition conditions and comparison with French grammar.
CURRENT RESEARCH IN FRENCH STUDIES AT UNIVERSITIES IN THE UNITED KINGDOM AND IRELAND. Glasgow: Society for French Studies.
Titles of printed volumes vary; last cited paper vol. was 24 (1997–98). See BIBLIOGRAPHY, v.48 (2000): Part I: TYERS, MERYL.
CURRENT RESEARCH IN FRENCH STUDIES AT UNIVERSITIES IN THE UNITED KINGDOM AND IRELAND. Published by Society for French Studies (UK);
Internet version by Intexta Web Services. For home page see: http://www.sfs.intexta.net/crsearch.asp. 17th C. section: Contact: <currentresearch@sfs.ac.uk> or http://solinux .brookes.ac.uk/sfs/crlist.php3?target=4.
FEREY, ERIC.
See RANCOEUR.
GOES, JAN. L'adjectif. Entre nom et verbe. Paris/Bruxelles: Duculot, 1999.
Review: T. Tinnefeld in ZRP 117 (2001), 687–689: Praiseworthy for its contribution of several new aspects to the study of the adjective, Goes's work will be highly useful to future scholarship. Goes indicates progress in the field as well as deficits and desiderata. Important and comprehensive, Goes's monograph includes consideration of the Greek and Latin tradition, the grammar of Port-Royal and present-day manuals.
GROVE, LAURENCE and DANIEL RUSSELL. The French Emblem. Bibliography of Secondary Sources. Genève: Droz, 2000.
Review: J.-C. Margolin in BHR 63.3 (2001), 653–54: ". . .les auteurs proposent une organisation en cinq points de leur bibliographie, correspondant aux cinq chapitres de l'ouvrage: 1) Instruments de recherche; 2) Etudes générales; 3) Précurseurs des emblèmes français; 4) Auteurs des emblèmes français; 5) Applications de l'emblématique." Appendice final qui "recense, par ordre chronologique, les listes des premières éditions des livres français d'emblèmes, jusqu'à l'extrême fin du XVIIIe siècle."
Review: J.-M. Massing in MLR 97.3 (2002), 704–05: "This rich and wide ranging bibliography of French emblematic studies. . . should provide a most solid basis for the next generations of scholars."
KLAPP, OTTO. Bibliographie der französischen Literaturwissenschaft. Vol. 38 (2000). Ed. by Astrid Klapp-Lehrman. Frankfurt: V. Klostermann, 2001
(Begun in 1956). 17th c. section, pp. 273–331.
LORIOT-RAYMER, GISELE, ed. "Dissertations in Progress," FR 75 (2001), p. 432–448.
17th c. entries, p.437 (in progress), 444 (defended). 38th annual listing of French and Francophone titles: cross-referenced; is a supplement to previous editions.
LOSADO GOYA, JOSE MANUEL. Bibliographie critique de la littérature espagnole en France au XVIIe siècle. Présence et influence. Genève: Droz, 1999. Travaux du Grand Siècle, 9.
Review: G. Jucquois in LR 54 (2000), 189: Judged indispensable for 17th c. specialists and for modernists as well, the voluminous bibliography of nearly 700 pages includes, along with references to the Spanish section, notices of the French translations. Bibliographies of editions and of works are accompanied by contextual commentary on reception.
MARCHELLO-NIZIA, CHRISTIANE. Le Français en diachronie: douze siècles d'évolution. Paris: Gap (Editions Ophrys), 1999.
Review: M. Plouzeau in RLR 105 (2000), 227–229: Important contribution to the collection "L'essentiel français," it is remarkable because of its modernity (more than half its references were published after 1990) and its "alacrité" (the work is stimulating and highly readable). Reviewer would have appreciated a more complex glossary and a bibliography of texts.
MARTIN, HENRI-JEAN. Livre, pouvoirs et société à Paris au XVIIe siècle. 2 vols. Geneva: Droz, 1999 and La Naissance du livre moderne: Mise en page et mise en texte du livre français (XIVe-XVIIe siècles). Paris: Editions du Cercle de la Librarie, 2000.
Review: J. DeJean in FrF 26 (2001), 112–113: Welcomes this re-edition of Martin's 1969 study with new preface by Roger Chartier: "should be required reading for all early modernists" (112). Also finds that La Naissance "provides a brilliant demonstration of the problem of the book as object." Martin and a team of scholars examine "all the visual factors indispensable to the format of the modern book" (113). Includes over 700 illustrations, both beautiful and informative.
MICHON, JACQUES & JEAN-YVES MOLLIER, eds. Les mutations du livre et de l'édition dans le monde, du XVIIe siècle à l'an 2000. Québec: Presses de l'Université Laval, 2001.
Review: D. McKitterick in TLS 5153 (Jan 4 2002), 26: A collection of 46 essays that treat the book in an international perspective. One section explores the publication of different types of literature, while another asks more formal, organizational questions. The editors identify three main publishing models: British, German and French. A "successful collection" designed to raise questions.
MONTADON, ALAIN, éd. Bibliographie des traités de savoir-vivre en Europe du Moyen-Age à nos jours. Clermont-Ferrand: Association des Publications de la Faculté des Lettres et Sciences Humaines, 1995. 2 vols.
Review: V. Kapp in RF 113 (2001), 278–279: Chronologically arranged, this bibliography is impressive by its breadth and the importance of items included for questions concerning education, ethics, theology and politics. Montadon circumscribes the material included as follows: "tout texte dans lequel les considérations concernant les interactions sociales sont premières" (vol. 1, viii). Kapp supplies several 17th c. omissions but praises the whole as meritorious, copious and highly informative. Montadon's enterprise demonstrates "l'extraordinaire fécondité du genre littéraire compris sous le terme générique de traité de savoir-vivre" (vii) and its significance for the whole of culture. Twelve essays treat the theme from the Middle Ages to the present; 17th c. specialists will particularly appreciate E. Bury's "A la recherche d'une synthèse française de la civilité: l'honnêteté et ses sources."
RANCOEUR, RENE. Bibliographie de la littérature française (XVIe-XXe siècle).
[Continued by FEREY, ERIC and FORT, SILVAIN]. Année 2001 not yet issued as of this printing.
RANKE, KURT et al. Enzyklopädie des Marchens. Berlin: Walter de Gruyter, vol. 8 and 9, 1995/96, 1997.
Review: A. Gier in Archiv 237 (2000), 154–158: Highly admirable for its consistency (the project's first publication was in 1975), these volumes begin with entries in "M" and the focus has evolved from a Eurocentrism to a more inclusive perspective (an Orientalist has participated since 1986). Pertinent essays such as the one entitled "Märchen" (fairies) or the one on "Literatur und Volkserzählung" (Literature and the Folknarrative) complete these indispensable volumes. Gier offers a far-ranging commentary reminding the reader of Rousseau's view on La Fontaine's fables, for example.
ROBERTS, WILLIAM, ed. "Research in Progress." French 17 Bibliography, no. 49 (2001), Part VI, 162–175.
ROVEDA, LYNDIA. "Bernard Lamy, une poétique de l'origine du langage." DSS 214 (2002), 137–153.
An in-depth analysis of the theories outlined in Lamy's much-reprinted La Rhétorique ou l'Art de parler (1675). Convinced of the "rapport extraordinaire entre la pensée et la parole qui la traduit," Lamy's investigation into the origins of thought and word "joue un triple rôle didactique (apprendre les langues), esthétique (pouvoir juger de leur beauté), et philosophique, voire psychologique (mieux nous connaître nous-mêmes)."
SIDER, SANDRA. "New Resources for Emblem Studies." RenQ 54 (2001), 1574–1580.
Highly useful review article of excellent, recently published resources, including two bibliographies: Alison Adams et al.'s 1999 Bibliography of French Emblem Books of the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries, vol. I (Droz) and Laurence Grove and Daniel Russell's 2000 The French Emblem: Bibliography of Secondary Sources (Droz). At least three other volumes reviewed pertain to French and have "ramifications beyond emblematics" (1576). Hans J. Böker and Peter M. Daly's 1999 edition, The Emblem and Architecture: Studies in Applied Emblematics from the Sixteenth to the Eighteenth Centuries (Brepols), Peter M. Daly's 1998 Literature in the Light of the Emblem. . . (Toronto UP) and Peter M. Daly and John Manning's 1999 edition, Aspects of Renaissance and Baroque Symbol Theory, 1500–1700 (AMS). Sider praises the U of Glasgow, AMS and Droz in particular as "having distinguished themselves as leaders in books about emblems," recommends highly the Glasgow Internet site: www.emblems.arts.gla.ac.uk/ as well as that of the newsletter of the International Society for Emblem Studies, "superbly edited by Alison Adams," accessed by adding SES to the above web address (1575).
THELEN, UDO. Sprachliche Variation und ihre Beschreibung. Zur Markierungspraxis in der französischen Sprachlehre und Grammatikographie zwischen Maas und Rhein vom 16. Bis zum 18. Jahrhundert. Tübingen: Niemeyer, 1999.
Review: J. Kramer in ZRP 118 (2002), 120–122: Mixed review calls for more completeness but finds profit in this well written and rich study on the history of French in Germanic territories from the Mass to the Rhein. Kramer hopes for wider considerations embracing Germany in its entirety and Austria as well.
TRETHEWAY, JOHN & SHORT, J.P., eds. Years Work in Modern Language Studies, v.61 (1999). London: Modern Humanities Research Association, 2000.
17th c. section, pp. 119–150. Brief summaries of books and articles on 17th c. period. Works divided into five categories: General, Poetry, Drama, Prose, and Thought.
YEARS WORK IN MODERN LANGUAGE STUDIES. Online version, available on Internet from PCI Full Text [electronic resource] (coverage 1930–). Ann Arbor, MI: Bell & Howell, c2001–. Access: http://pcift.chadwyck.com.
ADAMS, ALISON, STEPHEN RAWLES, & ALISON SAUNDERS. A Bibliography of French Emblem Books of the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries. Vol. I. Genève: Droz, 1999.
Review: J. Britnell in MLR 97.2 (2002), 423–24: First of two volumes arranged alphabetically by author (A – K) and chronologically by edition; second volume to be published with indexes and a supplement. "The publication of Volume II will complete a hugely valuable tool of research, indispensable to all scholars concerned with emblems, and indeed of immense use to anyone interested in early-modern printing."
"L'amitié". XVIIe siècle, no. 205 (oct.–déc.1999).
Review: A. Arrigoni in SFr 133 (2001), 136–137: This issue of DSS analyzes diverse understandings of friendship demonstrating the complexity of this sentiment. Studies of various kinds of friendship (intellectual, political, literary, bacchic) are complemented by analyses of works such as Blaise de Vignère's dialogues, Madeleine de Scudéry's Clélie, and La Rochefoucauld's Maximes.
APOSTOLIDES, JEAN-MARIE. "Entrée royale et idéologie urbaine au XVIIe siècle." DSS 212 (2001), 509–520.
Apostolidès examines Louis XIV's 1660 entry into Paris, the ultimate goal of which was "la création d'une image unifiant le monarque à l'élite urbaine." Essential to this union is the figure of the Serviteur, "un type d'homme nouveau." Apostolidès outlines the various signs and functions of this figure in transformations of the entrée in the 17th century.
ARVEILLER, RAYMOND. Addenda au FEW XIX (Orientalia), édités par Max Pfister. Tübingen: Niemeyer, 1999.
Review: R. Kiesler in ZRP 118 (2002), 89–92: Highly praised as an indispensable work for all scholars interested in Oriental elements as well as for diachronic lexicographers. This important tool contributes numerous new examples from hundreds of new sources. Although many of the orientalisms came into French in the 16th c., others, such as "couscous" was in its present form since 1637 (A. 339).
ASBACH, OLAF, KLAUS MALETTKE, & SVEN EXTERNBRINK, eds. Altes Reich, Frankreich und Europa. Politische, philosophische und historische Aspekte des französischen Deutschlandbildes im 17. und 18. Jahrhundert. Berlin: Duncker & Humblot, 2001.
Review: H. Duchhardt in HZ 273 (2001), 777: Welcome proceedings of the 1999 Marburg Colloque treats French perceptions of Germany in the 17th and 18th c. Sources include diplomatic works, literature, travel accounts, among others. Important new outcomes testify to well-functioning German-French cooperative scholarship.
BAILEY, GAUVIN ALEXANDRE. Art on the Jesuit Missions in Asia and Latin America, 1542–1773. Toronto: U of Toronto P, 1999.
Review: C. Farago in RenQ 55 (2002), 319–321: Judges Bailey's work "a gold mine" which "provides a significant basis for further historical investigations of cultural domination. . ., acculturation and co-existence" (321). Focusing on images that the Jesuits used in educating Catholics, the volume "offers the first overview of these activities outside Europe" (320). Of particular interest is the role of printed books and illustrations, for example, that of Ignatius of Loyola's Spiritual Exercises. Formal descriptions of objects which are "artistically hybrid" (321) join with sensitive interpretations, for example the 17th c. statues of the Guarani in the Paraguay rainforest. These statues, which adorn cathedral-sized churches, were "highly symbolic of personal identity and kinship" (Bailey 178).
BARATAY, ERIC & ELISABETH HARDOUIN-FUGIER. Zoo. A History of Zoological Gardens in the West. Trans.O. Welsh. Reaktion Books, 2002.
Review: R. Hurwitt in San Francisco Chronicle (4 August 2002), M6: Book contains "magnificent" artistic reproductions; reviewer also judges the book to be a "curiously engaging, provocative and confounding tome." Includes "schematic overviews of 16th and 17th century hunting parks and aristocratic menageries" as well as "layouts and specific exhibits from early European zoos." In addition, "The authors mix larger views on the theme of 'culture enclosing nature' — as in Louis XIV's consciouly theatrical architecture for the menagerie at Versailles. . . — with such fascinating minutiae as the itinerary of an elephant traveling through Europe." Translation is problematic. Book contains significant factual errors as well.
BEHRINGER, WOLFGANG & BERND ROECK, eds. Das Bild der Stadt in der Neuzeit 1400–1800. München: Beck, 1999.
Review: A. Schwarz in HZ 272 (2001), 458–459: Impressive panorama focuses on the iconography of towns and cities in the Early Modern period. From bird's eye views to views in profile and sections, from large metropolises to small size towns, this remarkable and highly interdisciplinary study will be of use to specialists in many fields including art and literature as well as social history.
BELL, DAVID A. The Cult of the Nation in France. Inventing Nationalism, 1680–1800. Cambridge: Harvard UP, 2001.
Review: P.G. Wallace in CHOICE 40, 2 (2002), 346: a "masterful, thought-provoking, yet accessible" analysis of the birth in eighteenth-century France of the concept of nationalism. Bell argues that the emergence of nationalism can be traced to a historical moment when "French intellectuals increasingly came to see God as distant from human affairs and sought to separate religious passions from political life."
BELY, LUCIEN, ed. L'Information à l'époque moderne. Actes du colloque de 1999. Paris: Presses de l'Université de Paris-Sorbonne, 2001.
Review: C. Todd in MLR 97.2 (2002), 426: ". . .the main purpose of the 1999 colloquium was to get beyond the stereotyped view of pre-revolutionary journalism as a mere mouthpiece for official propaganda, and this is most clearly shown here by Stéphane Haffemayer in his analysis of the ideological ambiguities of the press in the middle of the seventeenth century."
BERCE, YVES-MARIE & MICHEL CASSAN. Archives de la France. IV, Le XVIIe siècle. Paris: Fayard, 2001.
Review: BCLF 637 (2002), 147–48: "On lira donc, dans ce volume consacré au XVIIe siècle, des extraits de documents concernant les institutions — théories politiques de Richelieu et de Bossuet, lettres d'anoblissement, passages de lits de justice, témoignange de la croissance de la fiscalité, etc. D'autres textes évoquent très concrètement la vie paysanne, celle des citadins et des métiers, l'éducation et les moeurs. [. . .] Enfin, le livre s'achève sur les événements et les opinions auxquels ils donnent lieu, de l'assassinat d'Henri IV à l'arrestation de Fouquet, en passant par la bataille de Rocroi et par les événements de la Fronde. . ."
BERTELLI, SERGIO. The King's Body: Sacred Rituals of Power in Medieval and Early Modern Europe. Trans.R. Burr Litchfield. Universtiy Park, PA: Pennsylvania State UP, 2001.
Review: R. Bartlett in TLS 5184 (Aug 9 2002), 23: A "rambling assemblage of accounts of royal rituals." Contains entertaining anecdotes and attractive illustrations, but Bartlett complains of "lack of argument and lack of accuracy." "Examples are piled up indiscriminately with little detailed analysis or consideration of specific historical circumstances."
BIET, CHRISTIAN. "Les monstres aux pieds d'Hercule. Ambiguïtés et enjeux des entrées royales ou l'encomiastique peut-elle casser les briques?" DSS 212 (2001), 383–403.
Biet examines how and why mythological figures superceded Biblical personnages as chosen icons representing the "modern" king, Henri IV, in royal entries. Biet also considers the ways in which the official relations subtly resisted hyperbolic encomiums of the king in view of claiming urban power and autonomy.
BIMBENET-PRIVAT, MICHÈLE. "The Two Parisian Mirror Sconces at Knole: Their Date and Makers." Burlington 1191 (2002), 332–337.
Attempts to date and analyze the origins of two silver mirror sconces bearing Parisian hallmarks that are currently housed amongst other valuable English and French 17th-century furnishings in the King's Room at Knole. Concludes they were probably produced by Pierre Doublet and Robert Collombe around 1669–1670.
BLANCHARD, JEAN-VINCENT. "Conversation and the Genealogy of Recognition." EMF 7 (2001), 48–72.
In classical conversation, the work on identity representations as productive, artistic and personal creations entails persuasion with pleasure. The author grounds his analysis on the works of Jürgen Habermas, Hélène Merlin, Joan DeJean, and Marc Fumaroli. Offers a critique of Marc Fumaroli's "conservative" view of conversation, which associates it with universalism; argues instead, mostly from Méré, that seventeenth-century conversation could and did accept difference.
BLANCHARD, JEAN-VINCENT. "Description et rhétorique politique: du récit d'entrée royale à la promenade de Versailles." DSS 212 (2001), 477–489.
Through a close reading of the anonymous pamphlet L'Entrée triomphante (1660) and Scudéry's La Promenade de Versailles (1669), Blanchard argues that architectural ekphrasis produced discourses of royal absolutism by functioning as eternal "monuments" and testaments to human endeavor that transcend history and the eventual destruction or delapidation of actual architectural monuments.
BLANNING, T. C. W. The Culture of Power and the Power of Culture. Old Regime Europe, 1660–1789. Oxford: Oxford UP, 2002.
Review: T. J. Reed in TLS 5163 (Mar 15 2002), 3–4: Blanning takes culture as a real political force. Power must use culture as a "means of political communication and control." Blanning attributes the fall of the Ancien Régime to the "overbearing" representational culture of absolutism.
BLAUERT, ANDREAS and GERD SCHWERHOFF, eds. Kriminalitätsgeschichte. Beiträge zur Sozial- und Kulturgeschichte der Vormoderne. Konstanz: Universitätsverlag Konstanz, 2000.
Review: L. Schilling in HZ 273 (2001), 128–130: Wide-ranging volume of thirty-three essays contributes an innovative socio-cultural history of criminality of the late Middle Ages and Early Modern Period.
BOHANAN, DONNA. Crown and Nobility in Early Modern France. New York: Palgrave, 2001.
Review: D.C. Baxter in CHOICE 39, 8 (2002), 1486: Argues that "monarchy was not driven by a desire for reform and centralization, but by the need to collect additional taxes. It responded on an ad hoc basis, using traditional means like patronage and power brokers to gain its ends." Includes three detailed case studies of these procedures in Provence, Dauphine, and Brittany.
BOUWSMA, WILLIAM H. The Waning of the Renaissance, 1550–1640. New Haven: Yale UP, 2000.
Review: D. R. Kelley in Isis 92.4 (2001), 777–778: Gives "a nuanced, even ambivalent, portrait of the mentality of a world being delivered into a painful modernity informed by liberties at least as negative as positive. . . It is a marvelous portrait, deserving to be set beside those of the earlier masters Burckhardt and Huizenga."
Review: R. G. Witt in RenQ 55 (2002), 302–303: Finds this volume "a rewarding and challenging book by a master scholars" (303). Includes sections on human nature and its cultural manifestations (important emphasis is placed on Augustinian spirituality and scientific discoveries), the anxiety of Renaissance thinkers and artists (reviewer singles out for praise Bouwsma's "superlative chapter" on theatre), and on the culture of order where "reason was sovereign and the passions and imagination fell under suspicion" (302). Order and freedom are the "two dynamic forces" which produce the later waning of the Renaissance (303).
CAMERON, EUAN, ed. Early Modern History: An Oxford History. Oxford: Oxford UP, 1999.
Review: P. Dukes in JES 32 (2002), 63–64: A "coherent, informative and thoughtful treatment of European history," though reviewer feels "basic narrative" of the period could have featured more centrally. Book consists of a stimulating prologue and ten "worthwhile contributions," three of which focus on the seventeenth-century. R.A. Houston examines the "new if rudimentary" world economy as distinctive of the seventeenth century. Robin Briggs writes on the confrontation of religion and natural science. Jeremy Black emphasizes war as a promoter of absolutism. Dukes praises the choice of illustrations, but would have liked to see more maps.
CANOVA-GREEN, MARIE-CLAUDE. "Révolte et imaginaire: le voyage de Louis XIII en Provence (1622)." DSS 212 (2001), 429–439.
An examination of the king's entries in Aix, Avignon, and Arles following his triumph over Protestant rebels. The essay scrutinizes various meanings produced by the entries, ranging from celebration of Louis's Christian virtue to encomiums of provincial heritage and culture.
CHARTIER, ROGER, ALAIN BOUREAU & CECILE DAUPHIN. Correspondence: Models of Lettter-Writing from the Middle Ages to the Nineteenth Century. Trans. byChristopher Woodall. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1997.
Review: J. G. Altman in MP 100.1 (August 2002): "The three essays composing this slim volume were originally published as the second section of a much longer study of letter writing as a phenomenon of daily life in nineteenth-century France (La correspondance: les usages de la lettre au XIXe siècle [Paris: Fayard, 1991]). Christopher Woodall has provided lively and readable English translations of selected essays that already had a distinct identity in the Fayard volume. They embrace a longer chronology (A.D. 150–1900), a different corpus of works... and a different set of questions... Chartier's essay, 'Secrétaires for the People?' (pp. 59–111), focuses on the three letter manuals selected for publication in the Bibliothèque bleue ('Blue Library') series in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. This inexpensive blue-cover paperback collection... has been of considerable interest to social historians in recent decades, because of the questions it raises about "popular culture" in the Ancien Régime."
COHEN, SARAH R. Art, Dance and the Body in French Culture of the Ancien Régime. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 2000.
Review: E. Nye in FS 54.4 (2001), 543–544: ". . .a copiously illustrated book in which Sarah Cohen aims to put dance centre-stage in her description of the art, culture and politics of the Ancien Régime." While the study reveals "some quite striking analogies," the reviewer is disappointed by a shortage of supporting evidence and a "lack of detailed choreographic analysis."
DALY, PETER M. & JOHN MANNING, eds. Aspects of Renaissance and Baroque Symbol Theory, 1500–1700. New York: AMS Press, 2000.
Review: C. Preston in MLR 97.2 (2002), 392–93: "This volume is the latest in the very versatile 'AMS Studies in the Emblem' series that represents all aspects of current emblem scholarship, from monographs on individual emblem-books to contextual studies of emblematic practice. These fourteen essays on symbol-theory are divided into three discrete sections, each of which suggests culturally specific ways of thinking about such symbols."
DA VINHA, MATHIEU, "Les Nyert, exemple d'une ascension sociale dans la Maison du Roi au XVIIe siècle." DSS 214 (2002), 15–34.
Forming a "dynastie de Valets de Chambre", the Nyert family is the least well-known of the domestiques/confidents who served Louis XIII, Louis XIV, and Louis XV. The author defines the multiple functions and unique position of the valet de chambre in general, and argues that Nyert played key roles in the life of Louis XIV.
DESAN, PHILIPPE. "Les nouvelles théories économiques et le commerce de France avec le Levant au XVIIe siècle." Les Méditerranées du XVIIe siècle. Actes du VIe colloque du Centre International de Rencontres sur le XVIIe siècle. Ed. G. Dotoli. Tübingen: Gunter Narr Verlag (Biblio 17), 2002: 233–242.
Desan posits that, "Encore prisonniers des modèles moyenâgeux, et alors que l'on commençait à peine à s'interroger sur le problème de l'inflation, la France tenta pourtant d'appréhender l'organisation des marchés et de s'intégrer tant bien que mal à la nouvelle économie politique. . . fondée sur le commerce international croissant. C'est le bassin méditerranéen qui permit en quelque sorte de "tester" ces nouvelles théories économiques et de transformer l'idée que la France se faisait du grand commerce au début du XVIIe siècle."
DESAN, PHILIPPE & GIOVANNI DOTOLI, eds. D'un siècle à l'autre-Littérature et société de 1590 à 1610. Fasano/Paris: Schena/PUF, 2001.
Review: B. Petey-Girard in BHR 64.1 (2002), 234: Quinze articles qui rappellent une "époque de tensions idéologiques et politiques, temps d'émergence d'une nouvelle notion d'Etat et d'une nouvelle vision du monde, temps de la mélancolie caractérisé par le doute et un sens nouveau de la relativité, par une cassure inédite entre la foi et le savoir."
DOTOLI, GIOVANNI. Littérature et société en France au XVIIe siècle. Faisano: Schena, 2000, Vol. II.
Review: Ph. Hourcade in PFSCL XXIX, 57 (2002): 530–532: A reissuing of previously published articles on a number of topics: "les conditions mentales et historiquement datées de la parole politique, de la fin du XVIe au XVIIe siècle"; Marie de Gournay; Mairet (biography, theater, and correspondence); Adam Billaut's "chansons à boire"; Pierre Boucher's writings on Canada; and three chapters on the writings of the moralistes. Reviewer lauds "la richesse de ce livre."
Review: S. Poli in SFr 135 (2001), 631: Remarkable both by its breadth and depth, this set of studies (vol. I appeared in 1987) demonstrates "la richezza, la vitalità e la continuità del secolo." Poli praises the erudition which characterizes Dotoli's approach, never heavy, to editorial or biographical questions as well as to those of a historical, political, sociological or ideological nature (631).
GARRIGUES, DOMINIQUE. Jardins et jardiniers de Versailles au Grand Siècle. Seyssel: Champ Vallon, 2001.
Review: BCLF 635 (2002), 79–80: Ouvrage qui "fait revivre de nombreux 'orfèvres de la terre': les jardiniers créateurs, puis Le Nôtre et d'autres encore. Une part importante du livre est consacrée à des sujets dont il est plus rarement question, à savoir tout ce qui concerne l'intendance du jardin, le fonctionnement du grand Versailles, les relations entre le roi et les jardiniers." Portrait de Louis XIV "roi jardinier."
GERMA-ROMANN, HELENE. Du "bel mourir" au "bien mourir." Le Sentiment de la mort chez les gentilshommes français (1515–1643). Genève: Droz, 2001.
Review: M. Venard in BHR 63.3 (2001), 673–75: "Rassembler tous les témoignages possibles sur le sens nobiliaire de la mort, l'entreprise, malgré tout, valait d'être tentée. Mais il est dommage que l'auteur n'ait pas davantage pris en compte, pour nourrir ses analyses et son esprit critique, les catégories qu'elle a fort bien distinguées dans sa bibliographie." Selon le recenseur il manque à cet ouvrage "un certain sens du métier d'historien."
GIBSON, WENDY. A Tragic Farce: The Fronde (1648–1653). Exeter: Elm Bank Publications, 1998.
Review: n.a. in FMLS 37 (2001), 100: Mixed appreciation; reviewer not sure that scholars will welcome descriptions such as that of the Duchesse de Longueville as a "blue-eyed blond bombshell" (213) or referencing that is judged less than satisfactory. However the volume seems to achieve its stated object of "narrating the Fronde in a coherent fashion for the benefit of English-speaking francophiles" (1). The Fronde is presented as a 5-act play and translations are provided of 17th c. texts and eyewitness accounts.
GLANVILLE, GORDON. "'In My Lady's Chamber:' The Provenance of the Parisian Mirror Sconces at Knole." Burlington 1191 (2002), 338–344.
Continues Bimbenet-Privat's work on the Knole mirror sconces by examining how they arrived there. Concludes they may have been commissioned, imported from France, or offered as a gift from the French ambassador. However, they were most likely given by Charles II or Catherine of Braganza to Lady Falmouth in 1674.
GROVE, LAURENCE & DANIEL RUSSELL. The French Emblem. Bibliography of Secondary Sources. Genève: Droz, 2000.
Review: J.-C. Margolin in BHR 63.3 (2001), 653–54: ". . .les auteurs proposent une organisation en cinq points de leur bibliographie, correspondant aux cinq chapitres de l'ouvrage: 1) Instruments de recherche; 2) Etudes générales; 3) Précurseurs des emblèmes français; 4) Auteurs des emblèmes français; 5) Applications de l'emblématique." Appendice final qui "recense, par ordre chronologique, les listes des premières éditions des livres français d'emblèmes, jusqu'à l'extrême fin du XVIIIe siècle."
Review: J.-M. Massing in MLR 97.3 (2002), 704–05: "This rich and wide ranging bibliography of French emblematic studies. . . should provide a most solid basis for the next generations of scholars."
HANLEY, SARAH. "European History in Text and Film: Community and Identity in France, 1550–1945." FHS 25 (2002), 3–19.
Describes a course entitled "European History in Text and Film: Community and Identity in France, 1550–1945," which was created to show the relationship between historical texts of an event or period and films based on that same episode or time.
HERSEY, GEORGE L. Architecture and Geometry in the Age of the Baroque. Chicago: U of Chicago P, 2001.
Review: K. Downes in TLS 5154 (Jan 11 2002), 26: Author examines "the era's scientific, musical and architectural love of number, shape and proportion." "Baroque architects—and preachers—would admire Hersey's flair for connecting the disparate. But there are too many approximations and miscalculations."
HIBBELER, CORNELIE GERTRUDE. "Deux regards sur l'Amerindien: Marc Lescarbot et Adriaen van der Donck." DAI 63/03 (2002), 931.
Examines French justifications for colonialism in Lescarbot's 1609 Histoire de la Nouvelle France; argues that "his philosophical ideas imply not only a desire to civilize the Indian, the Other, but also a criticism of society: the corruption in France that he has fled and a new social order that he envisions."
HINRICHS, ERNST. Fürsten und Mächte. Zum Problem des europäischen Absolutismus. Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 2000.
Review: P. Fuchs in HZ 273 (2001), 775–776: Found to be a worthwhile treatment (Fuchs does include several corrections in the review). 17th c. French scholars will find much space devoted to Louis XIV, his foreign policy, opposition (such as the Fronde), finances, commerce, military activity, and religion. Bibliography and indices.
HOPKINS, A.G., ed. Globalization in World History. London: Pimlico, 2002.
Review: A. Pagden in TLS 5171 (May 10 2002), 14: An attempt to put current globalization in historical perspective. Hopkins sees globalization as "the increasing interrelatedness of the world's economies after 1600." Essays of high quality, but reviewer finds chronology for globalization somewhat arbitrary.
HUFTON, OLWEN. Frauenleben. Eine europäische Geschichte 1500–1800. Trans.Holger Fliessbach andRena Passenthien. Frankfurt am Main: Fischer, 1998.
Review: U. Gleizuer in HZ 272 (2001), 179–180: This highly readable translation of Hufton's 1995 volume (in English, The Prospect Before Her. A History of Women in Western Europe) is welcome. Comparative, thematically organized and abundant in details, Hufton demonstrates both continuity and change in women's life during this 300 year period.
HUREL, DANIEL-ODON & GERARD LAUDIN, éds. Académies et sociétés savantes en Europe (1650–1800). Paris: Champion, 2000.
Review: D. Williams in MLR 97.3 (2002), 708–09: Collection of twenty-eight articles presented at a November 1995 CNRS colloquium in Rouen. "The volume has been judiciously positioned with the emphasis placed on the intersection between the international and local dimensions of the cultural space inhabited by the academies, and the tensions between their place within a European Republic of Arts and Sciences on the one hand, and the narrower political, social and pedagogical roles that they were obliged to play within specific regional environments on the other."
HUTTON, MARGARET-ANNE, ed. Text(e) Image. Durham: U of Durham, 1999.
Review: n.a. in FMLS 37 (2001), 356–357: These Acts of a conference on text-image interrelationships are wide-ranging, with a useful introduction. The twelve essays include contributions on Poussin, the two Dianas — "de Poitiers" and "de Galles" — as well as on modern French/Francophone culture. Transdisciplinary and leading to the notion of "interesthéticité" (Leduc-Adine), the collection points to "a more complex symbiosis" as it explores "multimedial intertextualities" (357).
JAKUBOWSKI-THIESSEN, MANFRED, ed. Krisen des 17. Jahrhunderts. Interdisziplinäre Perspectiven. Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 1999.
Review: H. Schilling in HZ 273 (2001), 195–199. Highly interdisciplinary and wide-ranging Festschrift for Hartmut Lehmann makes a new and important contribution to the question of the place of the 17th c. in the history of Europe. Among the subjects treated are culture conflicts, the lyric, music theory, landscape painting, among others.
JANCZUKIEWICZ, JEROME. "Le renouvellement de la Paulette en 1648." DSS 214 (2002), 3–14.
A study of the various conditions of the Paulette's renewal and the proliferation of royal legislation pertaining to it throughout 1648. The author concludes that the renewal and its particulary favorable terms for officers points to the weakness of the government at the outset of the Fronde.
KALE, STEVEN D. "Women, the Public Sphere, and the Persistence of Salons." FHS 25 (2002), 115–148.
Although the author focuses primarily on the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, he does strive to place the salons in a larger social, political, and cultural context which relates both to the role of the aristocracy and that of women; to do so, he must reach back to the seventeenth century.
KELCH-RADE, CLIVIA & ANUSCHKA TISCHER with KRIEMHILD GORONZY and MICHAEL ROHRSCHNEIDER, eds. Acta Pacis Westphalicae. Ser. 2, Abt. B: Die französischen Korrespondenzen. Vol. 4. Münster: Aschendorff, 1999.
Review: A.V. Hartmann in HZ 272 (2001), 199–201: Period under consideration is June 9–November 23, 1646; documents shed important light on political and military development. The rich material receives careful editorial attention and thematic organization. Notes and biographical notices complete the volume.
KERTZER, DAVID I. & MARZIO BARBAGLI, eds. Family Life in Early Modern Times. 1500–1789. New Haven: Yale UP, 2001.
Review: J. Goody in TLS 5159 (Feb 15 2002), 12: Goody is complimentary of the attention given to the role of religious practices and believes in shaping family structure. He also praises the chapter on the house as the physical basis for family life. He recognizes "fruitful cooperation" between historians of the family and social scientists but wishes the historians had better assimilated anthropological terms for family structures.
LEHMANN, HARTMUT & ANNE-CHARLOTT TREPP, eds. Im Zeichen der Krise. Religiosität im Europa des 17. Jahrhunderts. Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 1999.
Review: H. Schilling in HZ 273 (2001), 195–199: Excellent collection of essays makes fine contribution to the assessment of crisis in Early Modern research. Focusing on the long 17th c., the 27 essays are grouped in sections which treat themes such as (I) Apocalyptics and Prophecy, (II) Epidemics, Famine, Sickness and Death, (III) The Jewish Experience, (IV) Presence of Foreigners, the Secular and the Supernatural, (V) Old and New Science and Interpretations of the World, and (VI) Transformations of the Sacred. The last section includes treatment of Paris politics between 1580 and 1630.
LE PAS DE SÉCHEVAL, ANNE. "Peinture et spiritualité au XVIIe siècle: l'église parisienne des Carmélites de l'Incaration, entre bérullisme et tradition carmélitaine." XVIIe siècle no. 208 (juillet–sept. 2000), 387–406.
Review: S. Poli in SFr 134 (2001), 387: Author reconstructs the church of the convent with its rich collection of frescos and paintings through a close examination of these works. Illustrates, with special attention to Bérulle, the religious controversies of the time and furnishes the reader an articulated frame of a setting and a period.
LE ROY LADURIE, EMMANUEL. Histoire des paysans français, de la peste noire à la révolution. Paris: Seuil; Paris: PUF, 2002.
Review: J. Nicolas in QL 837 (du 1er au 15 septembre 2002): "Toujours dans l'air du temps, Emmanuel Le Roy Ladurie recoud aujourd'hui en un seul morceau les synthèses rurales qu'il avait naguère signées dans deux ouvrages collectifs. Ainsi rétabli dans son unité et enrichi d'aperçus nouveaux, le parcours se révèle dans toute sa cohérence. (...) Le livre restitue l'histoire du peuple des champs à l'échelle du royaume, des débuts du XIVe siècle à la Révolution."
"Libertines and Homosexuality." MLA Convention 1998, PFSCL XXVII, 53 (2000), 417–444.
Review: C. Bernazzoli in SFr 133 (2001), 138: Two communications focus on this subject, the first by Randy P.L. Conner treats Claude Le Petit, his sensuality, pantheistic vision of life and epicurism. Leonard Hinds examines the trial of Théophile de Viau, demonstrating the power of the label "libertino ateo e sodomita."
LIEBERSOHN, HARRY. Aristocratic Encounters: European Travelers and North-American Indians. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1998.
Review: n.a. in FMLS 37 (2001), 104: "Meticulously documented volume" focuses on the 18th and 19th c., revealing travelers' "empathy with native peoples." 17th c. scholars will benefit from his examination of French representations of the Indians. The analysis begins with the year 1682.
LIGNEREUX, YANN. "Les trois corps du roi.' Les entrées d'Henri IV à Lyon, 1594–1596." DSS 212 (2001), 405– 415.
Looking at three distinct "moments," Lignereux studies how the image of royal power is produced over time. In addition to marking Henri's triumph over the once rebellious city, these instances, which encompass the king's actual presence and a portrait of the king, "véritable substitut de la personne royale," seek to emblematize the on-going reconciliation of the king and the city.
LOHR, EVELYNE. Le 1er Arrondissement: itinéraires d'histoire et d'architecture. Paris: Délégation à l'action artistique de la Ville de Paris, 2000.
Review: BCLF 634 (2002), 62: Lohr "retrace à grands traits l'histoire de l'arrondissement, longtemps confondue avec celle de Paris: développement du pouvoir royal et de ses institutions, évolution de l'approvisionnement de la ville, transformation de celle-ci par le jeu du développement de ses enceintes." Découverte de plusieurs hôtels des 17e-18e siècles dans le quartier des Halles.
LORENZ, MAREN. Leibhaftige Vergangenheit. Einführung in die Körpergeschichte. Tübingen: diskord, 2000.
Review: F. Fritzen in HZ 273 (2001), 111–112: A fluent and solid overview of the history of the body, Lorenz's study is welcome and informative, treating the subject chronologically from Antiquity. Includes consideration of the symbolic as well as practices and rituals concerning the body.
MASSIP, CATHERINE. L'art de bien chanter: Michel Lambert (1610–1696). Paris: Société française de musicologie, 1999.
Review: H. Schneider in Revue de Musicologie 88 (2002), 210–214: Une monographie "attendue depuis longtemps," divisée en trois parties : cinq chapitres biographiques dont celui sur 'le maître de chant' est particulièrement recommandé, une deuxième partie consacrée à l'œuvre de Lambert et pour finir plus de vingt pages de documentation. "Au total, ce livre est digne du compositeur et de l'époque qu'il traite."
MEEK, CHRISTINE, ed. Women in Renaissance and Early Modern Europe. Dublin: Four Courts Press, 2000.
Review: C. Levin in RenQ 54 (2001), 1602–1603: Praises the "many very fine pieces" in this collection which grew out of the 1998 conference at Trinity College, but regrets the absence of a coherent theme (1602). Reviewer notes that "France, particularly in the 17th c., is very well represented" (1603), singling out essays by Derval Conroy (on representation of queens), Carol Baxter (ideas on the body among the nuns of Port-Royal) and Susanne Reid (on representations of motherhood during Louis XIV's reign).
MERRICK, JEFFREY & BRYANT T. RAGAN JR., eds. Homosexuality in Early Modern France: A Documentary Collection. New York, Oxford: Oxford UP, 2001.
Review: E.M. Langille in FS 56.1 (2002), 234–235: "Merrick and Ragan present an astonishing collection of well-translated documents" on the subject; these include mazarinades and writings by theologians and men of letters.
MONCOND'HUY, DOMINIQUE. "Galérie et livre d'entrée (à propos de l'entrée de Louis XIII à Paris en 1628)." DSS 212 (2001), 441–455.
A detailed study of the official book produced after the 1628 entry, this essay examines the role of the modern galérie in the construction of political ideology. Using both the written text and accompanying images, the essay demonstrates that the royal entry transforms urban space into the site of multiple representations and that the gallery in particular facilitates "une nouvelle conception de l'espace de la représentation . . .."
MONTADON, ALAIN, éd. Bibliographie des traités de savoir-vivre en Europe du Moyen-Age à nos jours. Clermont-Ferrand: Association des Publications de la Faculté des Lettres et Sciences Humaines, 1995. 2 vols.
Review: V. Kapp in RF 113 (2001), 278–279: Chronologically arranged, this bibliography is impressive by its breadth and the importance of items included for questions concerning education, ethics, theology and politics. Montadon circumscribes the material included as follows: "tout texte dans lequel les considérations concernant les interactions sociales sont premières" (vol. 1, viii). Kapp supplies several 17th c. omissions but praises the whole as meritorious, copious and highly informative. Montadon's enterprise demonstrates "l'extraordinaire fécondité du genre littéraire compris sous le terme générique de traité de savoir-vivre" (vii) and its significance for the whole of culture. Twelve essays treat the theme from the Middle Ages to the present; 17th c. specialists will particularly appreciate E. Bury's "A la recherche d'une synthèse française de la civilité: l'honnêteté et ses sources."
MOSER, WALTER &NICOLAS GOYER,dir. Résurgences baroques. Bruxelles: La Lettre volée, 2001.
Review: BCLF 634 (2002), 56: "Le baroque est ici considéré comme un processus culturel, comme une 'manière de faire' en matière esthétique, dont la dimension historique s'étend du XVIIe siècle à nos jours, et dont la dimension géographique traverse l'espace mondial, de l'Europe à l'Amérique."
NICOLAS, JEAN. La Rébellion française. Mouvements populaires et conscience sociale, 1661–1789. Paris: Seuil, 2002.
Review: D. Roche in QL 825 (du 16 au 28 fév. 2002), 21–22: "C'est dans le cadre de la France, entre classicisme et Lumières, que le dispositif complet de cette enquête collective aboutit à des résultats assurés et convaincants. Il faut donc déjà saluer la performance qui en décentralisant, élargissant, creusant une documentation pléthorique et pourtant souvent lacunaire, a réuni en un récit cohérent la vague des gestes et des cris contestataires afin de les rendre intelligibles. Le phénomène rébellionnaire est réintégré dans un ensemble vital dont aucune dimension n'échappe et où se joue la question majeure des anciennes sociétés comme celle des nôtres : quelle forme de dialogue peut se créer entre les pouvoirs, les élites qui gouvernent, administrent, enseignent, et façonnent les esprits, les dominés privés de moyens d'expression reconnus sinon de force d'expression revendicatrice et de violence répétée."
NITSCHKE, PETER. Einführung in die politische Theorie des Prämoderne 1500–1800. Darmstadt: Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft, 2000.
Review: L. Schorn-Schütte in HZ 272 (2001), 182–183: Develops in four discourses the crucial debate concerning political "Legitimation" and the principle of better government during the Early Modern Period. Of particular interest to Renaissance and 17th c. scholars is the discussion of the relationship between sacerdotium and regnum.
OZMENT, STEVEN. Ancestors: The Loving Family in Old Europe. Cambridge, MA: Harvard UP, 2001.
Review: J.F. Harrington in RenQ 55 (2002), 316–318: Finds that "this book performs an important public service, stripping our lay contemporaries of facile generalizations" (317) as it counters the work of Philippe Ariès and others who hold that "sentimentality and affection were largely alien to the premodern household" (317). Ozment relies heavily on qualitative sources, saints' lives, confessional manuals, letters, family archives. Reviewer believes these sources may be highly useful for micro-histories but is concerned about generalizations drawn from them.
PARROTT, DAVID. Richelieu's Army. War, Government and Society in France, 1624–42. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 2001.
Review: F.J. Baumgartner in CHOICE 39, 9 (2002), 1653: A study of the administration of the army during Richelieu's ministry that focuses on matters of cost, size, recruitment, and the relationships between commanders and the government. Argues that "the pressures of war did not enhance the authority of the monarchy over the grands, who served as commanders of the royal army." Contests the thesis that "centralized royal power over the army went hand-in-hand with enhanced authority over society as a whole."
Review: T. Rabb in TLS 5163 (Mar 15 2002), 11: Presents Richelieu's army as a counterexample to that of Louis XIV. The grands remained essential to the military effort, despite Richelieu's goal of reducing their power. Clientage and local patronage networks were central to recruiting efforts and to the organization of finances. "Corruption, disorder, and fiscal and administrative shortfalls" prevented "the kind of strong, centralized effort that has long been associated with Richelieu." This is "a monumental study, which not only puts a definitive stamp on its subject but sets a high standard for all future military historians."
PASQUIER, PIERRE, éd. Le Temps au XVIIe siècle. Toulouse/Paris: Société littéraire de littératures classiques/Champion, 2001.
Review: BCLF 635 (2002), 96: Volume thématique assorti d'une bibliographie critique qui réunit dix-sept contributions dans des domaines variés: "de la poésie lyrique ou spirituelle, du théâtre, de l'emblématique, da la peinture, de la sculpture, de l'opéra, de la musique sacrée, de la littérature narrative et de la méditation philosophique."
PERCIVAL, MELISSA. The Appearance of Character: Physiognomy and Facial Expression in Eighteenth Century France. Leeds: W.S. Maney, 1999.
Review: n.a. in FMLS 38 (2002), 238: Percival challenges the generally accepted view of physiognomy as relatively unimportant in the 18th c. Although the 18th c. figures heavily in title and thrust of volume, the period under consideration begins with Le Brun's 1668 Conférence sur l'expression générale et particulière. Found to be a "fascinating and illuminating study which extends the view put forward by Louis Van Delft, among others, that the caractères sketched by moralistes of the 17th and the 18th c. move away from the static."
PEROUSE DE MONTCLOS, JEAN-MARIE. L'Architecture à la française du milieu du XVe à la fin du XVIIIe siècle. Paris: Picard, 2001.
Review: BCLF 634 (2002), 62–62: Etude de l'ensemble de pratiques et de techniques architecturales de la construction qui dépasse "la traditionnelle approche stylistique de l'histoire de l'art opérant par l'application de notions aussi commodes que vagues. . ." Développements importants du classicisme.
PHILLIPS, HENRY. "Les acteurs et la loi au XVIIe siècle en France." Littératures classiques no. 40 (2000), 87–101.
Review: C. Rizza in SFr 135 (2001), 634–635. Phillips's contribution to this volume on "Droit et Littérature" re-examines in depth the problem of the comédien and the law by a close study of a series of Italian texts, including apostolic bulles. Makes reference as well to the fine criticism of J. Dubu and P. Olagnier.
PIOFFET, MARIE-CHRISTINE. "L'épreuve de la traversée dans les relations de voyage en Nouvelle-France: entre réalité et fiction." EFL 38 (novembre 2001), 129–157.
With an examination of numerous texts taken from both explorers such as Jacques Cartier, Samuel de Champlain, etc., and from missionaries such as Pierre Biard, Gabriel Sagard, etc., Pioffet wishes to show "les différentes stratégies par lesquelles les voyageurs tentent de masquer les revers de leur entreprise en Nouvelle-France."
POWELL, JOHN S. Music and Theater in France 1600–1680. Oxford Monographs on Music. Oxford: Oxford UP, 2000.
Review: B. Norman in FR 76, 1 (2002), 120–21: argues that a comprehensive study of musical theater during the French seventeenth century is needed to demonstrate the important role that music played in the theater; demonstrates the popularity of music as both an intellectual and a sensual pleasure for spectators. Provides "a useful overview of the repertory, institutions, playwrights, and actors during the period," and offers "detailed and insightful analysis [of] almost every comedy, tragicomedy, comedy-ballet, and pastoral in the corpus, organized by genre and by the place and function of the music used in the plays." Works are examined in the overall context of musical theater, looking back to Renaissance ballets and choruses and ahead to opera. Includes "a list of secular plays with music, an index of more than 300 sung lyrics, and 85 pages of excerpts from the works discussed."
QUIN, ECKEHARD. Personenrechte und Widerstandsrecht in der katholischen Widerstandslehre Frankreichs und Spaniens um 1600. Berlin: Duncker & Humblot, 1999.
Review: I. Mieck in HZ 273 (2001), 200–210: Generally dismissive review points out uneven quality and omissions of this volume which includes discussions of the political ideas and discussions of the Ligue.
RACEVSKIS, ROLAND. "Time, Postal Practices, and Daily Life in Mme de Sévigné's Letters." EMF 7 (2001), 29–47.
In an examination of the cultural and political history of the postal system during the reign of Louis XIV, the author highlights how the structure of regimented time is reflected in Mme de Sévigné's writing.
RIETBERGEN, PETER. Europe. A Cultural History. London: Routledge, 1998.
Review: B. Roeck in HZ 272 (2001), 402–404: Reviewer has few kind words for this astounding undertaking: 2,000 years of history treated in 500 pages (402). Reviewer finds the cultural history to lack any perceptible theoretical model and to omit crucial moments such as the Wars of Religion.
ROBERTS, WILLIAM. "The Tuileries Gardens of Le Nôtre, seen by Perelle, Silvestre, and Others." Classical Unities: Place, Time, Action. Actes de Tulane, ed. E. R. Koch. Biblio 17, 131 (2002), 57–67.
Analysis of various 17th c. engraved views and maps, supplemented by textual references, which allow readrs to trace the scenic development of the gardens over a twenty-year period from 1664. An original connection between isolated documents at the B.N. Cabinet des Estampes supplies a lettered key to Perelle's Plan, which clarifies the architect's intentional symmetry in design. The five accompanying illustrations are essential, but small and not as clear as their originals.
ROHOU, JEAN. Le XVII siècle, Une révolution de la condition humaine. Paris: Seuil, 2002.
Review: A. Viala in QL 833 (du 16 au 30 juin 2002), 19–20: "Il n'avait guère été question de révolution jusqu'ici pour le XVIIe siècle. (...) Jean Rohou pour sa part y discerne une révolution. A quatre indices : la montée de l'amour-propre, l'expansion de l'augustinisme rigoriste, le délitement du classicisme après 1678, et l'essor européen, de Shakespeare à Calderón et Racine, d'une 'littérature tragique.' Jean Rohou s'est ici engagé dans un grand livre. Par le volume (670 pages, nanties de deux index, bibliographie et table des matières détaillée). Et par le propos. Car non seulement il s'agit d'y voir le XVIIe siècle sous les couleurs de la révolution, mais, davantage, de parcourir l'Histoire dans la longue durée pour tracer les chemins de celle-ci pour justifier le terme et la thèse."
RÖSENER, WERNER, ed. Kommunikation in der ländlichen Gesellschaft vom Mittelalter bis zur Moderne. Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 2000.
Review: E. Lacour in HZ 273 (2001), 126–127: Diverse and highly interdisciplinary collection of studies includes treatment of archeology trade, cultural hegemony, public and private sphere.
ROYER, JEAN-PIERRE. Histoire de la justice en France. Paris: PUF, 2001.
Review: J.-P. Jean in Esprit (juin 2002), 221–22: "Cet ouvrage de référence [3e éd.] est une histoire politique de la justice. L'auteur trace classiquement l'histoire de la justice royale à compter de 1661, puis rappelle les grands débats des 'révolutions de la justice' entre 1789 et 1889 avant de s'ouvrir sur 'la justice républicaine', depuis l'affaire Dreyfus jusqu'à la période contemporaine."
RUBIES, JOAN-PAU. Travel and Ethnology in the Renaissance. South India through European Eyes, 1250–1625.
Review: L.A. Gordon in RenQ 55 (2002), 318–319: Finds that Rubies "has transformed this modest field [the analysis of travelers' accounts] into one of high accomplishment" (318). Focuses include cultural and intellectual history and while sources do not include Indian language sources, they do include "materials in half a dozen European languages" (318). Limiting himself geographically to Vijayanagar, the the southern Deccan region, Rubies challenges recent critics such as Edward Said. Rubies shows the concerns of both missionary and traveler in this "masterful work" (319).
SALEWSKI, MICHAEL. Geschichte Europas. Staaten und Nationen von der Antike bis zur Gegenwart. München: Beck, 2000.
Review: K. Hildebrand in HZ 272 (2001), 400–402: Hildebrand characterizes Salewski's study as an opus magnum and declares it to be an "imposing achievement" (402). 17th c. scholars will appreciate discussions of humanism, capitalistic tradition and of Louis XIV and Absolutism. Impressive by its erudition and unhesitatingly scientific character.
SALMON, J.H.M. "A Second Look at the Noblesse Seconde: The Key to Noble Clientage and Power in Early Modern France?" FHS 25 (2002), 575–593.
Recounts the evolution of the concept of the noblesse seconde in modern thought and examines the various influences these so-called "second-tier nobles" may have had on the French monarchy in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries.
SAUNDERS, ALISON. The Seventeenth-Century French Emblem: A Study in Diversity. Genève: Droz, 2000.
Review: A. Adams in MLR 97.2 (2002), 426–27: "This book gives a real sense, not only of the diversity of emblematic phenomena in the seventeenth century, but, at the same time, of the century itself. It should enable all those working in the period to appreciate the centrality of this aspect of French culture."
Review: A. Arrigoni in SFr 134 (2001), 386–387: This interesting study details the evolution of the genre, its renewal and expansion. Saunders analyzes representative samples of a general type, of Christian or devotional type and of a polyglot type (often relating to love). Structure, style and intent are examined as are the diverse functions, often the glorification of the great. Important and detailed bibliography.
Review: A.-E. Spica in PFSCL XXIX, 56 (2002): 276–278: Reviewer lauds Saunders' "parfaite connaissance du terrain," noting that "la description matérielle des éditions est fort bien établie, tout comme le réperage et la comparaison des exemplaires. Le résultat donne un livre solidement informé, très annoté, muni d'une abondante bibliographie, qui présente un panorama large autant que varié d'un genre particulièrement prisé à l'âge moderne." First chapter presents a historical and cultural framework, covering material from Vulson de la Colombière to Ménestrier. Flemish influences are also accounted for, followed by "un parcours de l'emblématique française en matière de religion" with reference to Richeome, Berthod, Perrot de La Sale, and Georgette de Montenay, and then on 《 glorification royale 》 with reference to Félibien and Le Brun. Reviewer cites minor problems, for example, the lack of distinction made between French emblems and French-language emblems. Overall, however, the reviewer calls the work "un ensemble exemplaire. . . soigneusement illustré. . . d'une grande qualité."
SCHMITTER, AMY M. "Representation and the Body of Power in French Academic Painting." JHI 63.3 (2002), 399–424.
Extending a concept of representation modeled on written texts to the realm of painting, Schmitter demonstrates that images developed by Le Brun and the Royal Academy of Painting and Sculpture shaped "state power as the embodied royal power of a particular moment of French absolutism. . .."
SCHNEIDER, NORBERT. Geschichte der Landschaftsmalerei. Vom Spätmittelalter bis zur Romantik. Darmstadt: Primus, 1999.
Review: A. Schwarz in HZ 272 (2001), 404–405: Traces history of landscape painting from the later Middle Ages to the Romantic Era, from the stylistic and stereotypic through the allegorical and emblematic, to the 16th and 17th c. geo- and anthropocentric periods. Good quality reproductions.
SCHNEIDER, ROBERT A. "Political Power and the Emergence of Literature: Christian Jouhaud's Age of Richelieu." FHS 25 (2002), 357–380.
A "review essay" that both summarizes and critiques Christian Jouhaud's Les pouvoirs de la littérature: Histoire d'un paradoxe (Paris, 2000). According to Schneider, this well-done if narrowly focused study of the relationship between the development of literature and that of political power is "a work that deserves to be placed on the shelf next to two other recent studies of the period, Alain Viala's Naissance de l'écrivain (Paris, 1985), and Public et littérature en France au XVIIe siècle (Paris, 1994), by Jouhaud's sometime collaborator, Hélèn [sic] Merlin."
STRUDY, DAVID J. Fractured Europe: 1600–1721. Blackwell, 2002.
Review: D.C. Baxter in CHOICE 40, 2 (2002), 349: A survey of seventeenth-century Europe that is part of Blackwell's "History of Europe" series. Intended for teachers, students, and general readers, the book covers all of Europe, including the Mediterranean region, northern Europe, and the Ottoman Empire, rather than Western Europe alone. Organized around a political and diplomatic narrative, it also examines, in less detail, economic, social, and cultural themes.
SUPPA, SILVIO. "Raison et passion dans le paradigme politique." Les Méditerranées du XVIIe siècle. Actes du VIe colloque du Centre International de Rencontres sur le XVIIe siècle. Ed. G. Dotoli. Tübingen: Gunter Narr Verlag (Biblio 17), 2002: 257–270.
Suppa maintains that in the 17th century, "la pensée politique française semble attentive à maintenir l'héritage de la tradition méditerranéenne en matière de raison d'Etat et à l'adapter aux nouvelles conditions historiques." Studies the relationship between passion and reason in Richelieu's Testament politique, with additional reference to Gabriel Naudé and Pierre Gassendi.
TERRIER, DIDER. Histoire économique de la France d'Ancien Régime. Paris: Hachette, 1998.
Review: I. Mieck in HZ 273 (2001), 455–456: Concentrates on the market, treating the consumer, the market's response and production. Chronologically organized according to three periods: 1480–1570, 1570–1720, 1720–1790. Volume is rich in substance but of somewhat difficult access in critical apparatus such as indices. Bibliography is incomplete and references are lacking to German language research.
THORNTON, PETER. Form and Decoration. Innovation in the Decorative Arts, 1470–1870. London: Weidenfeld and Nicholson, 1998.
Review: T. Clifford in Burlington 1191 (2002), 359. An "excellent read, explaining the complex spread and development of design throughout Europe over four centuries." It is destined for a popular audience; the reviewer finds this focus causes ideas to be "simplified and sometimes a little eccentric." The book lacks a bibliography, though some sources are cited in the text, but does contain a "wealth of illustrations," even if these are occasionally poorly reproduced. Overall, "yet another testament to the many talents of Peter Thornton, the reigning doyen of furniture studies."
TREASURE, GEOFFREY. Louis XIV. Longman, 2001.
Review: D.J. Heimmermann in CHOICE 40, 2 (2002), 349: a "complete and balanced study of the reign of Louis XIV" that "examines both the Sun King's influence and his personal qualities, detaching Louis from royal mystique and propaganda." Demonstrates that absolutism was less powerful than proposed in political theory, and shows how the monarchy "was limited by the terms on which it secured its authority." Also includes profiles of Colbert, Bossuet, Fenelon, and others.
VAILLANCOURT, DANIEL. "La ville des entrées royales: entre transfiguration et défiguration." DSS 212 (2001), 491–508.
A rich study of the multiple changes put into effect in preparation for and during the king's entry, including transformation of the urban space through a series of ordonnances that modified everyday life. Vaillancourt notes also that the official relations often silence the themes of domination and conquest underlying the entry in favor of a narration of the joy of triumph. Finally, the essay considers some of the reasons why the entrée royale became obsolete.
VEYRIN-FORRER, T. Précis d'héraldique. Nouvelle édition revue et mise à jour par M. Popoff. Paris: Larousse, 2000.
Review: J. Filée in ECl 69 (2001), 474: La rédition d'un ouvrage datant de 1951 qui contient 32 chapitres révisés par M. Popoff, conservateur au Cabinet de Médailles de la BNF. L'ouvrage propose au lecteur "un aperçu complet [. . .] depuis les notions fondamentales jusqu'aux détails des figures et des ornements" ainsi qu' "une bibliographie sélective," le tout dans un "remarquable ouvrage comportant quarante planches de blasons et seize illustrations en pleine page."
VISENTIN, HELENE. "Des tableaux vivants à la machine d'architecture dans les entrées royales lyonnaises (XVIe-XVIIe siècles)." DSS 212 (2001), 419–428.
A fascinating study of how and why tableaux vivants common to royal entries came to be replaced by decorative architectural elements. This mutation, Visentin argues, is intimately linked to a change in the representation of political power: in the 16th century, the political instrument that was the entrée affirmed "la ville face au roi". Later, it was the king who affirmed "sa puissance face à la ville qui l'accueille."
WAGNER, MARIE-FRANCE. "De la ville de province en paroles et en musique à la ville silencieuse ou la disparition de l'entrée royale sous Louis XIII." DSS 212 (2001), 457–475.
Essay deals with the temporal and spatial importance accorded to oratory in the entrée and elaborates several reasons for the decline of the ritual, linked in part to the shift in political power from urban centers to the state as embodied in the absolutist monarch.
WAHL, ELIZABETH SUSAN. Invisible Relations: Representations of Female Intimacy in the Age of Enlightenment. Stanford: Stanford UP, 1999.
Review: H. Andreadis in SCN 59:3 (2002), 289–291: Covering several centuries, this book "makes an important contribution to the study of women, gender, and sexuality during the early modern period by synthesizing a broad range of sources, from early modern pornographic and medical texts to the poetry of Katherine Philips, and by examining French as well as English materials." Wahl focuses on narratives by men, emphasizing female sexuality as viewed through male anxiety and prejudice. The author argues principally that "discourses of 'companionate' marriage. . .serve an increasingly militant heteronormativity. . .." A comparatist, Wahl also examines "the transmission of sexual knowledge, especially through pornography, between France and England."
Review: D. Steinberger in PFSCL XXVIII, 55 (2001), 562–563: "Wide-ranging and extremely well-documented study which seeks to demonstrate an increasing consciousness of female homosexuality from the sixteenth to the eighteenth century in England and France. Wahl writes of the evolution of erotic ties between women from 'invisible relations' to an 'open secret,' both from the point of view of contemporaries and of literary critics. She traces the growth of this awareness, and renders erotic relations between early modern women more visible, through her skillful close readings by a rich and intriguing variety of male and female French and English writers; these texts include legal and medical treatises on hermaphroditism, poetic and epistolary expressions of love between women, and libertine literary representations of the tribade." Includes reference to Brantôme, Saint-Pavin, Benserade, and Pontus de Tyard, Madeleine de Scudéry, Catherine Descartes, the Abbé de Pure, Saint-Evremond, and Nicolas Chorier.
WIESNER-HANKS, MERRY E. Christianity and Sexuality in the Early Modern World. Regulating Desire, Reforming Practice. London: Routledge, 2000.
Review: R. Jütte in HZ 272 (2001), 186–188: Recommends a German translation of Wiesner-Hanks's wide-ranging study of the role of Christianity in Early Modern sexuality. Wiesner-Hanks's impressive knowledge is evident in her arguments and clearly organized presentation as well as in the bibliographies that follow each chapter. Succeeds in this ambitious undertaking which is not limited to Europe, but treats the entire zone of Christendom.
WINE, HUMPHREY. National Gallery Catalogues. The Seventeenth-Century French Painters. New Haven, London: The National Gallery Company Ltd., 2001.
Review: P. Rosenburg in Burlington 1193 (2002), 507–508. Although the National Gallery Collection itself has significant gaps, such as no works by La Tour, Vouet, or Le Brun, it is to the reviewer's mind a beautiful collection, and Wine's catalogue is worthy of it. It is well-researched, contains excellent technical notes, and well-produced color reproductions. A catalogue "which should stand as an example to be followed by other museums."
WOLFTHAL, DIANE. Images of Rape: The "Heroic" Tradition and its Alternatives. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1999.
Review: n.a. in FMLS 37 (2001), 360: "Persuasive and profusely annotated," the volume "explores the depiction of rape in European art, book prints and other records of visual culture" from the 12th to the 17th centuries. Argues convincingly against Foucault's pre-Victorian "homogeneous" conception of sexuality. Treats both canonical and non-canonical materials including legal treatises and war-illustrations. A case in point is Poussin's Rape of the Sabine Women.
ALET, M. "La Mélancolie dans la psycho-physiologie du début du XVIIe siècle." PFSCL 27.53 (2000), 447–417.
Review: C. Bernazzoli in SFr 133 (2001), 138. Successfully demonstrates, through analysis of treatises of the period, the interconnections between physiology and psychology as well as the different natures of melancholy and their links with the imagination.
APPELT, BEATE. "Les vapeurs": eine literarische Nosologie zwischen Klassik und Romantik. Frankfurt a. M.: Peter Lang, 2000.
Review: M. Groene in RF 113 (2001) 547–548: Appelt retraces the medical, historical and cultural evolution of the illness, which had many and diverse symptoms and which "permettait de désigner toute sorte de mal-être" (547). Considers the health of Louis XIV and the malady's description in correspondence and many forms of literature, notably the theatre. Abundant notes and two helpful indices.
ARMOGATHE, JEAN-ROBERT. "Un seul poids, une seule mesure. Le concept de mesure universelle." DSS 213 (2001), 631–640.
A clear, succinct discussion of the definition of mesure universelle, including the dual meaning of "universal" in this context; a history of the origins of the movement to identify a standard measure and of the debates surrounding the grounds on which mesure universelle would be based.
ASBACH, OLAF, KLAUS MALETTKE, & SVEN EXTERNBRINK, eds. Altes Reich, Frankreich und Europa. Politische, philosophische und historische Aspekte des französischen Deutschlandbildes im 17. und 18. Jahrhundert. Berlin: Duncker & Humblot, 2001.
Review: H. Duchhardt in HZ 273 (2001), 777: Welcome proceedings of the 1999 Marburg Colloque treats French perceptions of Germany in the 17th and 18th c. Sources include diplomatic works, literature, travel accounts, among others. Important new outcomes testify to well-functioning German-French cooperative scholarship.
AUCANTE, VINCENT. "La démesure apprivoisée des passions." DSS 213 (2001), 613–630.
Juxtaposing Descartes's Traité des passions de l'âme and numerous other contemporary treatises, Aucante delineates the uniqueness of the Cartesian theory of tempering the passions.
AZOUVI, FRANÇOIS. Descartes et la France, Histoire d'une passion nationale. Paris: Fayard, 2002.
Review: F. de Buzon in QL 830 (du 1er au 15 mai 2002), 8–9: L'ouvrage commence à la mort de Descartes (1650) et termine avec la première moitié du XXe siècle. "L'analyse des nuances individuelles menée par François Azouvi est telle que l'on échappe à l'imagerie qui voudrait que le cartésien soit toujours de gauche (contra Maurras) et l'anticartésien de droite (contra Nizan), même si une bonne partie de la droite et de l'extrême-droite a joué Pascal contre Descartes. Cette histoire si riche et documentée s'interrompt précisément au moment où la technicité des études cartésiennes fait désormais apparaître à l'évidence la très grande complexité du philosophe et son irréductibilité à un système simpliste, même si les échos des anciennes querelles résonnent toujours."
Review: B. Wilson in TLS 5170 (May 3 2002), 8–9: Treats question of how Descartes became archetypal of the French nation. Argues that even before Voltaire's critique of Descartes made the philosopher a cause, "Descartes had been a prism through which the great conflicts of French thought were played out." Descartes is constantly distorted to fit contemporary prejudices, and accordingly may be a "philosopher of order" who teaches the "principles of universal hierarchy" or an anti-fascist. Book closes with 1946 and shows how the end of the war becomes "a victory for Descartes as well as France."
BAILEY, GAUVIN ALEXANDRE. Art on the Jesuit Missions in Asia and Latin America, 1542–1773. Toronto: U of Toronto P, 1999.
Review: C. Farago in RenQ 55 (2002), 319–321: Judges Bailey's work "a gold mine" which "provides a significant basis for further historical investigations of cultural domination. . ., acculturation and co-existence" (321). Focusing on images that the Jesuits used in educating Catholics, the volume "offers the first overview of these activities outside Europe" (320). Of particular interest is the role of printed books and illustrations, for example, that of Ignatius of Loyola's Spiritual Exercises. Formal descriptions of objects which are "artistically hybrid" (321) join with sensitive interpretations, for example the 17th c. statues of the Guarani in the Paraguay rainforest. These statues, which adorn cathedral-sized churches, were "highly symbolic of personal identity and kinship" (Bailey 178).
BENEDICT, BARBARA M. Curiosity: A Cultural History of Early Modern Inquiry. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2001.
Review: P. Harrison in Isis 93.1 (2002), 120–121: "Of particular significance is the way in which the book demonstrates how curiosity and its representations served to demarcate the boundaries of legitimate topics of knowledge and modes of enquiry." Reviewer finds the book lacks some exposition of the early modern "taxonomy of the affections."
BENNETT, JONATHAN. Descartes, Spinoza and Leibniz. Vol. 1 of Learning from Six Philosophers. Oxford: Clarendon, 2001. 2 vols.
Review: M. Ayers in TLS 5176 (Jun 14 2002), 6–7: Ayers sees triple project in this book: to show that there is much to learn from early modern philosophy, to show that one doesn't have to explore the intellectual context of a work to find what is of intellectual value in it, and to advance a particular view of what constitutes "good philosophy." Reviewer notes "judicious readings of texts," but suggests that Bennett is determined to find his own ideas in the philosophers he studies. "Within every great philosopher, a perceptive analytic philosopher is struggling to get out. Bennett is there to help."
BEZZOLA LAMBERT, LADINA. "Envisioning a Plurality of Worlds: Metaphors as Systems of Thought." PFSCL XXIX, 57 (2002): 361–386.
Essay focuses on "the parasitic use that seventeenth-century supporters of the theory of the plurality of worlds make of certain recurrent metaphors," including "moments of breakdown where the metaphoric structures become confusing and images start to blur. Such moments reveal a potential in metaphor that is truly creative and goes beyond mere bricolage." With particular concentration on Huygens, Fontenelle, John Wilkins, and Cyrano, and the metaphor of theatre applied to nature.
BIET, CHRISTIAN & VINCENT JULIEN, éds. L'Indicible et la vacuité au XVIIe siècle. XVIIe siècle no. 207 (avril–juin 2000).
Review: B. Papàsogli in SFr 133 (2001), 148–149: The result of a seminar of the ENS of Saint-Cloud (1996–1997), the volume focuses on a fundamental paradox of 17th c. culture as it investigates the "je ne sais quoi" of sentiment and taste, the secret of esoteric knowledge and the omissions of rhetorical art (148). Particular studies on works such as Lafayette's and Villedieu's (Grande) complement topical analyses such as Declercq's on the ineffable in classical esthetics. Science, theology and architecture come into play as well in this wide-ranging volume.
BIRELEY, ROBERT. The Refashioning of Catholicism, 1450–1700. A Reassessment of the Counter-Reformation. Washington, D.C.: The Catholic U of America P., 1999.
Review: P.T. Lang in HZ 272 (2001), 185–186: Even-handed and remarkable study; 17th c. scholars will appreciate sections on devotion to Mary and on the development of Jansenism in France.
BLAMONT, JACQUES. "La mesure du temps et de l'espace au XVIIe siècle." DSS 213 (2001), 579–611.
Synthesizing 17th-c. traités and latter-day scholarship, Blamont presents a detailed historical survey of the technological innovations developped to measure time and space.
BLUM, PASCALE & ANNE MANTERO, eds. Poésie et bible de la Renaissance à l'âge classique, 1550–1680. Actes du Colloque de Besançon (25–26 mars 1997). Paris: Champion, 1999.
Review: J. Hennequin in RF 113 (2001), 398–399: These Actes of the 1997 Colloque de Besançon complement the works of B. Roussel and B. Bedouelle, and J.-R Armogathe, respectively, on the Bible and the Reformation era, and the 17th c. Covering some 130 years, the volume includes analyses on theoretical and esthetic problems, biblical mises en scène, constraints and liberties, polemics and finally, forms of lyricism, including music settings. Reviewer notes the remarkable unity of the volume as well as the excellence of its critical apparatus: indices of biblical references, authors, critics and works cited, and a bibliography.
Review: M.-F. Hilgar in FR 75,6 (2002), 1274–75: Fourteen essays treating religious poetry and its relations to the two testaments in sixteenth- and seventeenth-century France. Collectively, the articles identify a fundamental paradox in the works examined: "l'inspiration poétique ne peut être que divine, mais réduire la matière biblique à une matière poétique risque de produire un effet théâtral et même donner lieu à une ingéniosité de mauvais goût." Biblical figures and early modern poets considered include Judith and Esther, Du Bartas, Isaac Habert, Laurent Drelincourt, Lancelot de Carle, Anne de Marquets, Tristan l'Hermite, and l'Abbé Testu.
Review: G. Holtus in ZRP 116 (2000), 685: This collection of 14 essays, the result of the 1997 Colloque de Besançon, is organized around four themes: "une nouvelle poétique"; "mises en scène bibliques", "libertés, contraintes, polémique"; "formes du lyrisme". Includes treatment of well-known and lesser known authors of the time, including La Ceppède, Tristan, César de Nostredame and Madame Guyon, among others.
BLUM, PAUL-RICHARD. "La métaphysique comme théologie naturelle : Barolomeo Mastri." EP 1 (2002), 31–49.
Discusses the object of metaphysics as defined by Bartholomaeus Mastrius and shows how his metaphysics leads to a strictly formal ontology, which he differentiates from and contrasts with Thomistic tradition.
BORDES, HELENE & ELFRIEDA DUBOIS. "Regards croisés sur l'édition par soeur Patricia Burns, archiviste de la Visitation, de la Correspondance de sainte Jeanne Chantal" XVIIe siècle no. 208 (juillet–sept. 2000), 519–527.
Review: S. Poli in SFr 134 (2001), 387–388: Complementary appreciations of Burns's edition. DuBois focuses her analyses on the themes and the life of the founder, her private sadnesses, etc. while Bordes focuses on the gigantic work of the curator, the quantity of inédits, the accuracy of the notes and faithfulness of the edition.
BOULNOIS, OLIVER. "Pour une histoire philosophique de la scolastique du XVIIe siècle." EP 1 (2002), 1–2.
Introduction to an entire volume on Scotism in France, in which the author declares "Il s'agit de produire ici l'histoire de certaines propositions de Scot, circulant anonymement, souterrainement, et pourtant massivement, dans la philosophie du XVIIe."
BOULNOIS, OLIVER. "Le refoulement de la liberté d'indifférence et les polémiques anti-scotistes de la métaphysique moderne." EP 2 (2002), 199–237.
Traces the changes and evolution of the theory of the liberty of indifference, which was scotist in origin, and then transformed first during the debates surrounding Luis de Molina and again in Guillaume Gibieuf's works; author suggests these issues are resolved in some ways by Descartes.
BOUWSMA, WILLIAM J. The Waning of the Renaissance, 1550–1640. Yale: Yale University Press, 2000.
Review: D. R. Kelley in Isis 92.4 (2001), 777–778: Gives "a nuanced, even ambivalent, portrait of the mentality of a world being delivered into a painful modernity informed by liberties at least as negative as positive. . . It is a marvelous portrait, deserving to be set beside those of the earlier masters Burckhardt and Huizenga."
Review: R. G. Witt in RenQ 55 (2002), 302–303: Finds this volume "a rewarding and challenging book by a master scholars" (303). Includes sections on human nature and its cultural manifestations (important emphasis is made on Augustinian spirituality and scientific discoveries), the anxiety of Renaissance thinkers and artists (reviewer singles out for praise Bouwsma's "superlative chapter" on theatre), and on the culture of order where "reason was sovereign and the passions and imagination fell under suspicion" (302). Order and freedom are the "two dynamic forces" which produce the later waning of the Renaissance (303).
BRIAN, ISABELLE. Messieurs de Sainte-Geneviève: religieux et curés, de la Contre-Réforme à la Révolution. Paris: Cerf, 2001.
Review: BCLF 633 (2002), 1001: ". . .I. Biran a cherché à explorer l'idéal proposé par ces religieux, le regard qu'ils portent sur eux-mêmes et l'écho que cette utopie rencontre dans la société qui les entoure. Elle a donc privilégié les sources normatives et narratives, toutes conservées dans les archives de la bibliothèque Sainte-Geneviève pour ce qui concerne le XVIIe siècle."
BURGIO, S. Teologia Barocca. Il probabilismo in Sicilia nell'epoca di Filippo IV. Catania: Società di Storia Patria per la Sicilia Orientale, 1998.
Review: B. Clarot in ECl 69 (2001), 433–434: Cet ouvrage étudie l'importance du probabilisme pour "trouver une juste voie dans la vie pratique" et son influence nocif sur le pouvoir monarchique en Europe entre 1600 et 1650, avant sa déchéance suite aux condemnations de Bossuet et certains Romains. Après avoir esquissé la situation en Europe en général, l'auteur se concentre surtout sur le probabilisme sicilien.
CASTONGUAY-BELANGER, JOËL. "L'auréole de l'homme de science dans les éloges académiques de Fontenelle." PFSCL XXIX, 57 (2002): 347–359.
Posits that "ce qu[e Fontenelle] souhaite avant tout démontrer, c'est que la connaissance scientifique est une connaissance utile, et que derrière la réflexion pure et abstraite point toujours une retombée technologique bien concrète." Fontenelle eventually writes a kind of laicized hagiography of the scientist meant to reduce suspicion of this oft-considered 'heretical' group.
CAVE, TERENCE. Pré-histoires: textes au seuil de la modernité. Genève: Droz, 1999.
Review: E. Molina in MLR 96.4 (2001), 1064–65: Cave "examines cruxes of belief or superstition, where the human and the divine intersect, in authors ranging from Bodin, Verville, Cardan, Wier and Le Loyer to Ronsard, Rabelais, Montaigne, Pascal and Descartes.
DES CHENE, DENNIS. Spirits and Clocks: Machine and Organism in Descartes. Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 2001.
Review: C. Lüthy in PhQ 52 (October 2002), 632–634: Des Chene argues that "we give credit to Descartes for the wrong innovations," and that the biological innovation of Descartes was the idea that "the body is only a machine, and hence, the abolition of the lower two souls." Reviewer concludes that "Des Chene analyses these problems in a clear and elegant manner."
Review: M. J. Osler in Isis 93.1 (2002), 116–117: The last volume in a trilogy of the author's study of Descartes, especially in relation to late scholastic (particularly Jesuit) thought. Here, author specifically considers Descartes' physiological ideas, as presented in Traité de l'homme.
DETLEFSEN, KAREN ELIZABETH. "Generation and the Individual in Descartes, Malebranche and Leibniz." DAI 62/04 (2001), 1438.
Argues that "the emergence of the preformation doctrine of generation" was due to the need "to account for the individuation, unity and enduring identity of material bodies."
DOYLE, WILLIAM, ed. Old Regime France, 1648–1788. Oxford: Oxford UP, 2001.
Review: D.J. Heimmermann in CHOICE 39, 9 (2002), 1653: Eight essays which suggest that between 1648 and 1788, France witnessed profound changes: "the population rose to unprecedented levels, the economy expanded vigorously in some sectors, and an independent public opinion emerged that challenged absolutism." Since the monarchy was unable to break from the system of social hierarchy and its own imperial ambitions, and the parlements were allowed to obstruct, the result was a paralysis that led to the 1789 revolution.
FORLIVESI, MARCO. "La distinction entre concept formel et concept objectif: Suárez, Pasqualigo, Mastri." EP 1 (2002), 3–30.
Studies the distinction between "conceptus formalis" and "conceptus obiectivus" and demonstrates how the shift from the former to the latter in the early modern period functions as the point of transition between scholastic thought and modern philosophy; this leads to new perspectives on Cartesian arguments for the existence of God.
FREYBURGER, G. & L. PERNOT, eds. Du héros païen au saint chrétien. Actes du colloque organisé par le Centre d'Analyse des Rhétoriques Religieuses de l'Antiquité. Paris: Institut d'Études Augustinennes, 1997.
Review: P. Normand in ECl 69 (2001), 452: "Cet ouvrage constitue les actes d'un colloque portant sur la transition du paganisme au christianisme, et ce, d'après le point de vue particulier de l'évolution, de la compénétration et de la confrontation des modèles de référence propres à ces deux cultures: la figure du héros et celle du saint." Les dix-septiémistes s'intéresseront surtout à la quatrième partie et le travail de François-Xavier Cuche sur "la canonisation du néo-stoïcien et la démolition chrétienne du héros dans le XVIIe siècle français."
GIOCANTI, SYLVIA. Penser l'irrésolution: Montaigne, Pascal, La Mothe Le Vayer: trois itinéraires sceptiques. Paris: Champion, 2001.
Review: BCLF 634 (2002), 15–16: L'ouvrage de Giocanti "permet de circonscrire le scepticisme moderne" et "de confronter trois auteurs très différents et pourtant souvent intellectuellement proches."
GONTIER, THIERRY. De l'homme à l'animal. Paradoxes sur la nature des animaux. Montaigne et Descartes. Paris: Vrin, 1998.
Review: E. Faye in Revue de métaphysique et de morale 2 (juin 2002), 241–243: "T. Gontier nous livre une analyse dense et souvent minutieuse de certains moments décisifs dans l'histoire des conceptions de la différence spécifique entre l'animal et l'homme, d'Aristote à Descartes : une histoire qui, souligne-t-il, met en jeu la compréhension de l'essence de l'homme."
GUIDERDONI-BRUSLE, AGNES. "Images et emblèmes dans la spiritualité de saint François de Sales." DSS 214 (2002), 35–54.
Author details the integration of emblems and images into de Sales' discursive style and his "active spirituality." Eschewing ornamental and esthetic uses of the emblem, de Sales claims its intimate role in the subject's relationship with God.
HANAFI, ZAKIYA. The Monster in the Machine: Magic, Medicine, and the Marvelous in the Time of the Scientific Revolution. Durham and London: Duke UP, 2000.
Review: N. H. Clulee in SCN 59.3 (2001), 264–267: Rather than a comprehensive history of monstrosity, this book examines "a range of discussions bearing on monstrosity placed within a rich and concrete sense of the cultural context in which these discussions took place. . .." Hanafi analyzes why the "sacred monster" could not withstand the scrutiny of the scientific gaze and then turns to "new residences" of the monstrous in mechanical devices and the human heart. Reviewer notes several limitations of the study: it draws primarily from Italian sources, and specialists in the field will find little that is new, although "the writings covered are placed in new and stimulating contexts."
HARRISON, PETER. "Original Sin and the Problem of Knowledge in Early Modern Europe." JHI 63.2 (2002), 239–259.
Harrison shows "how the biblical narrative of the Fall directly informed the epistemological projects of the seventeenth century, and prompted various rationalist and empiricist solutions" on the Continent and in England.
HAVELANGE, CARL. De l'oeil et du monde. Une histoire du regardau seuil de la modernité. Paris: Fayard, 1998.
Review: B. Roeck in HZ 272 (2001), 679–681: Convincing assessment of the two orders of seeing and the crucial role of scientific discoveries and development concentrates its analysis on the paradigm-changing period of the 16th and 17th centuries.
HEURTEL, PASCALE, éd. Oiseaux du monde: dessins naturalistes XVIIe-XIXe siècles. Arles: Actes Sud, 2001.
Review: BCLF 633 (2002), 1057: "Grâce à cette édition qui reproduit avec le plus grand soin 350 oeuvres sélectionnées et commentées par Pascale Heurtel, nous sommes conviés à une promenade ornithologique éblouissante, en particulier parmi les oiseaux des tropiques. . . et en Chine. . ."
HOWELL, ROBERT JOHNSON, JR. "Self-knowledge and self-reference." DAI 63/04 (2002), 1380.
A reading of Descartes and Hume that aims to be "a defense and reconciliation of the two apparently conflicting theses that the self is peculiarly elusive and that our basic, cogito-judgements are certain."
JUDOWITZ, DALIA. The Culture of the Body: Geneologies of Modernity. Ann Arbor: U of Michigan P, 2001.
Review: M. Schwartz in SoAR 67 (2002), 189–193. A "genuinely new and persuasive philosophical history of the body," which draws on the last writings of Merleau-Ponty to consider our "mixed mental and bodily constitution" (189–190) Judowitz sees 17th century as juncture where the modern body emerges with Descartes' strict separation of mind and body. Her project is one "of elucidation and emancipation—the elucidation of the recent emergence in modernity of the body as pure materiality, and the emancipation of vital forces through a retrieval of pre-modern and counter-modern discourses about the body" (191).
JULLIEN, VINCENT. "De la fortuna du cartésianisme napolitain." Les Méditerranées du XVIIe siècle. Actes du VIe colloque du Centre International de Rencontres sur le XVIIe siècle. Ed. G. Dotoli. Tübingen: Gunter Narr Verlag (Biblio 17), 2002: 337–347.
Jullien demonstrates how "Descartes et son œuvre vont en effet constituer une bannière susceptible d'unifier la philosophie et la science dite 'moderne' puis, presque aussitôt, le cartésianisme sera vivement critiqué, voire mis en pièces par ses propres enfants." He concludes, "Descartes et son œuvre, d'une part servent bien l'œcuménisme moderniste du XVIIe siècle et de l'autre ouvrent un domaine de controverses profondes et nombreuses."
KNEBEL, SVEN K. "Entre logique mentaliste et métaphysique conceptualiste: la distinctio rationis ratiocinantis." EP 2 (2002), 145–168.
Uses the work of Bartolomaeus Mastrius (1602–1673) as "un guide privilégié" in helping the modern reader/philosopher to understand in metaphysical, rather than logical, terms the difference 16th–18th century Scotists made between distinctio rationis ratiocinatae and ratiocinantis.
KREMER, E.J. & MOREAU, DENIS, eds. Œuvres philosophiques d'Arnauld. Bristol, U.K.: Thoemmes Press, 2002, 6 vols.
Arnauld's key philosophical writings and correspondence with Malebranche, Leibniz and others. <info@thoemmes.com>.
LE BRUN, JACQUES. Le pur amour de Platon à Lacan. Paris: La librairie du XXIe siècle, Seuil éd., 2002.
Review: M. Plon in QL 838 (du 16 au 30 septembre 2002): "Si la lecture de cette véritable somme savante n'est pas toujours d'un accès facile à qui n'est pas un familier de son objet, elle n'en demeure pas moins captivante de bout en bout tant le style alerte de son auteur parvient à transcender le parcours d'une matière pour le moins austère en une aventure intellectuelle toujours surprenante. C'est à l'extrême fin du XVIIe siècle, en 1699 très exactement, que le pape Innocent XII fut conduit... à condamner vingt trois propositions figurant dans l'ouvrage intitulé Explication des maximes des saints paru en 1697, signé de François Fénelon... (...) Fénelon fait ainsi l'objet d'une condamnation qui ne lui vaudra toutefois pas la sévère incarcération que connut sa partenaire en matière de spiritualité du pur amour, Madame Guyon— Jacques Le Brun consacre de superbes pages à cette femme, à sa rencontre avec Fénelon, à leur correspondance..."
LEHMANN, HARTMUT & ANNE-CHARLOTT TREPP, eds. Im Zeichen der Krise. Religiosität im Europa des 17. Jahrhunderts. Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 1999.
Review: H. Schilling in HZ 273 (2001), 195–199: Excellent collection of essays makes fine contribution to the assessment of crisis in Early Modern research. Focusing on the long 17th c., the 27 essays are grouped in sections which treat themes such as (I) Apocalyptics and Prophecy, (II) Epidemics, Famine, Sickness and Death, (III) The Jewish Experience, (IV) Presence of Foreigners, the Secular and the Supernatural, (V) Old and New Science and Interpretations of the World, and (VI) Transformations of the Sacred. The last section includes treatment of Paris politics between 1580 and 1630.
LENNON, THOMAS M. "Did Bayle Read Saint-Evremond?" JHI 63.2 (2002), 225–237.
Author contends that Bayle's reading was "superficial and dependent on a secondary source," a claim that calls into question received notions about Bayle's religious skepticism.
LE PAS DE SÉCHEVAL, ANNE. "Peinture et spiritualité au XVIIe siècle: l'église parisienne des Carmélites de l'Incaration, entre bérullisme et tradition carmélitaine." XVIIe siècle no. 208 (juillet–sept. 2000), 387–406.
Review: S. Poli in SFr 134 (2001), 387: Author reconstructs the church of the convent with its rich collection of frescos and paintings through a close examination of these works. Illustrates, with special attention to Bérulle, the religious controversies of the time and furnishes the reader an articulated frame of a setting and a period (387).
LOLORDO, ANTONIA. "Flesh vs. Mind: A Study of the Debate between Descartes and Gassendi." DAI 62/11 (2002), 3815.
Argues "that Gassendi's objections [to Descartes's Meditations] derive from a systematic psychology and cannot be well understood without a grasp of this psychology."
LOOK, BRANDON. Leibniz and the "Vinculum Substantiale," Stuttgart: Franz Steiner Verlag, 1999.
Review: P. Lodge in Isis 92.2 (2001), 392–393. "Should become standard reading for scholars working on Leibniz's account of the material world." Chapter 3 is concerned with Antoine Arnauld's and René-Joseph Tournemine's objections to Leibniz's accounts of unity.
LUEBKE, DAVID M., ed. The Counter-Reformation. The Essential Readings. Oxford/Malden, Mass.: Blackwell, 1999.
Review: P.T. Lang in HZ 272 (2001), 760–761: This Reader provides students with 9 texts in 2 sections: "Definitions" and "Outcomes". Subjects range from John O'Malley's "Was Ignatius of Loyola a Church Reformer?" (1991) to Peter Burke's "How to Become a Counter-Reformation Saint" (1984). Reviewer does not find the selections representative of scholarship on the subject, especially regretting the omission of non-English language research.
MARQUARDT, SARAH HELEN. "The Freedom, Equality and Dignity of Human Reason: A Reconsideration of Cartesian Dualism." DAI 62/11 (2002), 3815.
"This dissertation offers a new perspective on Descartes' theory of mind-body dualism by situating it at the intersection or two trajectories of thought in the 17th century: Cartesianism and feminism." Considers Marie de Gournay and Poulain de la Barre in this context.
MOREAU, A. & J.-C. TURPIN. La magie. Tome I, Du monde babylonien au monde hellénistique, Tome II, La magie dans l'antiquité grecque tardive, Les mythes. Tome III, Du monde latin au monde contemporain. Tome IV, Bibliographie générale. Montpellier: Université de Montpellier III, 2000.
Review: B. Clarot in ECl 69 (2001), 334–335: The series is a collection of works by 44 scholars from 9 countries, completed in colloquium on the subject of research on magic in the last 10 years. While the first 2 volumes cover the Ancient world, scholars of later periods may still wish to consult Moreau's Petit guide à l'usage des apprentis sorciers which opens the series. Volume III begins with the Latin world and continues with a survey of the subsequent centuries up until the present, while Volume IV contains a 3200-entry bibliography. According to Clarot, an interesting series whose only deficiency is not to develop further current practices of magic, sorcery, satanism, etc. as seen in today's media.
NADLER, STEVEN, ed. The Cambridge Companion to Malebranche. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2000.
Review: S. Peppers in PhQ 52 (April 2002), 258–261: "A welcome revival of Malebranche studies outside France." Content can be divided into three broad groupings: metaphysics/epistemology; moral theory, theodicy and philosophy of religion; and the philosophical and historical context for Malebranche's thought.
PAIGE, NICHOLAS. "Enlightened (Il)Literates: Problems of Gender and Authority in Early Modern Devotional Writing." EMF 7 (2001), 115–140.
"The familiar problem here is gender; my intent is to show how the rich mine of early modern devotional writing disables many of the scripts that practitioners of cultural studies have used to understand gender relations within the Church." Argues that many nuns came to articulate the modern values of interiority and autobiography in part due to male writers whose intentions were ambiguous.
PEABODY, SUE. " 'A Dangerous Zeal:' Catholic Missions to Slaves in the French Antilles, 1635–1800." FHS 25 (2002), 53–90.
Describes the reasons for the relative success of Catholic missionaries in converting slaves in the French Antilles during the seventeenth century, and the various reasons why this success declined in the eighteenth century.
PLANHOL, XAVIER DE. L'Islam et la mer. La mosquée et le matelot, VIIe -XXe siècle. Paris: Perrin, 2000.
Review: S. Wild in HZ 272 (2001), 141–143: Highly recommended for its abundance of rich materials, this lengthy (658–page) and wide-ranging study by the renowned French social geographer offers new perspectives, distinguishing for 17th c. scholarship between the rais or individualistic entrepreneur and the kaptan or captain of a vessel of a fleet.
PREVOT, JACQUES, ed. Libertins du XVIIe siècle, I. Avec la collaboration de Thierry Bedouelle et d'Etienne Wolff. Paris: Gallimard, coll. "Bibliothèque de la Pléiade," 1998.
Review: R. Zuber in DSS 213 (2001), 721–722: According to the reviewer, this anthology of theoretical and fictional texts by a range of 17th-c. libertins offers an erudite, in-depth, and richly documented and annotated survey of libertinage. Included are Le Page disgrâcié, Les Aventures de Monsieur Dassouci, L'Autre Monde, L'Ecole des filles, and texts by Théophile de Viau and Naudé. Noteworthy as well, adds the reviewer, is the excellent translation of Gassendi's Philosophiae Epicuri Syntagma (1649) presented as Traité de la philosophie d'Epicure: IIIe partie, L'Ethique de la morale. The reviewer praises the anthologist's methodology which "consiste à toujours tenir compte de l'imaginaire dans une définition du libertinage, et à fournir au lecteur l'aide voulue pour le détacher du je biographique des auteurs sans rien perdre de la force émotive des textes."
ROIG, MARIE, ed. La Transmission du savoir dans l'Europe des XVIe et XVIIe siècles. Paris: Champion, 2000.
Review: M. Bideaux in BHR 64.1 (2002), 131–33: Troisième colloque du groupe de Nancy II explore la diversité du savoir et sa transmission. Voir les articles sur Bossuet (A. Beilharz) et La Bruyère (F. Wild).
SCHMUTZ, JACOB. "L'héritage des Subtils, Cartographie du scotisme de l'âge classique." EP 1 (2002), 51–81.
Examines the development of Scotism within Franciscan scholasticism as well as its external influence, for example on the Jesuit tradition and certain early modern philosophical systems. Includes an extensive selection of bibliographic materials to facilitate further research.
SCHMUTZ, JACOB. "Du péché de l'ange à la liberté d'indifférence. Les sources angélologiques de l'anthropologie moderne." EP 2 (2002), 169–198.
Demonstrates how Scotistic angelology affected early-modern ideas on "la liberté d'indifférence humaine," particularly in Jesuit and Franciscan scholasticism, with special attention to the connections between logic and ethics, acts of the will and temporal instants, causality and the liberty of indifference.
SCHOULS, PETER A. Descartes and the Possibility of Science. Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 2000.
Review: L. Nolan in PhQ 52 (July 2002), 394–397: Reviewer commends Schouls' insight into "Descartes' theory of deduction, the relation between his early and late work on method and the role of freedom in Cartesian science," although he finds that Schouls' claims about the intellectual imagination (a faculty of the mind that operates without images) in Descartes are unable to withstand scrutiny.
SECADA, JORGE. Cartesian Metaphysics: the Scholastic Origins of Modern Philosophy. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2000.
Review: H. van Ruler in PhQ 52 (October 2002), 635–637: Reviewer objects to Secada's characterization of Descartes as an "essentialist," especially considering that Descartes himself never used such labels. "Too much conceptual analysis in this book and too little historical context."
SILVERMAN, LISA. Tortured Subjects: Pain, Truth, and the Body in Early Modern France. Chicago: Chicago UP, 2001.
Review: D.C. Baxter in CHOICE 39, 4 (2001), 752–53: Through analyses of court records, religious teaching, juridical writings, records of religious confraternities, medical treatises, and Enlightenment arguments, the author examines "the transition from the accepted judicial use of torture to its condemnation and ultimate abolition in eighteenth-century France." Chronicles a shift in attitudes from a Christian belief that pain could extract truth to the belief that torture was a violation of human liberty.
STEPHENSON, BRUCE, MARION BOLT & ANNA FELICITY FRIEDMAN. The Universe Unveiled. Instruments and Images through History. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 2000.
Review: T. Hankins in TLS 5154 (Jan 11 2002), 7: An important addition to the history of science that describes the instruments, maps and books at the Adler Planetarium and Astronomy Museum in Chicago. The editors argue for the importance of examining chemical instruments which have survived, since illustrations and written descriptions are often unreliable.
TREXLER, RICHARD C. The Journey of the Magi: Meanings in History of a Christian Story. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton UP, 1997.
Review: K. Schreiner in HZ 272 (2001), 115–119: Trexler's ambitious work treats "the political sociology of the magi in Christianity from their appearance in Matthew until the present" (Trexler 4). Sections on the 17th c. consider the relationship with conquest, colonization and evangelization of the New World. Broad concepts such as caritas as well as social signs and events such as the cakes and celebrations of la Fête des Rois are examined. Praiseworthy for its sources, new and unusual questions and answers as well as the impetus it will surely provide for future research.
VIEILLARD-BARON, JEAN-LOUIS. La philosophie française. Paris: Armand Colin, 2000.
Review: J.-M. Gabaude in RPFE 1142.1 (jan–mars 2002), 124–125: "Modèle du genre est ce manuel, avec ses choix, sa pertinence et sa présentation pédagogique—assortie, en outre, d'un glossaire, d'une bibliographie et d'une table des matières analytique. J.-L. Vieillard-Baron sait se montrer original, par exemple à propos de Descartes. Il épouse les qualités qu'il reconnaît au français comme langue philosophique dans laquelle prédominent clarté, économie des mots, simplicité, élégance. La première partie caractérise six grands événements philosophiques, tournants historiques qui ont changé le destin de la pensée. [...] La seconde partie de l'ouvrage éclaire le parcours de grands courants."
VON GREYERZ, KASPAR. Religion und Kultur. Europa 1500–1800. Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 2000.
Review: P. Fuchs in HZ 273 (2001), 181–182: Praiseworthy volume is an interesting, independent and stimulating contribution to Early Modern history. Treats church, state, science and the educated classes as well as everyday life and history.
WALSKI, GREGORY MARK. "Descartes's Doctrine of the Creation of the Eternal Truths." DAI 62/06 (2002), 2139.
Argues that Descartes's "desire for certainty in physics motivated him to advance the doctrine, and he was led to his novel conception of divine simplicity as a result of seeking support for his doctrine in the divine nature."
WIESNER-HANKS, MERRY E. Christianity and Sexuality in the Early Modern World. Regulating Desire, Reforming Practice. London: Routledge, 2000.
Review: R. Jütte in HZ 272 (2001), 186–188: Recommends a German translation of Wiesner-Hanks's wide-ranging study of the role of Christianity in Early Modern sexuality. Wiesner-Hanks's impressive knowledge is evident in her arguments and clearly organized presentation as well as in the bibliographies that follow each chapter. Succeeds in this ambitious undertaking which is not limited to Europe, but treats the entire zone of Christendom.
WILSON, FRED. The Logic and Methodology of Science in Early Modern Thought: Seven Studies. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1999.
Review: T. Nickles in Isis 92.4 (2001), 775–776. Wilson emphasizes the period's break with Aristotle, and his main targets are the historians and sociologists of scientists such as Kuhn, Cohen and Shapin who defend a thesis of continuity. Reviewer notes that Descartes is made to seem too old-fashioned and that the author fails to fully engage recent scholarship.
YARDENI, MYRIAN. Repenser l'histoire. Aspects de l'historiographie huguenote des guerres de religion à la révolution française. Paris: Champion, 2000.
Review: M. P. Holt in RenQ 55 (2002), 310–312: A reprinting "of ten articles previously published from 1964 to 1997" (312), this volume "forms an extended look at how the historiography of the Huguenots has changed among intellectual historians over the past thirty years" (312). These essays, not all of which have been easily accessible, are completed by some new notes and bibliographies. Useful collection by Yardeni, "one of the leading figures in shaping Huguenot historiography" (312).
Review: R. M. Kingdon in BHR 64.1 (2002), 231: Ten articles previously published by Yardeni between 1964 and 1997 with some updated bibliographical supplements.
Review: R. J. Knecht in MLR 97.2 (2002), 421–22: Collection of ten articles published over thirty years and updated for this volume. ". . .Yardeni examines the impact of the seventeenth-century vogue for gazettes, 'mercures' and similar publications on history, both contemporary and 'tout court.' She argues that its significance was both practical and theoretical."
Review: R. Whelan in FS 56.1 (2002), 90: In this study of Protestant historiography, Yardeni "links the insistence on sources and documents as the basis of historical truth to the Protestant preocccupation with the return to Scripture" and "sees their retrospective inscribing of toleration and progress into historical processes as embedded in a Protestant consciousness. Yardeni's analyses are persuasive up to a point but but they also reveal a wider symbiosis between history and prevailing world-views that dilutes the association with Calvinism."
ADE, ANDREW WARNER. "The Significance of the Prologue from Ancient to Modern Drama in France and England." DAI 62/11 (2002), 3770.
Considers how the adaptation of the theatrical prologue, in theory and practice, developed differently in England and France.
ALLAM, SARAH. "Peut-on parler d'un stéréotype dans la perception de la Méditerranée au XVIIe siècle? L'exemple des turqueries." Les Méditerranées du XVIIe siècle. Actes du VIe colloque du Centre International de Rencontres sur le XVIIe siècle. Ed. G. Dotoli. Tübingen: Gunter Narr Verlag (Biblio 17), 2002: 309–317.
Allam posits that, "une large part de la littérature et notamment celle du XVIIe siècle, touchant à l'Orient, nous en apprend en définitive moins sur l'objet 《 Orient 》 décrit que sur le sujet Occident 》 ayant écrit." With reference to Molière's Bourgeois gentilhomme, Georges de Scudéry's Ibrahim ou l'Illustre Bassa, Lully's Récit turquesque, and Racine's Bajazet. Allam concludes, "Les turqueries . . . sont une des variations dans la construction des multiples visions que l'Occident s'est forgées de l'Autre" and for l'Occident, "l'Autre était un détour obligé dans la construction de sa propre identité."
ALTHAUS, THOMAS. Epigrammatisches Barock. Berlin: de Gruyter, 1996.
Review: D. Merzbacher in Archiv 238 (2001), 139–142: This Habilitationsschrift focuses on the intimate connection between the epigram and thought patterns of the Baroque epoch. Although Althaus generally treats the German epigram, important considerations are found on the philosophy of Descartes and the terminus ad quem of Boileau's Art poétique with its emphasis on reason, order, the natural and "le bon sens."
ARNAUD, VANESSA HEROLD. "Gossip as a Social Force in Seventeenth-Century French Culture." DAI 62/11 (2002), 3804.
Dissertation "explores how gossip was particularly appropriate to the closed world of the court, where truths remained hidden beneath carefully sculpted surfaces." Examines this use of "encoded" discourse in works by Molière, Bussy-Rabutin, and Lafayette.
ASSAF, FRANCIS. "Voyageurs dans le Levant au XVIIe siècle: regard(s) sur/de l'Autre." Les Méditerranées du XVIIe siècle. Actes du VIe colloque du Centre International de Rencontres sur le XVIIe siècle. Ed. G. Dotoli. Tübingen: Gunter Narr Verlag (Biblio 17), 2002: 295–308.
After a brief reference to the work of Franciscan travellers Jean Thenaud and André Thevet, Assaf studies the travel writing of Pietro Della Valle, Jean de Thévenot, and Laurent d'Arvieux, concluding, "ces personnages. . . obligent à réfléchir, peut-être sur l'humain universel, mais plus sûrement encore sur leur propre appétit formidable de voir et de savoir, appétit qui les arrache à leur environnement natal pour les propulser, au-delà de la 《 mer dangereuse 》, vers des 《 terres inconnues 》, ce qui les pousse à créer-ou à recréer-une carte qui. . . retrace et ancre dans l'espace-et le temps-l'irrésistible passion, l'irrésistible pulsion de dire ce savoir." Includes, in an appendix, the "Description de Maani Djoerida par Pietro Della Valle."
BAADER, RENATE, ed. 17. Jahrhundert-Roman-Fabel-Maxime-Brief. Tübingen: Stauffenburg, 1999.
Review: J. Grimm in RF 113 (2001), 235–238: This first of a prestigious collection of 11 volumes envisioned and edited by Henning Krauß (Franzosïsche Literatur) includes 8 articles on the genres of the title in addition to an introduction by Baader, a "tableau chronologique" for each year of the century indicating, in addition to important literary events, those relating to science, theology, society, art, culture, history and literature outside France (235). Grimm finds the presentation of the volume "impeccable," appreciates the "belle couverture et solide reliure," but is disappointed by its substance and glaring omissions; in particular works such as those of Truchet and Mesnard are missing from the bibliography. Grimm has praise for the essays by Wolfgang Matzat on Sorel, by Horst Weich on Scarron and Furetière and by Dieter Steland on La Rochefoucauld.
BACCAR, ALIA. "De Grenade à Tunis: itinéraire des modèles arabo-musulmans en Méditerranée au XVIIe siècle français." Les Méditerranées du XVIIe siècle. Actes du VIe colloque du Centre International de Rencontres sur le XVIIe siècle. Ed. G. Dotoli. Tübingen: Gunter Narr Verlag (Biblio 17), 2002: 287–294.
Baccar details "le transfert arabo-musulman qui s'est opéré, dans le domaine littéraire, des berges sud vers les berges nord de la Méditerranée," with particular reference to Andalusia and les barbaresques. The plan of the article is as follows: "Un rappel historique expliquera les raisons de l'engouement français envers le monde arabo-musulman, un panorama lèvera le voile sur la production littéraire qui en a découlé et une réflexion analysera le sort qui a lui été réservé [sic]." Baccar offers "l'interprétation d'une vision littéraire de la réalité globale de l'histoire de la Méditerranée du XVIIe siècle."
BEEBEE, THOMAS O. Epistolary Fiction in Europe, 1500–1850. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1999.
Review: n.a. in FMLS 37 (2001), 91: Focusing on earlier centuries and including a select bibliography of epistolary fiction from 1473 to 1849, the volume is "beautifully presented" and welcome as it establishes "the historical importance [of the genre] across the major European cultures. Includes discussion of society and politics as well as an overview of the genre's significance.
BERCHTOLD, JACQUES. Les Prisons du roman (XVIIe–XVIIIe siècle). Lectures plurielles et intertextuelles de Guzman d'Alfarache à Jacques le Fataliste. Geneva: Droz, 2000.
Review: M. Hall in FS 56.3 (2002), 391–392: In this "intelligent and stimulating book," "Jacques Berchtold argues that the theme of imprisonment constitutes a key element in the development of the novel in the early-modern period." This is "a very wide-ranging survey," which covers Greek and Roman texts, the Spanish picaresque novel, the seventeenth-century roman comique, the prison-novels of Courtilz de Sandras, as well as novels by Lesage, Prévost and Diderot. The reviewer finds the choice of eighteenth-century texts "somewhat arbitrary."
Review: A. M. Mazziotti in S Fr 135 (2001), 637. Vast comparatist volume (784 pages) analyzes the literary theme of the prison and demonstrates its importance for the formation of the modern novel. 17th c. French scholars will appreciate reflections on Sorel, Cyrano, Préfontaine, Dassoucy, Bussy-Rabutin, among others.
Review: J. Voisine in RLC 76.1 (janvier–mars 2002), 115–118: "Le sous-titre 《 Lectures plurielles et intertextuelles de Guzmán d'Alfarache à Jacques le fataliste 》 définit bien le propos de ce gros livre, encore enrichi d'abondantes notes à chaque page. L'ensemble représente une somme d'érudition considérable, à laquelle il convient de rendre hommage. Disons tout de suite que le titre lui-même promet peut-être un peu trop, car à mesure qu'on avance dans la lecture, on a affaire à des œuvres dans lesquelles le motif de la prison tient moins de place, sans que l'ingéniosité de l'auteur suffise toujours à nous démontrer le contraire."
BERGER, GUNTER. "Genres bâtards: roman et histoire à la fin du XVIIe siècle." DSS 215 (2002), 297–305.
Author suggests that the relatively late appearance of a theory of the novel allowed writers "une liberté exceptionnelle." Pseudo-memoirs and "secret histories" reveal that "l'historiographe se retire et cède sa place au romancier."
BESSIERE, JEAN & DANIEL-HENRI PAGEAUX, eds. with the collaboration ofERIC DAYRE. Formes et imaginaire du roman. Perspectives sur le roman antique, médiéval, classique, moderne et contemporaine. Paris: Champion, 1998.
Review: A. Fahrner in RF 113 (2001), 410–413: Wide-ranging volume with analyses by 14 critics includes an essay by Guiomar Hautcoeur on Mme de Lafayette's Zaïde. Underlying concern of editors is: "suggérer une généalogie du roman; suggérer l'archéologie de quelques corpus romanesques" (225). Individual analyses and investigations of strategies characterize the volume, rather than any "systématique du genre" (225).
BIET, CHRISTIAN, ed. Droit et littérature. Special edition of Littératures classiques 40 (2000).
Review: P. Ronzeaud in PFSCL XXVIII, 55 (2001), 520–521: Collection of widely varied articles on the relationship between law and literature, including (with regard to French 17th-c. literature) articles on Molière by N. Paige and L. Norman; G. Spielmann on Dancourt, Regnard, Dufresny and others; E. Méchoulan on Racine and Corneille. Other topics treated include the histoires tragiques (T. Pech), travel literature (S. Requemora), demonology (N. Jacques-Lefèvre," and dictionaries (M. Roy-Garibal). Additional articles treat the legal status of writers (A. Viala), dramaturges (M. Poirson), and actors (H. Phillips). Reviewer calls the collection "un volume pionier, un prototype qui sera à l'origine d'importants développements de la recherche dix-septiémiste philosophique, juridique et littéraire."
BIRBERICK, ANNE L. "Rewriting Curiosity: The Psyche Myth in Apuleius, La Fontaine, and d'Aulnoy." EMF 8 (2002), 134–48.
Examines the "strategic rewriting" of Apuleius in the seventeenth century; argues, using the figure of curiosity, that the myth "progresses from a cautionary tale to an aesthetic tale to an exemplary tale."
BLUM, PASCALE & ANNE MANTERO, eds. Poésie et bible de la Renaissance à l'âge classique, 1550–1680. Actes du Colloque de Besançon (25–26 mars 1997). Paris: Champion, 1999.
Review: J. Hennequin in RF 113 (2001), 398–399: These Actes of the 1997 Colloque de Besançon complement the works of B. Roussel and B. Bedouelle, and J.-R Armogathe, respectively, on the Bible and the Reformation era, and the 17th c. Covering some 130 years, the volume includes analyses on theoretical and esthetic problems, biblical mises en scène, constraints and liberties, polemics and finally, forms of lyricism, including music settings. Reviewer notes the remarkable unity of the volume as well as the excellence of its critical apparatus: indices of biblical references, authors, critics and works cited, and a bibliography.
Review: M.-F. Hilgar in FR 75,6 (2002), 1274–75: Fourteen essays treating religious poetry and its relations to the two testaments in sixteenth- and seventeenth-century France. Collectively, the articles identify a fundamental paradox in the works examined: "l'inspiration poétique ne peut être que divine, mais réduire la matière biblique à une matière poétique risque de produire un effet théâtral et même donner lieu à une ingéniosité de mauvais goût." Biblical figures and early modern poets considered include Judith and Esther, Du Bartas, Isaac Habert, Laurent Drelincourt, Lancelot de Carle, Anne de Marquets, Tristan l'Hermite, and l'Abbé Testu.
Review: G. Holtus in ZRP 116 (2000), 685: This collection of 14 essays, the result of the 1997 Colloque de Besançon, is organized around four themes: "une nouvelle poétique"; "mises en scène bibliques", "libertés, contraintes, polémique"; "formes du lyrisme". Includes treatment of well-known and lesser known authors of the time, including La Ceppède, Tristan, César de Nostredame and Madame Guyon, among others.
BONNET, CHRISTIAN. "Didascalies et signifiance: lectures du théâtre occitan préclassique." RHT 53.4 (2001), 265–274.
Shows how examination of the play's didascalies restore to an occitanian-language 1623 political tragicomedy its allegorical value.
BOSCO, GABRIELLA. "Les merveilles de la mer dans les poèmes épiques français du XVIIe siècle." Les Méditerranées du XVIIe siècle. Actes du VIe colloque du Centre International de Rencontres sur le XVIIe siècle. Ed. G. Dotoli. Tübingen: Gunter Narr Verlag (Biblio 17), 2002: 93–105.
Bosco posits that a painting by Karel Dujardin entitled Allégorie "devient une clé de lecture précieuse pour les mers épiques du XVIIe siècle en général. . . Dans la poésie épique du XVIIe siècle en effet, la mer est le lieu physique où se joue un conflit: conflit symbolique entre le mal et le bien, l'angoisse et la tranquillité, le danger et le salut; conflit réel entre les fausses croyances et le triomphe de la vérité, entre le paganisme et le christianisme." Period in question: 1649–1668, with reference to Du Bartas, Desmarets de Saint-Sorlin, Saint Louys and Saint-Amant.
BURY, EMMANUEL. Littérature et politesse: l'invention de l'honnête homme 1580–1750. Paris: PUF, 1996.
Review: O. Selles in DFS 57 (2001), 155–156: Bury examines the creation and transformation of the concept of l'honnête homme in order to understand how exactly French "classical" literature gradually displaced Antiquity as a moral and intellectual guide. The author "writes most authoritatively about the mid-seventeenth century, but the chapters on the sixteenth and eighteenth centuries are far from comprehensive... For scholarship in the 'histoire des idées' vein, it is very striking that little attempt is made to discuss the historical context of the literary works... A great deal can be learned from this learned and clearly written book. Yet it would be hoped that erudite scholars such as Bury would give in the future greater attention to methodological and theoretical considerations."
CASHMAN, KIMBERLY ANN. "The Social Order, Politics, and Gender: The Performance-within-a-Play in French Classical Drama." DAI 63/03 (2002), 963.
Examines how classical tragedy and comedy uses the "performance-within-a-play" (for instance, the table scene in Le Tartuffe) to resolve tensions and maintain the status quo; considers the way gender and politics map onto the device.
CHAOUCHE, SABINE. L'Art du comédien. Déclamation et jeu scénique en France à l'âge classique. Paris: Champion, 2001.
Review: M.-Cl. Canova-Green in PFSCL XXIX, 57 (2002): 526–527: Seven treatises which demonstrate that the commonly held belief that 17th-c. declamation was "un jeu outré et affecté." Includes texts by Michel Le Faucheur (1657) and René Bary (1679), as well as texts by several 18th-c. theorists. This volume highlights "la progressive émancipation et théorisation de l'art dramatique, qui fut de plus en plus senti comme un art à part entière," leading to "une véritable 《 poétique 》 de l'action théâtrale." Chaouche's introductary pages include extensive treatment of "les notions clés de 《 naturel 》, de 《 simplicité 》, d'《 emphase 》 ou de 《 sensibilité 》, et sur la nature même de la déclamation." Includes a detailed glossary of rhetorical and theatrical terms, an extensive index, and a (sometimes too) succinct bibliography. Reviewer compliments the novelty and breadth of the work, calling it "une somme indispensable de l'art dramatique aux XVIIe et XVIIIe siècles."
Review: M. Hawcroft in PFSCL XXIX, 56 (2002), 251–253: A "delightful, learned, solidly constructed and richly informed book" which manages to recreate "something of the art of the seventeenth-century actor" by "exploring and piecing together all possible kinds of evidence about movement, gesture, facial expressions, tone of voice and delivery." Studying the period from 1629 to 1680, Chaouche "detects a shift from acting based on a rhetorical education, particularly on the skills taught by the fifth part of rhetoric (actio), to acting which goes beyond, or reviews these practices." Includes sections on gestural and vocal conventions, textual evidence in 17th-c. plays, and declamation. Notably, this last section shatters the myths "that the leading tragic actors at the Hôtel de Bourgogne spoke in a bombastic manner, that Molière's style of delivery was natural, and that Racine encouraged a sing-song declamation." Reviewer concludes, "Chaouche's book is the best guide we have to how the plays we all know might actually have been performed in the seventeenth century."
CHOLAKIAN, PATRICIA FRANCES. Women and the Politics of Self-Representation in Seventeenth-Century France. Newark: U of Delaware Press and London: Associated University Presses, 2000.
Review: E. Guild in FS 54.4 (2001), 539–540: "Cholakian's study draws together texts by Marguerite de Valois, Mademoiselle de Montpensier, the Mancini sisters, Jeanne Guyon and the Abbé de Choisy, which she reads as gestures of political resistance to the marginalization of women during the Ancien Régime. [. . .] Cholakian champions her chosen writers' texts in energetic prose."
CHONE, PAULETTE et al. L'Age d'or du nocturne. Essais de Paulette Choné, Jean-Claude Boyer, Richard E. Spear, Irving Lavin. Paris: Gallimard, 2001.
Review: A. Niderst in PFSCL XXIX, 57 (2002): 527–529: Volume seeks to "mettre le travail des artistes en relation avec les cours de rhétorique qu'ils avaient suivis, les sermons qu'ils écoutaient, les poèmes qu'ils lisaient." P. Choné's work offers "une longue méditation sur 《 l'Académie de la Nuit 》; J.-Cl. Boyer's article focuses on political history and its relation to the history of art; R. Spear studies Caravaggio and La Tour; and I. Lavin focuses first on Caravaggio's religious paintings, and, in another article, on La Tour's Larmes de saint Pierre. "Un beau livre. . . empli de reproductions exaltantes et suggestives," notable for its multidisciplinary approach in which "la peinture classique prend son vrai visage, de propagande religieuse et de didactisme méditatif."
CLOSSON, MARIANNE. L'Imaginaire démoniaque en France (1550–1650), Genèse de la littérature fantastique. Genève: Droz, 2000.
Review: S. Houdard in PFSCL XXIX, 56 (2002), 255–257: "Une étude complète de la présence du diable dans la littérature française entre 1550 et 1650." Reviewer notes the "grandes qualités d'un travail très agreeable à lire," and lauds in particular Closson's efforts to "saisir l'émergence d'une littérature démoniaque au moment même où la réalité des tribunaux produit son proper imaginaire." Closson's work combines literary and anthropological approaches in order to show "comment le socle théologique, le socle des savoirs populaires et savants, entrent, au moment de la grande persecution, dans la fabrication d'une couche tectonique friable de la croyance." Particular emphasis is placed on the reception of the texts in question, which are "rares et fascinants, parfois dérangeants."
CONNON, DEREK & GEORGE EVANS, eds. Essays on French Comic Drama from the 1640s to the 1780s. Bern: Lang, 2000.
Review: R. Parish in FS 56.1 (2002), 92–93: Among the fourteen essays of this collection are studies of theater by Scarron, Molière, Thomas Corneille, Quinault, Piron, Destouches, Marmontel and Beaumarchais. The reviewer praises Nicholas Hammond's "ingenious and broadly focused study of authorship and authority in Le Misanthrope" and Marie-Claude Canova-Green's "thoroughgoing analysis of forms of self-referentiality in La Comtesse d'Escarbagnas."
CONROY, JANE. Terres Tragiques: L'Angleterre et l'Ecosse dans la tragédie française du XVIIe siècle. Tübingen: Gunter Narr Verlag (Biblio 17–114), 1999.
Review: N. Mallet in RF 113 (2001), 263–264: Praiseworthy as "une somme de recherches, d'analyses et de réflexions de tout premier ordre", Conroy's solid and lengthy (500 pages) treatment analyzes 9 tragedies, some by well-known playwrights such as Montchrestien, Boursault, La Calprenède, Thomas Corneille and others lesser known such as Boyer, Regnault and Puget de la Serre or the "pratically unknown" such as E. Aigrot (263). Conroy's indispensable study analyzes the plays through an exploration of "le contexte historique, la genèse, les innovations dramaturgiques, les thèmes et les symboles," bringing to bear important intercultural and anthropological considerations (263, 264).
Review: O. Ranum in PFSCL XXVIII, 55 (2001), 523–524: "Richly textured, erudite and deeply engaged examination of the exemplary tragic figures imported by French writers from Tudor and Stuart history." Conroy studies plays by La Calprenède, Thomas Corneille, Aigrot, Boursault, Claude Boyer, Puget de la Serre, Montchrestien and Regnault. "By setting the authors and their plays in historical context, the features common to them are effectively elucidated, with the result, perhaps, that their very banality and stereotypicality come to the fore. The role of the sensational in entertainment and politics becomes more evident than the usual search for authorial creative originality. . .. Conroy's study is a superb contribution to general cultural understanding — showing how the political cannot be separated from the literary any more than the popular can be separated from the elite in theatrical or public-square entertainment in the seventeenth century." Includes analysis of the illustrations of early editions. "This work exudes a free, learned spirit and a strong authorial presence. Readers will come away from it with much to ponder, and the conclusion that they need to rethink what they understand about seventeenth-century theater."
Review: A. Riffaud in IL 53.3 (2001), 60–63: Explores the forgotten vein of plays that take up subjects not associated with classical myth or history. Shows that, far from being influenced by Elizabethan theater, French tragedies obey a prescribed form, and legitimize socio-political order; author detects, however, the decline of the hero in the course of the century. "[U]n ouvrage riche et savant" nevertheless marred by the fact that "les conclusions se détachent mal de l'application analytique et de la volonté d'exhaustivité, confondue parfois avec une certaine dispersion."
CORNILLAT, FRANCOIS & RICHARD LOCKWOOD, eds. Ethos et Pathos. Le Statut du sujet rhétorique. Actes du Colloque international de Saint-Denis (19–21 juin 1997). Paris: Champion, 2000.
Review: L.-G. Tin in BHR 64.2 (2002), 442–43: "L'efficace du logos tient à une certaine disposition de l'orateur, qui produit chez l'auditeur une certaine émotion: èthos et pathos constituent ainsi les deux pôles de la communication qu'analysent ces diverses contributions." Voir les articles de J. Lyons et de L. Thirouin sur Pascal.
COWARD, DAVID. A History of French Literature. From "Chanson de geste" to Cinema. London: Blackwell, 2002.
Review: R. Pearson in TLS 5170 (May 3 2002), 4–6: An intelligent, well-informed book that is user-friendly. Each of the first six chapters establishes "historical, intellectual and socio-commercial context" and maps philosophical and esthetic trends before turning to literature. A surprisingly even-handed study which nonetheless has "a personal touch that leavens the seriousness." Pearson finds this book "not only an essential guide but a lasting source of renewable pleasure for anyone interested in the literature and culture of France."
CREEGAN, DORIS R. Echos de la Réforme dans la littérature de langue française de 1520 à 1620. Lewiston, NY/Queenston, ONT: Lampeter GB/Edwin Mellon, 2001.
Review: F. Higman in BHR 64.2 (2002), 486–87: "Les spécialistes qui se sont penchés sur les rapports entre la Réforme et la littérature française n'y apprendront rien de bien neuf. . . On aurait souhaité une base de renseignements plus étendue. Et surtout, les nombreuses imprécisions de date et de faits rendent le résultat peu fiable. . ."
DAUPHINE, JAMES & BEATRICE PERIGOT, éds. Conteurs et romanciers de la Renaissance. Paris: Champion, 1997.
Review: G. Schrenck in RF 113 (2001), 265–266: These Mélanges offered to Gabriel-André Pérouse truly honor him by "la remarquable qualité de l'ensemble des contributions" (265). Presenting a veritable panorama of Renaissance novelists which does not neglect rare works, the rich and varied volume also includes "une ouverture vers le XVIIe siècle. . . faite à propos de la rhétorique 'baroque', insoupçonnée, dans une Ode de Malherbe (F. Goyet) et certains thèmes, comme ceux des miracles ou du choix d'un métier, repris par Pascal à la lueur de ses lectures de Huarte (M. Le Guern)" (266).
DELMAS, CHRISTIAN. "La Sophonisbe et le renouveau de la tragédie en France." XVIIe siècle no. 208 (juillet–sept. 2000), 443–464.
Review: S. Poli in SFr 134 (2001), 391: Demonstrates the remarkable success of this theme for 17th c. tragedy through a close study of its diverse expressions and variations. Consideration of versions from Saint-Gelais to Voltaire reveals above all its adaptability to diverse theatrical forms.
DENIS, DELPHINE. Le Parnasse Galant: Institution d'une catégorie littéraire au XVIIe siècle. Paris: Champion, 2001.
Review: P. Dandrey in DSS 213 (2001), 744–746: As for its substance and content, this book explores and reveals "dans son essence la dynamique d'inscription de la galanterie dans les discours qui la constituent, la figurent, la régulent et la mythifient." Denis "a frappé au cœur du phénomène galant qui procède lui-même d'un tissage de discours animés par la dynamique de la vie sociale: elle a saisi le fait galant dans l'optique qui lui convient, au sens fort du verbe." The principal organizing structure centers on the "modulations" between the real and the fictive, further broken down along the opposition between society and discursive representation and between reality and its idealisation. The author also devotes one chapter to an exhaustive study of ancient theoretical texts which deal with galanterie. The reviewer lavishly praises all aspects of this book, including its erudition, the breadth and scope of its research, formal structure, historical insights, and the thorough analyses of textual and social practices.
Review: S. Tonolo in Il 54.2 (2002), 56–58: Study of the category of "galanterie," which becomes legitimized in mid-century salon culture and thereby upsets other traditional literary institutions. "Instrument de civilisation et de pacification, parti-pris du plaisir et de la légèreté, pratique sociale dans tous ses états, tel se définit pourtant avec force le discours galant...." Rich notes and bibliography.
DENIS, DELPHINE. "Les Samedis de Sapho: Figurations littéraires de la collectivité." Vie des salons et activités littéraires, de Marguerite de Valois à Mme de Staël. Actes du colloque de Nancy. Nancy: PU de Nancy, 2001.
DOIRON, NORMAND. "Le portique et la cour. Néo-stoïcisme et théorie de l'honnêteté au XVIIe siècle." DSS 213 (2001), 689–698.
Taking Britannicus as the object of analysis, Doiron argues that Racinian tragedy subverts stoic values, staging "l'éternel combat de la constance et de la passion. . ." and proposing "une théorie de la représentation, transposant sur scène. . .les tragiques 'fantaisies' qui hantent les consciences."
DOTOLI, GIOVANNI. "La fin du centre." Les Méditerranées du XVIIe siècle. Actes du VIe colloque du Centre International de Rencontres sur le XVIIe siècle. Ed. G. Dotoli. Tübingen: Gunter Narr Verlag (Biblio 17), 2002: 7–21.
Introduction to the acta of the CIR conference in Monopoli (Bari) by the editor of the volume. Dotoli summarizes the 17th-century history of the region, with a particular focus on the passage from la Méditerranée from centre du monde to a marginal space.
DOTOLI, GIOVANNI. Littérature et société en France au XVIIe siècle. Vol. II. Faisano: Schena, 2000.
Review: Ph. Hourcade in PFSCL XXIX, 57 (2002): 530–532: A reissuing of previously published articles on a number of topics: "les conditions mentales et historiquement datées de la parole politique, de la fin du XVIe au XVIIe siècle"; Marie de Gournay; Mairet (biography, theater, and correspondence); Adam Billaut's "chansons à boire"; Pierre Boucher's writings on Canada; and three chapters on the writings of the moralistes. Reviewer lauds "la richesse de ce livre."
Review: S. Poli in SFr 135 (2001), 631: Remarkable both by its breadth and depth, this set of studies (vol. I appeared in 1987) demonstrates "la richezza, la vitalità e la continuità del secolo." Poli praises the erudition which characterizes Dotoli's approach, never heavy, to editorial or biographical questions as well as to those of a historical, political, sociological or ideological nature (631).
DUBUEL, SANDRINE & SOPHIE RABAU, eds. Fiction d'auteur? Le Discours biographique sur l'auteur de l'Antiquité à nos jours. Paris: Champion, 2001.
Review: O. Panaite in MLN 17.4 (2002), 928–32: La problématique énoncée: "à savoir la signification historique et critique de la notion d'auteur dans les études littéraires en général, et pour la période antique en particulier. Il s'agit d'éclairer l'oeuvre en déchiffrant ses rapports au biographique, tout en évitant les écueils d'une interprétation mimétique ou étroitement déterministe." Voir l'article de Larry Norman sur Molière.
DUCHENE, ROGER. "De la chambre au salon: réalités et représentations." Vie des salons et activités littéraires, de Marguerite de Valois à Mme de Staël. Actes du colloque de Nancy. Nancy: PU de Nancy, 2001.
DUCHENE, ROGER. Les Précieuses, ou comment l'esprit vint aux femmes. Paris: Fayard, 2001.
Review: A. Niderst in PFSCL XXIX, 57 (2002): 532–534: Volume contains "une réfléxion sur la préciosité, qui consiste essentiellement à tenter de bien discerner et de définir exactement le phénomène," as well as "des annexes très fournies" containing a multitude of important primary documents for study. Duchêne's focal question is: "Les précieuses ont-elles existé avant [Molière]? Ne les confondait-on pas avec d'autres catégories des femmes, telles les coquettes ou les galantes?" Duchêne's response resembles "une enquête policière" which Niderst calls "un modèle d'histoire littéraire." "Résultat de l'enquête: 《 L'idée qu'on s'est faite [des précieuses] est restée si vague et si ambiguë, que [le mot] a pu indifféremment apparaître comme une critique ou comme un compliment 》; il n'y a pas eu de phénomènes précieux 》 ni de 《 mouvement précieux 》, pas même de 《 nébuleuse précieuse 》." However, Niderst insists upon nuancing this conclusion, claiming that les précieuses did exist, but as a "mouvement un peu diffus" which almost immediately disintegrates.
EMELINA, JEAN. "Peut-on imaginer un classicisme heureux?" Revue d'histoire littéraire de la France (nov.–déc. 2000), 1481–1501.
Review: M. Lagier in SFr 135 (2001), 638–639: Emelina argues convincingly against the view of a somber classicism with the diversions there only as an escape mechanism. Demonstrates instead a definite "goût du bonheur" and an "ideologie de l'émerveillement."
FANLO, JEAN-RAYMOND, éd. "D'une fantastique bigarrure." Le texte composite à la Renaissance. Paris: Champion, 2000.
Review: U. Schulz-Buschhaus in ZRP 117 (2001), 637–644: This Festschrift for André Tournon concentrates on 16th c. examples of "le texte composite" such as the Heptaméron and the Essais. 17th c. scholars will appreciate Terence Cave's consideration of "un moi futur" in texts of Pascal as well as Montaigne and Rabelais; Fausta Garavini's "Les Essais . . . Montaigne lu par Charles Sorel" and Neil Kenny's essay on the concept of curiosity in France's periodical press (1631–1633).
FAUDENAY, ALAIN. Le Clair et l'obscur à l'âge classique. Genève: Slatkine, 2001.
Review: I. Landy-Houillon in PFSCL XXIX, 57 (2002): 534–536: "Après le vaste panorama de l'introduction qui rappelle la complexité de la notion de 《 clarté 》 et l'enjeu qu'elle représente à l'époque classique entre l'obscurité baroque et les Lumières du XVIIIe siècle, une première partie 《 La norme et ses limites 》 traite essentiellement de lexicologie ou de morpholexicologie." In the second part, Faudenay "replace la notion de "clarté" en littérature (contre le galimatias), en philosophie (idées claires et distinctes), en optique (Mersenne) ou en peinture (jeu sur la distance, le point de vue, etc.). L'auteur s'interroge ensuite sur l'interpénétration du clair et de l'obscur, relatifs et complémentaires." The third part of the book has a linguistic and lexical focus, while the last section is given to "l'arbitraire de la distinction." "La conclusion de l'ouvrage revient à la clarté dont la variété des sens confirmerait 《 une certaine solidarité 》 entre les divers domaines du savoir, au moins jusqu'à la fin de l'Ancien Régime." Review cites Faudenay's "érudition écrasante" and lauds the important appendices, concluding, "Au total un ouvrage infiniment riche, commode. . . et utile."
FERBER, MICHAEL. A Dictionary of Literary Symbols. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1999.
Review: n.a. in FMLS 37 (2001), 340: The main sources for this "elegantly written and produced", "erudite, readable and informative" reference tool include: the Bible, Antiquity, and English literature mainly up to the Romantics. Although the reviewer does not mention French sources, the 175 entries undoubtedly would be helpful to students of French literature, given a common heritage.
FERRAND, NATHALIE & MICHELE WEIL, eds. Homo narrativus: dix ans de recherche sur la topique romanesque: actes du XIe colloque international de la Société d'Analyse de la Topique Romanesque dans le roman français avant 1800. Montpellier: Université de Paul Valéry, 2001.
Among articles of interest to seventeenth-century scholars: M. Débaisieux, "La chute de Phaéton: variations sur une image topique du Moyen Age au XVIIe siècle"; E. Chapco and Th. Lassalle on Lafayette; D. Godwin, "Héroïsme et personnages féminins dans la fiction idéaliste de la deuxième moitié du XVIIe siècle"; D. Kuizenga, "Romancière à succès, succès de romancière: Mme de Villedieu et les topoi."
FERREYROLLES, GERARD, ed. Littérature et religion. Littératures classiques 39 (printemps 2000). Paris: Champion, 2000.
Review: B. Chédozeau in PFSCL XXVIII, 55 (2001), 528–530: "Ces études soulignent deux caractéristiques majeures de la problématique retenue: d'une part une 《 régime euphorique dans les relations de la littérature et de la religion 》 avec les 《 éclatements 》 qui en découlent . . . et d'autre part la prise de conscience de 《 l'inadéquation foncière entre l'expression littéraire et l'objet qu'elle prétend dans son usage religieux ultimement désignere, à savoir Dieu 》 [c'est Chédozeau qui souligne]." Three major rubrics are covered: "le religieux dans les genres profanes," "les genres littéraires religieux," and "l'écriture mystique." Reviewer concludes, "On voit à la fois l'ampleur du champ abordé, qui touche tous les domaines de la littérature (et peut-être plus généralement de l'écrit, puisque la science mathématique n'est pas oubliée), ainsi que la pertinence des choix de G. Ferreyrolles, qui a aussi réuni les abondants 《 éléments de bibliographie 》."
FLAHAULT, FRANÇOIS. La Pensée des contes. Paris: Anthropos, 2001.
Review: L. Arénilla in QL 827 (du 15 au 31 mai 2002), 15, 18: "L'objet d'étude est bien délimité. Ce sont des contes populaires, ceux que Charles Perrault et les frères Grimm ont recueillis... La volonté de s'en tenir au conte populaire est confirmée par l'appel aux variantes régionales et aux versions orales. [. . .] Les explorations approfondies, parfois subtiles, des différentes fonctions, -l'éloignement, la transgression, l'interdiction, la communication, etc. -qu'assument, selon le chercheur russe, les divers protagonistes, dégagent certaines constances, et par conséquent 'l'étonnante cohérence de pensée dont les contes témoignent en se répondant les uns aux autres.'" A previous edition of this work appeared as L'interprétation des contes (Paris: Denoël, 1988).
GAINES, JAMES. "Kapital de la douleur: Remystification of the Market Culture." PFSCL XXIX, 56 (2002), 15–22.
Discusses the fate of market culture after L'Avare, particularly in reference to Dancourt, whose "favorite practice is to obfuscate capitalism by setting it out to pasture." After Molière, market culture "is reduced to a theatrical toy." Includes discussion of Hugo and Dickens.
GANNE-SCHIERMEIER, MARIE-CECILE. "Le récit à la première personne de 1596 à 1669: Anonymat et subjectivité, la littérature comme théâtre d'une subjectivité en mouvement." DAI 62/04 (2001), 1432.
Dissertation "examines the baroque aesthetics of subjective self-fashioning" in La Mariane de Filomène (1596) and the Lettres portugaises. Examines specifically the link between anonymity and uses of the first-person.
GENDRE, ANDRE. Amour sacré, amour mondain. Poésie 1574–1610. Hommage à Jacques Bailbé. Paris: Presses de l'Ecole Normale Supérieure, 1995. Cahiers V.-L. Saulnier, 12.
Review: G. Jucquois in LR 54 (2000), 398: Both Catholic and Protestant poets are included in these essays organized around the two themes of the title which may be, it is shown, both complementary and in opposition. Includes questions as diverse as the relationship between worldly love and Calvinism and that of spiritual engagement and rhetoric.
GENLO, ANDRE. Evolution du sonnet français. Paris: PUF, 1996.
Review: G. Schrammen in ZRP 116 (2000), 176–181: Forme and fond receive proper attention in this treatment of the history of the French sonnet. "Evolution" refers specifically to "le devenir des formes . . . de l'emploi des mètres et surtout au groupement des rimes" (G. 13). Semantics is considered as well in the history of themes and sensiblities over the centuries (love and death are noteworthy themes, but also friendship, God, patrie, sadness, happiness and nature, S.181). Alternative readings are suggested; is Tristan's "La belle en deuil" a hymn to the beauty of night or a portrait of a widow? (G. 134).
GIORGI, GIORGETTO et al., eds. Perspectives de la recherche sur le genre narratif français du XVIIe siècle. Pisa-Genève: ETS-Slatkine, 2000.
Review: L.N. Cagiano in SFr 133 (2001), 146–148: The Actes of a rich and lively Colloque held at Pavia in 1998, the volume presents a mise au point on scholarship on the narrative, while offering ample new developments and directions (146). Wide-ranging and noteworthy essays by outstanding scholars such as Bernard Bray and Daniela Dalla Valle, among others, contribute to the vast panorama and meticulous analyses of the volume. Interdisciplinary ramifications include reflections on letters as "pierres de touche" (Bray) and theatre in the novel (Morelet Chantalat).
Review: N. Grande in RHL 101.5 (2001), 1468: Acta from a 1998 international conference in Pavia; the volume includes analyses of both individual authors and generic questions.
Review: C. Rolla in SFr 133 (2001), 137–138: Varied collection includes analyses of the poetics of romance, the "travestissements romanesques" of J.-P. Camus, the originality of l'Astrée, Béroalde de Verville's alchemic writing, and a comparative study of Italian and French poetics of the novel.
Review: A.-E. Spica in PFSCL XXIX, 56 (2002), 257–259: Fourteen articles which represent the acta of a conference on genre held at the University of Pavia in October 1998. With articles by E. Bury (on the evolution of poetics), G. Giorgi (a comparison of Italian and French genre studies of the period), D. Mauri on Béroalde de Verville, S. Poli on L'Astree, A. L. Franchetti on J.-P. Camus, J. Serroy on the first two chapters of the Roman comique, M. Botto on Cyrano, C. Morlet-Chantalat on "le théâtre dans le roman" and Clélie, R. Francillon on Mme de La Fayette, F. Piva on the "crise du roman" of the period, A. Capatti on "l'ivrognerie enfantine dans le roman burlesque," B. Bray on "le roman par lettres," G. Berger on the relationship between history and fiction in the 17th c., and D. Dalla Valle on "le roman de formation." "Au total, un ensemble d'une grande richesse, extrêmement stimulant."
GOLDSMITH, ELIZABETH C. Publishing Women's Life Stories in France, 1647–1720. Burlington: Ashgate, 2001.
Review: L. Leibacher-Ouvrard in PFSCL XXIX, 57 (2002): 536–538: Goldsmith studies the writings of three religious and three mondaines, all of whom were "《 publiques 》 et . . . publiées" in that they all wrote the stories of their own lives. Volume contains, in addition to mémoires, correspondence, court documents, and short texts by the women's friends and relatives. Chapters on Marie de l'Incarnation, Jeanne des Anges, Jeanne Guyon, Hortense et Marie Mancini, and Villedieu. "Reliant la notion de développement personnel à la pratique post-Tridentine de la direction spirituelle, [Goldsmith] insiste avec justesse sur la venue à l'écriture et à la publication comme un processus interactif, mettant surtout en évidence l'influence de la 《 conversation 》 que leurs écrits ont entretenue avec leur public immédiat ou potentiel. . .. [C]es femmes ont également contribué. . . à remettre en cause le stéréotype de victimes sédentaires confinées dans des cabinets privés."
GOODKIN, RICHARD E. Birth Marks: the Tragedy of Primogeniture in Pierre Corneille, Thomas Corneille, and Jean Racine. Philadelphia: UPP, 2000.
Review: D. Clarke in MLR 96.4 (2001), 1074–75: "This study explores how a selection of French tragedies written between the 1630s and 1670s treat issues of primogeniture and inheritance. To do this, Richard E. Goodkin draws on recent studies in social anthropology and psychology, particularly those concerned with issues of birth order, sibling bonds and rivalries, and with the relations between generations." Reviewer expresses some skepticism "about the solidity of the author's analytical methods" and "preference for flimsily supported assertions on character motivation."
Review: G. Revaz in RHL 101.5 (2001), 1469–71. Follows certain of Freud's disciples who regarded rivalry between brothers and sisters as foundational of personality, and adds to this the sociological argument that associates feudalism with the first-born son, and capitalism with the younger son. Reviewer takes issue with some readings, which distort through "l'application systématique du schéma de la rivalité fraternelle," while underlining the subtlety of others.
Review: H. Stone in PFSCL XXVIII, 55 (2001), 531–533: "Richard Goodkin explores French classical tragedy through the engaging perspective of sibling rivalry," leading to "provocative readings." "Situating the tensions between designated heir and his siblings against the backdrop of the evolving class shifts that occur in France as the power of the aristocracy wanes and the new capitalism favors the emergence of the bourgeoisie, Goodkin offers fresh reasons to appreciate the vitality of the classical stage." Includes readings of Horace, Bérénice, Médée, La Mort de Pompée, Persée et Démétrius, Rodogune, Nicomède, Timocrate, Œdipe, La Thébaïde, Britannicus, Bajazet, Mithridate, Ariane, and Phèdre. "Goodkin's lively readings of the plays, clearly written and dotted with bursts of good humor; his lucid application of sociological and psychological theory, and his respectful engagement with an impressive range of recent critics of French classical theater make Birth Marks one of the most significant books on classical theater to appear in recent years."
Review: C. Venesoen in DSS 213 (2001), 737–739: The reviewer characterizes the book as essentially sociological and psychological in its approach to the thesis: situated within a constantly evolving social context in which nascent capitalism begins to challenge noble hegemony, the plays studied inscribe an ideological conflict between "une éthique de la continuité," based on inheritance, and an "ethic of individual enterprise based on the notion of meritocracy." The reviewer takes issue with certain interpretations of works by the frères Corneille but argues that the analyses of Racine's plays, which focus more on relationships between siblings than on primogeniture itself, constitute a vibrant re-reading of the Racinian œuvre. The reviewer concludes "[u]n livre à lire, à méditer et à inscrire dans la riche bibliographie de la littérature classique."
GREINER, FRANK & JEAN-CLAUDE TERNAUX, eds. La Politesse amoureuse de Marcile Ficin à Madeleine de Scudéry. Idées, codes, représentations. International Colloquium organized at the Université de Reims-Champagne-Ardennes. Torino: Edizioni dell'Orso, 2000.
Review: O. Pot in BHR 64.1 (2002), 146–48: "Twenty-two papers explore this vast but elusive topos under five broad headings: Philosophies of love; Codes of behavior; Rhetorical aspects; Literary representations, and Criticism and metamorphoses."
GUELLOUZ, S., ed. Postérités du Grand Siècle. Caen: Presses Universitaires de Caen, 2000.
Review: P. Zoberman in IL 54.2 (2002), 60–63: Volume concentrates on the uses and misuses of the grand siècle from the 18th to 20th century. Among the issues considered: the resurrection of Molière's Dom Juan, the publication of Tallemant's Historiettes, Hugo on Corneille, Phèdre in Proust. Many of the authors here "ont tendance à traiter leurs perspectives isolément et à s'enfermer dans les textes qu'ils présentent et d'y adhérer," and lack "[u]ne certaine distance vis-à-vis l'objet d'étude." Nevertheless, the volume shows well "la manière dont l'intelligibilité vient au passé culturel."
HACHE, SOPHIE. La Langue du ciel. Le Sublime en France au XVIIe siècle. Paris: Champion, 2000.
Review: A.-M. Mazziotti in SFr 135 (2001), 642: Contests the view that only with Boileau and his famous text of the pseudo Longinus did the debate on the sublime occur in France. Traces the theme in the period 1630–1660 and studies closely the ambiguity of the interpretation of "sublime." Solid and thorough treatment reveals importance of the question for classical esthetics and modern philosophy.
HAMPTON, TIMOTHY. Literature and Nation in the Sixteenth Century: Inventing Renaissance France. Ithaca: Cornell UP, 2001.
Review: C. E. Campbell in CHOICE 39, 4 (2001), 689–90: Examines the "pre-history of the relationship between secular literary culture and national identity in France." In readings of Rabelais, Marguerite de Navarre, Montaigne, and Mme de Lafayette, the author traces "how literary discourse registers the shifts of language and representation that accompany the large political realignments marking the century."
HAROCHE-BOUZINAC, GENEVIEVE. "La Lettre féminine dans les secrétaires. L'enfance de l'art." XVIIe siècle no. 208 (juillet–sept. 2000), 465–484.
Review: S. Costa in SFr 134 (2001), 392: Analysis by Haroche-Bouzinac of 17th c. documents reveals the rarity of disproportion of a "teorici della lettera" that feminine models used in their manuals. Her work demonstrates the difficulty in finding feminine correspondence not modified by a masculine hand. Stylistic evolution indicates that women have also realized "le rêve masculin du naturel et de la spontanéité. . ." (n.p.).
HARRIES, ELIZABETH WANNING. Twice Upon a Time, Women Writers and the History of the Fairy Tale. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2001.
Review: K. Seago in M&T 16.2 (2002), 304–307: Reviewer considers this book an important intervention in feminist literary criticism and a "valuable and well-argued rereading of the history of the fairy tale." The first half of the book examines canon formation and contrasts what Harries calls the "compact tales" of Perrault and later the Brothers Grimm to the "complex tales" written by the conteuses of the seventeenth-century. The latter are characterized by their "consciously literary style, complex structure, ironic self-referentiality, length, and historic specificity." Harries "revalues" these works not as inferior imitations "but in their own terms, as a knowingly mocking and psychological exploration of a common tale and a coded comment on the practices and values of women's writing." The second half of the book argues that the framing narrative characteristic of complex tales is shared and reworked by contemporary revisionist fairy-tale writing. Harries studies the work of Joseph Cornell, Anne Sexton, Christa Wolf, and Angela Carter, among others.
HEPP, NOEMI. "Féminité, culture de l'esprit et vie mondaine au XVIIe siècle." Vie des salons et activités littéraires, de Marguerite de Valois à Mme de Staël. Actes du colloque de Nancy. Nancy: PU de Nancy, 2001.
HEYNDELS, RALPH & BARBARA WOSHINSKY, éds. L'Autre au XVIIe siècle. Tübingen: Gunter Narr, 1999.
Review: A. M. Mazziotti in SFr 133 (2001), 143: The other is considered as a key to the unexplored in the literary world in this volume, the Acts of the 4th Colloque du CIR 17 (1998). Sections are devoted to the moralists, the theatre, spiritual literature, and rhetoric. Essays by renowned specialists indicate the broad scope of the volume, treating subjects as diverse as letters of consolation (Thomas Carr) to the "constellation précieuse" (Philippe Sellier). Interdisciplinary emphases are found as well (Christian Biet on law and fiction).
Review: H. Phillips in FS 54.4 (2001), 542: ". . .an interesting collection of essays on what many authors have to say about the other in various contexts in seventeenth-century France. . .." Includes studies on reading and narrative, theater, the law.
HOWE, ALAIN. Le théâtre professionnel à Paris, 1600–1649. Documents analysés parMadeleine Jurgens etAlain Howe. Transcriptions parAndrée Chauleur etPierre-Yves Louis. Paris: Centre historique des archives nationales, 2000.
Review: V. Worth-Stylianou in BHR 64.1 (2002), 229–30: Howe "est venu suppléer aux travaux laissés par Madeleine Jurgens, pour dresser un inventaire complet des 458 actes notariés concernant le théâtre professionnel, relevés dans le précieux Minutier Central des Notaires de Paris. Parmi ces testaments, contrats de mariage, baux, constitutions de rente et autres documents, presque les deux-tiers étaient inédits." Ouvrage indispensable à tout dix-septiémiste qui s'intéresse au théâtre parisien.
JONES, CHRISTINE ANNE. "Noble Impropriety: The Maiden Warrior and the Seventeenth-Century Conte de fées." DAI 63/01 (2002), 205.
Examines the theme of female cross-dressing in a corpus of fairy tales as a way of understanding the woman writer's desire to form a new kind of fiction—the conte de fée, part the rise of the "bagatelle" as an art form.
JONES DAY, SHIRLEY. The Search for Lyonnesse: Women's Fiction in France, 1670–1703. Bern: Peter Lang, 1999.
Review: N. Grande in RHL 101.5 (2001), 1472: Shows how Lafayette and Villedieu contributed to the emergence of a new "écriture féminine." Considers the fiction of Bernard, d'Aulnoy, La Force. "[A] le grand mérite de mettre en lumière des auteurs trop peu étudiés."
KINTZLER, CATHERINE. "La vraisemblance après Corneille dans l'opéra merveilleux: une théorie scalaire." PFSCL XXVIII, 55 (2001): 461–471.
Kintzler demonstrates that "l'opéra français de l'âge classique doit une grande partie de sa consistance à un modèle cornélien," since "l'axe principal qui en constitue la poétique est largement inspiré des idées que [Corneille] expose dans ses Trois discours. . ." Particular attention paid to theoretical texts by Pierre Perrin, Charles Perrault, Boileau, Bossuet, Nicole, La Bruyère, La Fontaine, and Saint-Evremond, as well as several 18th-c. writers.
KLEBER, HERMANN. Die französischen Mémoires. Geschichte einer literarischen Gattung von den Anfängen bis zum Zeitalter Ludwigs XIV. Berlin: Erich Schmidt, 1999.
Review: U. Schöning in RF 113 (2001), 419–421: Comprehensive and ground-breaking treatment of the genre of Mémoires from the first examples to its 15th c. constitution as a genre and its evolution during the 17th c. Chapter 5 will be central to the interest of specialists in the Grand Siècle as it examines the expansion of the genre, its boundaries and function.
KLINKERT, THOMAS. Einführung in die französische Literaturwissenschaft. Berlin: Erich Schmidt, 2000.
Review: A. Gier in RF 113 (2001), 528–530: Although Klinkert's volume is lacking in several fundamental items (among them, a bibliography, a panorama of literary theories and methods), it is praiseworthy for a number of reasons: the correct emphasis that Klinkert places on text analysis and the function of literature as a reminder of culture, as well as for several particularly excellent chapters. Reviewer singles out Klinkert's use of Racine to illustrate poetry and rhetorical figures.
KOCH, EREC R., ed. Classical Unities: Place, Time, Action. Actes du 32e congrès annuel de la North American Society for Seventeenth Century French Literature, Tulane University, 13–15 avril 2000. Tübingen: Narr (Biblio 17), 2002.
Review: A. Niderst in PFSCL XXIX, 57 (2002): 542–543: Niderst cites Koch's goal: "《 examiner dans des perspectives pluridisciplinaires les frontières et les marges de ce canon, ainsi que les relatins entre l'accepté et le rejeté, le permis et le défendu, l'inclu et l'exclu 》 (p.97)," calling this "un volume foisonnant. Includes articles on theater by H. Merlin-Kajman, L. Riggs, S. Fleck, J. Gaines, P. Gethner, C. Braider, R. Goodkin, B. Norman, C. Biet, R. Ganim, A.-L. Bucher, and S. Melzer. Also includes a study by M. Gutwirth entitled, "Classicisme pas mort?", articles on La Fronde (M. Stefanovska and A. Plant), des carrosses (D Vaillancourt), les Tuileries (W. Roberts), 《 l'homme de ruelle chez les dames 》 (L. Seifert), women's convents (B. Woshinsky), Vaux-le-Vicomte & Fouquet (L. Mackenzie); astronomy, travel, and colonial politics (R. Racevskis, M.-Fr. Hilgar, G. Van Den Abbeele, S. Melzer); contes de fées (H. Neemann, J.-P. Van Elslande); les "romans palimpsesteux" de l'abbé de Pure (L. Leibacher-Ouvrard), Zaïde (J. Cherbuliez), les Mémoires (M. Stefanovska, P. Bayley, S. Read Baker), La Bruyère (E. Leveau), Cyrano (D. Dutton), Pascal (P. Force), rhetoric (J.-V. Blanchard & M. Taormina). Reviewer notes that there is "rien sur les poètes ni les romanciers de la première moitié du siècle," but praises the volumes rich interdisciplinarity and invitation to further study.
KRALOVEC, CLARICE ALLEN. "The Hidden God in French Literature and Cinema: From the Classical Age to the Twentieth Century." DAI 63/02 (2002), 613.
Reads the "hidden God" in Pascal's Pensées and Racine's Phèdre against Balzac and films of Kielowski, Bresson, and Truffaut.
LAURENS, FLORENCE VUILLEMIER. La Raison des figures symboliques à la Renaissance et à l'âge classique: Etudes sur les fondements philosophiques, théologiques et rhétoriques de l'image. Genève: Droz, 2000.
Review: A. Adams in MLR 96.4 (2001), 1066–67: "This elegantly printed and presented book considers the theoretical discussion concerning images, and the image-related genres. . . which flourished throughout Europe in the Renaissance and the seventeenth century."
LAVOCAT, FRANÇOISE. Arcadies malheureuses. Aux origines du roman moderne. Paris: Champion, 1997.
Review: U. Schulz-Buschhaus in ZRP 117 (2001), 111–115: Praiseworthy for the abundance of materials treated (the pastoral novel in Italy, France and Spain) and the perspicacious analyses of individual novels, the volume is useful for its considerations of language and structure as well as history of the genre. Five French texts are included, three from the 17th c.: d'Urfé's renowned Astrée (1607–1619), Henry du Lisdam's Histoire Ionique (1602) and Vital d'Audiguier's La Flavie (1606).
LE HIR, MARIE-PIERRE & DANA STRAND, eds. French Cultural Studies: Criticism at the Crossroads. Albany, NY: State U of NYP, 2000.
Review: n.a. in FMLS 38 (2002), 109: Divided into two sections: the first on theory and methodology as it relates to teaching culture; the second more research based, with an emphasis on (post) colonialism and ethnicity. Judged "open and interrogative. . . , useful, readable and thought-provoking" the volume also contains individual bibliographies and a general index.
LONGSTAFFE, MOYA. Metamorphoses of Passion and the Heroic in French Literature: Corneille, Stendhal, Claudel. Lewiston: Edwin Mellen Press, 1999.
Review: n.a. in FMLS 37 (2001), 345: Praiseworthy for its close readings, both of well-known and lesser known works, its "reflective and comparative method of mapping the themes in their historical and generic contexts, and its extensive bibliography."
LOSKOUTOFF, YVAN. "Fascis cum sideribus III. Le symbolisme armorial dans les éloges du cardinal Mazarin, ses prolongements dans les mazarinades, chez Corneille, Racine et La Fontaine." DSS 214 (2002), 55–98.
Seeking in part to counterbalance the preponderance of studies devoted to the mazarinades, Loskoutoff examines the encomiastic literature addressed to the cardinal and, specifically, the omnipresence and allegorical use of elements derived from Mazarin's coat of arms.
LÜSEBRINK, HANS-JÜRGEN, ed. Die französische Kultur-interdisziplinäre Annäherungen. St. Ingbert: Röhrig, 1999.
Review: G. Verheyen in RF 113 (2001), 530–533: The outgrowth of a 1996 course of lectures at the University of Saarbrücken, the volume is wide-ranging, including topics as diverse as music composition and culture in the Middle Ages to analyses of Frantz Fanon and Senghor. 17th c. specialists will appreciate Roger Chartier's essay "Histoire, Langages, Pratiques. Le texte et la voix, XVIe-XVIIe siècles", Jean-Paul Sermain's reflections on 17th c. linguistics, and Lorenz Dittmann's analysis of Poussin.
LYONS, JOHN D. Kingdom of Disorder. The Theory of Tragedy in Classical France. West Lafayette (Indiana): Purdue UP, 1999.
Review: G. Spielmann in PFSCL XXVIII, 55 (2001), 539–541: Four chapters, each devoted to one aspect of dramatic theory ("rules," passions, verisimilitude, and the three unities). "Lyons entreprend. . . de revister et surtout de confronter les principaux textes normatifs sur la tragédie," including Corneille, d'Aubignac, and La Mesnardière. "D'emblée l'auteur affirme que la fameuse 《 doctrine classique 》 est une invention ex post facto de l'histoire littéraire. . . Il entreprend donc de reconstituer une dramaturgie qui, en réalité, se débat dans les contradictions d'une modernité fort problématique - royaume du désordre, à l'instar de celui que dépeint la tragédie. . . où règne une 《 non-doctrine 》." Reviewer lauds Lyons' "lecture minutieuse" and for his distinctions between "la nécessité diégétique" and "la nécessité spectaculaire," and between representation and reading. "Soigneusement documenté, rigoureusement argumenté, rédigé avec précision et concision. . . Kingdom of Disorder est à lire d'urgence par quiconque s'intéresse non seulement à la tragédie ou au théâtre du XVIIe siècle, mais plus généralement à l'histoire culturelle française et à l'《 invention de la modernité 》 dont la théorie dramatique dite 《 classique 》 constitue l'un des fondements."
MAÎTRE, MYRIAM. "Editer, imprimer, publier: quelques stratégies féminines au XVIIe siècle." TL 14 (2001), 257–276.
Carefully and convincingly demonstrates that the activities of the title are in the 17th c. "des activités organisées et valorisées autrement qu'elles ne le sont aujourd'hui" (258). Attentive to "la modestie féminine" as well as to "la négligence aristocratique" and "le tropisme nobiliaire", Maître offers precise reflections on the prestige of the manuscript and the seduction of the published text, the politics of publication (Mlle de Montpensier) and reputation as a woman versus career as an author (Mlle L'Héritier) (259–264, 264–269, 269–275). Four reproductions of pertinent texts and frontispieces complement Maître's excellent analyses.
MAÎTRE, MYRIAM. Les Précieuses: Naissance des femmes de lettres en France au XVIIe siècle. Paris: Champion, 1999.
Review: N. Grande in RHL 102.1 (2002), 156–57. Shows that preciosity "met précisément en jeu les querelles et les tensions qui accompagnèrent la naissance de la littérature au XVIIe siècle." Analyzes both the original satirical discourse on the précieuses, then tries to identify their real existence. Relates them particularly to the political role of women under Anne d'Autriche; argues that they finally construct "de réelles stratégies littéraires"; distinguishes preciosity from galanterie; and suggests that the "conception précieuse de la femme" underwrites a good deal of the modern French language. "[C]'est toute notre vision du XVIIe siècle que [ce] travail vient transformer."
Review: S. Hartwig in RF 113 (2001), 426–427: Praised for its clarity, stringent argumentation and precise philological work, Maître's 800 page study treats with authority the activities of the précieuses (for example, in the propaganda of the absolutist monarchy), their roles as femme savante, femme auteur, femme critique and the concept of préciosité in relation to l'esthétique galante. An ample index of persons, a list of well-known women and their mention in contemporary texts, an extensive bibliography and comprehensive documentation complete this well-founded analysis of an important and complex concept and social movement crucial to the understanding of literature, politics, history and social phenomena of the 17th c.
Review: A. Niderst in PFSCL XXVIII, 55 (2001), 542–543: Niderst states, "ce nous est un plaisir de rendre compte d'un travail aussi méthodique, aussi érudit et aussi bien présenté. Le style est parfaitement limpide, souvent entraînant. L'auteur fait preuve d'une admirable érudition, qu'attestent un index détaillé, l'abondante bibliographie qui est clairement et judicieusement ordonnée, et surtout l'annexe qui présente une liste aussi complète que possible des femmes qu'on a pu baptiser "précieuses". D'ailleurs maints textes obscurs ou méconnus. . . ont été déterrés, lus et commentés attentivement. Myriam Maître fait preuve enfin d'un grand souci pédagogique: son étude est parfaitement structurée et progresse d'un chapitre à l'autre, à travers des conclusions partielles, jusqu'à la synthèse finale. Tout cela rend l'ouvrage exemplaire." Maître treats the question of definition (what is a précieuse?), as well as the emergence of the woman writer in France during the seventeenth century. Although Niderst judges Maître's definition of précieuse as "trop générale et trop floue," he concludes, "nous ne pouvons que rendre hommage à ce travail exemplaire, qui éclaire admirablement la vie mondaine, les pratique et les modes littéraires du XVIIe siècle."
MAJORANO, MATTEO. "Pages d'eau: mers exemplaires." Les Méditerranées du XVIIe siècle. Actes du VIe colloque du Centre International de Rencontres sur le XVIIe siècle. Ed. G. Dotoli. Tübingen: Gunter Narr Verlag (Biblio 17), 2002: 157–168.
Article is a kind of "réflexion sur l'objet artistique et sur sa vocation à la 《 distraction 》." Majorano seeks to "découvrir les conditions, les fonctions et les raisons pour lesquelles l'imaginaire littéraire emploie, dans certains textes, cette mer tout d'abord exigée par la narration et qui charge la page d'une force insoupçonnable," particularly with reference to Racine's Bérénice, Molière's Dom Juan, and Sorel's Nouvelles françoises. Majorano concludes, "cette mer entre les terres. . . rappelle. . . une souffrance plus aïgue et injuste que celle que l'on peut rencontrer sur terre. Les différences sont toutes dans l'intensité de la 《 distraction 》 que cette eau méditerranéenne produit."
MANSAU, ANDREE, éd. Mises en cadre dans la littérature et dans les arts. Toulouse: PU du Mirail, 1999.
Review: G. Jucquois in LR 54 (2000), 389–390: Interdisciplinary and wide-ranging collective work includes essays treating works from antiquity to our day, genres from theatre to postcards, and underscores the frequent absence of formal indications between literary and ordinary discourse.
MARTIN, ISABELLE. "Usage de la dramaturgie racinienne dans l'Essai sur l'Eloquence de la chaire de l'abbé Maury." DSS 214 (2002), 127–136.
". . .un art, qu'en principe, la prédication s'efforce de combattre. . .," Racine's dramatic discourse nonetheless provides Maury with a model of sacred eloquence that supplants classical, pagan models. Maury "veut prolonger le rayonnement du Grand Siècle sur le sien du point de vue formel et idéologique, mais surtout lutter contre la rhétorique fleurie et peu efficace des nouveaux prédicateurs, qui s'appuie trop selon lui sur la dimension spectaculaire, le mot d'esprit, plutôt que sur le Verbe."
MATHIEU-CASTELLANI, GISELE. La Rhétorique des passions. Paris: PUF, 2000.
Review: F. Rouget in BHR 63.3 (2001), 633–34: Ouvrage en deux parties qui analyse le rôle des émotions dans l'art oratoire depuis l'Antiquité au 17e siècle. "La première partie de l'ouvrage rappelle utilement le rôle qu'assignaient à la passion les théoriciens de la rhétorique classique, essentiellement Aristote, pour les Grecs, et Cicéron, pour les Latins." Dans la seconde partie, l'auteur "évoque 'les incidences de la rhétorique' à la Renaissance, dans le texte écrit (chap. 6) et dans l'utilisation de l'image (chap. 7)."
MAZOUER, CHARLES, éd. Recherches des jeunes dix-septiémistes. Tübingen: Gunter Narr, 2000.
Review: C. Bernazzoli in SFr 134 (2001), 393–395: These Actes of the 5th Colloque du CIR 17 at Bordeaux (1999) are devoted to the research of young 17th c. scholars. Sections treat "Théâtre," "Théâtre lyrique," "Rhétorique, Logique, Images," "Romans, Mémoires, Histoire," and "Poésie," demonstrating the breadth of interest of these fine scholars and auguring well for the future of 17th c. studies.
Review: J. Garapon in PFSCL XXIX, 57 (2002): 548–551: Reviewer calls this volume a "panorama très stimulant et roboratif sur les tendances de la recherche actuelle, ses nouveaux champs d'étude, les voies (et les voix. . .) critiques de demain." Four sections: 1. "les arts de la scène", with articles on Rotrou, Scarron, Boisrobert, Racine (and his illustrators Chauveau and Lebrun), Quinault, and Tasso's influence; 2. 《 Rhétorique, Logique, Images 》, with articles on Furetière; "la notion de 《 bien penser 》 à l'époque mondaine;" the sublime; "l'effet de voix propre au discours pascalien;" oppositions between Jesuit rhetoric and Pascalian persuasion; and Gomberville; 3. "récits," with articles on Madeleine de Scudéry; Saint-Réal & Tacitus; the stereotype of the garden in the novel; La Rochefoucauld as a model memoir writer; Saint-Evremond, and Bossuet, Arnauld and Nicole; 4. poetry, including Malherbe, Théophile et Saint-Amant, the myth of Narcissus, and the poetry of Port-Royal. Reviewer lauds the richness of the approaches, noting that "l'heure est en revanche à la diachronie, aux problématiques croisés, à la réhabilitation de genres et de textes délaissés, aux interactions esthétiques et intellectuelles de tous ordres."
MAZOUER, CHARLES. Le Theâtre français du moyen âge. Paris: SEDES, 1998.
Review: K. Schoell in RF 113 (2001), 274–277: Highly intelligent and worthwhile inventory of research on Medieval French theatre by a renowned theatre specialist, also known for his excellent 17th c. scholarship. The reviewer hopes for future volumes on other periods of French theatre.
MECHOULAN, ERIC, éd. La Vengeance dans la littérature d'Ancien Régime. Montréal: UM, 2000.
Review: M. Reilly in FS 56.1 (2002), 91–92: "Where the book is genuinely valuable is in its exploration of the complexity of vengeance and the way in which it has an aesthetic value which reaches into the realms of politics, society, law, medicine, psychology and art." The reviewer reserves particular praise for Christian Biet's article, an exploration of legal and theological debates on vengeance.
Review: D. Shaw in MLR 96.4 (2001), 1071: "These ten essays seek to examine the changing face of revenge in the literary works of the period [17th–18th centuries]." Essay of note by R. Lauthelier on "Pathologie et vengeance dans quelques tragédies de la première moitié du 17e siècle" treats revenge in the context of humoral medicine and "demonstrates the association, in writers such as Hardy, Rotrou and Tristan l'Hermite, between atrabilious melancholy and a morbid desire for vengeance."
MERLIN-KAJMAN, HÉLÈNE. L'absolutisme dans les lettres et la théorie des deux corps: passions et politique. Paris: Champion, 2000.
Review: E. Gilby in FS 56.2 (2002), 236–237: Merlin-Kajman "takes the notion that a single physical entity can, according to the logic of the 'théorie des deux corps,' encompass within itself both the dynastic and the divine, and identifies the attendant confusion as given to exploration within the space of literature....Throughout, Merlin-Kajman homes in on the ambiguities of the textual 'moi': subject to sovereignty, yet locus of an individual subject position." Corneille is "the dominant figure in the book as a whole, granted three initial chapters and a constant presence in the rest"; there are also "impressively intricate readings" of Tristan L'Hermite, Retz, La Rochefoucauld and Racine.
Review: J. Lyons in PFSCL XXIX, 56 (2002), 267–269: Reviewer calls this an "important and strikingly original new book," which continues the author's "reflexion on the cultural and political concepts of the public, the particulier, and the private as they take shape in seventeenth-century France." Merlin locates "in drama a laboratory for the formation of a new relationship between the individual and power. She explores the creation of a new structure of the subject, a structure that appears in the king, in tragic heroes and heroines, in actors, and in theatrical spectators. At every turn, the models of political and affective conflict or accommodation that appear in drama are related cogently to contemporaneous debates in other textual forms." Specific reference is made to Corneille, Racine, Tristan, and Rotrou within a framework that includes Bodin, Montaigne, Caussin, La Rochefoucauld and Retz. Merlin specifically challenges the widely commented "topos of the 'king's two bodies,'" juxtaposing la politique ("l'art de régner") with le politique (the political sphere), and her efforts offer "luminous and rewarding insights into importants," even "fresh and convincing readings of the plays," particularly in the context of women characters. Reviewer concludes: "L'Absolutisme. . . is one of the most stimulating studies of early modern culture to appear in decades. Merlin-Kajman's innovative and controversial vision will surely open an era in our understanding of seventeenth-century France."
MERLIN-KAJMAN, HÉLÈNE. L'Excentricité académique. Littérature, institution, société. Paris: Belles-Lettres, 2001.
Review: J. Weightman in TLS 5154 (Jan 11 2002), 22: Author takes etymological sense of excentricité and asks how central the Academy has been to French language and literature during the various phases of its existence. Includes a discussion of the Academy's relationship to Richelieu and the state. Treats the Querelle du Cid and other times when the Academy has been at variance with creative literature.
MILLER, MARIA PAPAPETROU. "La Méditerranée comme issue non envisagée par l'Homme tragique de l'âge baroque." Les Méditerranées du XVIIe siècle. Actes du VIe colloque du Centre International de Rencontres sur le XVIIe siècle. Ed. G. Dotoli. Tübingen: Gunter Narr Verlag (Biblio 17), 2002: 63–76.
With reference to "l'homme tragique de l'âge baroque," which she defines as "l'homme de l'Ancien Testament et de la Bible," Papapetrou asks, "Quelle est sa vision de la Méditerranée et pourquoi ne la regarde-t-il pas comme lieu de salut?" A study of biblical tragedies beginning with Billard (1610) to Racine's Esther, in which the author posits that there are "liens intrinsèques entre les héros bibliques baroques et la Méditerranée," and that, surprisingly, these heroes have a strong desire to flee the sea as a place of misery and misfortune, though it also represents a place of catharsis.
MOLINIE, GEORGES. "Perspectives sémio-culturelles sur l'invention du roman européen." DSS 215 (2002), 317–321.
A short essay that outlines briefly the precise features of the modernity of the novelistic form: its "non-généricité," "simplicité" and "neutralité."
MOORE, FABIENNE. "The Emergence of the Prose Poem in Eighteenth-Century France from Fénelon to Chateaubriand." DAI 61/12 (2001), 4763.
An examination of the prose poem in France that places its beginnings in Fénelon's Télémaque.
MUNARI, SIMONA. "L'espace méditerranéen dans le roman mauresque du XVIIe siècle: mythe, symbole, stéréotype." Les Méditerranées du XVIIe siècle. Actes du VIe colloque du Centre International de Rencontres sur le XVIIe siècle. Ed. G. Dotoli. Tübingen: Gunter Narr Verlag (Biblio 17), 2002: 169–178.
Attempts to "dégager le rôle de l'espace" as a "critère d'appartenance des œuvres à un certain genre littéraire." With reference to Juvenel, Le Rou, Raguenet, La Fayette, La Calprenède, Bernard, Gomberville, Madeleine de Scudéry, Munari demonstrates that "bien avant le romantisme il y a eu une Espagne littéraire et mythique."
NATIVEL, COLETTE, ed. Femmes savantes, Savoirs des femmes. Du crépuscule de la Renaissance à l'aube des Lumières. Genève: Droz, 1999.
Review: S. Read Baker in SCN 59:3 (2001), 294–298: A collection of nineteen essays dedicated to the memory of Linda Timmermans. In the first section, entitled "Réalités / Savoirs," articles deal with, among other topics, the status and power of widows, the education of several female novelists, and women's conflicted experience of the writing enterprise. Part II, "Regards d'homme," features articles on how largely male groups—including scholarly Humanists, historians, and Protestant reformers—viewed female knowledge. Part III, "Discours de Femmes/Portraits," presents "case studies" of the lives of several key 17th-c. worthies: Marguerite de Valois, Madeleine de Scudéry, Villedieu, Dacier, Guyon and the lesser known Catherine Perrot and Mme du Noyer. The reviewer considers this book "a monumental exploration of women's intellectual interests and endeavors in early modern France."
NEDELEC, CLAUDINE et al., eds. Le XVIIe siècle encyclopédique. Cahiers Diderot 12. Rennes: PU de Rennes, 2001.
Review: A. Niderst in PFSCL XXIX, 57 (2002): 555–557: Volume recognizes the need l'honnête homme had of an ample library, yet this need was often criticized as a "folle ambition." Articles by J. Biru on "la polysémie de la vertu," C. Nédélec on "les efforts faits pour parvenir à des dictionnaires qui seraient exhaustifs," S. Mazauric on Renaudot's Centuries du Bureau d'Adresses, Ph. Raviez on Saint-Simon, F. Saby on 17th & 18th c. "collections," D. Ribard on philosophical knowledge and Sorel and Bayle; J. de Gramont on Pascal and La Tour, M. A. Robert on "cabinets de curiosités," Sorel and Pascal, D. Riou, also on Sorel. Reviewer regrets the lack of articles on Leibnitz and Fontenelle; however, the volume remains "intéressant."
NIDERST, ALAIN, ed. Le Diable, l'Autre. Paraître, communiquer. Intersubjectivité, intertextualité. Saint-Genouph: Librairie A.-G. Nizet, 1997.
Review: G. Jucquois in LR 54 (2000), 91–98: "[E]n parcourant la suite de thématiques abordées, la question de la continuité de la démarche vient spontanément à l'esprit du lecteur: d'abord le problème des rapports entre littérature et histoire, puis particulièrement les questions des variations sociales, de l'iconographie et de la littérature, des récits de voyage, de l'animalité, de l'exil et enfin celle du Diable. L'éditeur suggère ainsi un lien souterrain entre ces thématiques ce qui provoque chez lui un questionnement sur l'identité, mieux, les identités multiples de celui qu'on dénomme, notamment, le Diable." Indisciplinary / intermethodological study of the evolution from Devil to Other.
NIDERST, ALAIN. Essai d'histoire littéraire: Guilleragues, Subligny et Challe. Des Lettres Portugaises aux Illustres Françaises. Saint-Genouph: Nizet, 1999.
Review: M. Calder in FS 54.4 (2001), 542–543: Niderst's "well-researched" volume "attempts to play with the possibilities of certainty which scholarship might wish to fix on the enigma" of the Lettres portugaises. The study "follows various forking strands of enquiry, with a calculated inconclusiveness": "Niderst's Essai knows—but does not explicitly state—that the rigorous epistemological standards of textual authenticity which we have developed today, and the authorial sanctification which is the legacy of such writers as Jean-Jacques Rousseau or Chateaubriand. . . would be inappropriately imposed upon the product of an age characterized by 'supercheries littéraires.'"
Review: n.a. in FMLS 37 (2001), 348: "A new look at the authorship of the five original letters" which claims that the letters were written by Alcoforado, sent to Chamilly and translated/adapted by Subligny. Other reflections on Subligny as a "semi-invisible mover and shaker behind . . . the focus on les désordres de l'amour" (reviewer).
ODDO, NANCY. "L'invention du roman français au XVIIe siècle: littérature religieuse et matière romanesque." DSS 215 (2002), 221–234.
Author studies the increasingly fluid boundaries between textes profanes and textes religieux, arguing that despite efforts to foreground religious propaganda, novelistic form and content ultimately informed religious literature, effecting "transferts entre dévotion et romanesque."
PAIGE, NICHOLAS D. Being Interior: Autobiography and the Contradictions of Modernity in Seventeenth-Century France. Philadelphia: U of Pennsylvania P, 2001.
Review: H. Trépanier in PFSCL XXIX, 57 (2002): 557–560: "Un livre désiré: . . . une analyse de la naissance de la mentalité autobiographique." Reviewer calls Paige's work "original, riche, dense, complexe et rigoureux dans ses études particulières." "Son propos est une étude de l'intériorité, une analyse de l'impératif au XVIIe siècle en France, au sein d'un monde déterminé par les apparences — les codes sociaux, l'esthétique de l'honnête homme, les mises en scènes théâtrales, les plaisirs royaux — d'être 《 intérieur 》." Paige identifies, "entre 1630 et 1660 un changement dans les mentalités; le genre de l'autobiographie tel que nous le concevons depuis Jean-Jacques Rousseau n'est pas encore né, mais l'espace de cette pratique où l'identité est fondée sur l'expérience individuelle s'instaure progressivement." Particular reference to Saint Augustine, Montaigne, Saint Paul, to the autobiographical texts of religious such as Benoît de Canfeld, Jean Maillard, Alexandre Piny, Jean de Labadie, Antoinette Bourignon, Jeanne Guyon, and Jean-Joseph Surin. "A travers l'étude de multiples biographies et textes autobiographiques spirituels, Nicholas Paige réussit à saisir le déplacement du caractère 《 insondable 》 du divin vers le sujet humain, vers l'intériorité du sujet." Helpful index; a bibliography would have been useful.
Review: Z. Zalloua in SCN 60:1 (2002), 72–74: Analyzing select autobiographical texts that display an interiorized subjectivity, Paige offers an alternative account of the origins of modernity, one that does not depend solely on skepticism and secularism. Paige begins with Montaigne's Essais and deploys Foucault's notion of the technologies of the self to illuminate the "contradictions and paradoxes. . .of modern subjectivity." The gendering of autobiography is a central premise of the book, as Paige looks to the significant role of women in religious autobiography and biography, where tension surfaces between the representation of interiority, theoretically possible through autobiograhical writing, and the exteriority of publication, resulting in "misreading and misappropriation" which rendered the writer vulnerable. Reviewer notes the "great appeal" of this book for those interested in the genealogy of the modern subject.
PAIGE, NICHOLAS. "Enlightened (Il)Literates: Problems of Gender and Authority in Early Modern Devotional Writing." EMF 7 (2001), 115–140.
"The familiar problem here is gender; my intent is to show how the rich mine of early modern devotional writing disables many of the scripts that practitioners of cultural studies have used to understand gender relations within the Church." Proposes that gender relations within the Church were not as oppositional as much cultural studies would have it; argues that many nuns came to articulate the modern values of interiority and autobiography in part due to male writers whose intentions were ambiguous.
PAPASOGLI, BENEDETTA. Le 《 Fond du cœur 》. Figures de l'espace intérieur au XVIIe siècle. Paris: Champion, 2000.
Review: A. Gaillard in PFSCL XXVIII, 55 (2001), 547–549: French edition of a book published in Italian in 1991. "[P]artant d'une expression figée et commune à plusieurs champs, celui des auteurs mystiques comme celui des moralistes, 《 le fond du cœur 》, l'auteur explore les images et métaphores qui structurent l'imaginaire de la vie intérieure sur un long XVIIe siècle, commençant à Montaigne et finissant à Fontenelle. L'enjeu, dégagé avec prudence et nuances lors d'une introduction qui, du même coup, apparaît plus comme une synthèse des connaissances,. . . consiste à dégager et étoffer l'idée d'une intuition psychologique de l'inconscient du siècle classique. . . A partir d'une sélection de topoï, forcément subjective mais justifiée et maîtrisée par la fréquentation des textes des mystiques, qui exprimaient, au XVIIe siècle, la vie intérieure, l'auteur élabore une géographie et une cartographie de l'espace intérieur."
PAPASOGLI, BENEDETTA. Volti della memoria nel "grand siècle" e oltre. Roma: Bulzoni, 2000.
Review: J.-P. Collinet in SFr 135 (2001), 599–600: Highly congratulatory review praises the breadth and seriousness of Papasogli's volume, comparing it to both a fresco and a tapestry. Organized around the question of memory, Papasogli's analyses are panoramic, including "oeuvres fleuves" "oeuvres majeures," but also lesser known works. Truly "une belle et vast synthèse" (599).
PARMENTIER, BERENGERE. Le Siècle des moralistes. Paris: Seuil, 2000.
Review: B. Piqué in SFr 133 (2001), 144–145: Parmentier's approach considers political, social, religious and ideological ramifications as well as the motivations toward invention and renewal of the fragmentary form. Includes analyses grouped under divisions such as "Morale et société" and "Formes brisées, formes brèves." Selected bibliography and glossary.
PAVESIO, MONICA. Calderón in Francia. Ispanismo ed italianismo nel teatro francese del XVII secolo. Alexandria: Edizioni dell'Orso, Medusa, 2000.
Review: C. Bourqui in RHL 101.6 (2001), 1656–58. In-depth study of 3 Calderón plays, their French versions, and those of the Théâtre Italien, which demonstrates that the Spanish texts were modified through contact with pre-existing Italian adaptations. Reviewer lauds the study's up-to-dateness, its bibliography, and especially its conclusions, which lay to rest the tendency to view Italian and Spanish influences as separate. A fundamental study for "une exploration de la circulation européenne des sujets de théâtre au XVIIe siècle."
Review: S. Poli in SFr 133 (2001), 139–140: Sheds new light on the reception and influence of Calderon's theatre in France, traces the history of Italian and Spanish troupes in France and includes an analytical map of the imitations of three comedies. Especially welcome for its wealth of information, intelligent use of documents and its complete bibliography.
PECH, THIERRY. Conter le crime: Droit et littérature sous la Contre-Réforme: Les "histoires tragiques" (1554–1644). Paris: Champion, 2000.
Review: Chr. Biet in PFSCL XXIX, 57 (2002): 561–563: "Thierry Pech parcourt. . .un champ nouveau, encore bien souvent ignoré ou délaissé par la critique littéraire, le champ des rapports entre le droit et la littérature. . .. [L]'auteur examine donc le récit criminel tel qu'il est 《 conté 》, raconté, dans le genre bien particulier des histoires tragiques, en partant de celles de Pierre Boaistuau (1559) et passant par François de Belleforest, François de Rosset, et en terminant par Jean-Pierre Camus (1644), entre autres auteurs célèbres." Pech's focal question: "comment et pourquoi raconter le crime?" Pech demonstrates "combien ces textes et leur esthétique sont liés aux problématiques juridiques, anthropologiques et politiques de leur temps." In the 《 histoires tragiques 》, "Pech voit . . . une manière de dire le crime dans le, et en marge du, cadre de la loi, comme si elles marquaient simultanément la présence de la loi et celle d'un jugement alternatif au secret de la procédure inquisitoire par la mise en place d'un for interne et d'une réfléxion sur la responsabilité et le juste, dégageant ainsi un lieu pour la contradiction et un espace critique mettant le droit en débat." Pech evaluates "la fonction majeure du littéraire qui est de produire contradictoirement un discours à la fois propre à mettre en cause les lois et à les réaffirmer." Biet calls this an "ouvrage essentiel" for those interested in the topic.
Review: B. Boudou in RHL 102.1 (2002), 154: A study which avoids previous insistence on the "baroque" esthetics or the didacticism of the histoires tragiques by confronting them with the contemporary need to publicize the administration of justice, which became more secret "au fur et à mesure que se sont multipliées les jurisdictions intermédiaires entre le souverain et les sujets." Considers poetics of the histoire tragique; the concept of crime; penal typology; and philosophy of punishment.
PERCIVAL, MELISSA. The Appearance of Character: Physiognomy and Facial Expression in Eighteenth Century France. Leeds: W.S. Maney, 1999.
Review: n.a. in FMLS 38 (2002), 238: Percival challenges the generally accepted view of physiognomy as relatively unimportant in the 18th c. Although the 18th c. figures heavily in title and thrust of volume, the period under consideration begins with Le Brun's 1668 Conférence sur l'expression générale et particulière. Found to be a "fascinating and illuminating study which extends the view put forward by Louis Van Delft, among others, that the caractères sketched by moralistes of the 17th and the 18th c. move away from the static."
PERLMUTTER, JENNIFER ROBIN. "Commemorating Individuals, Attracting Publics: Dynamics of the Ana Genre." DAI 62/10 (2002), 3416.
Examines the history of "ana" compilations in the latter half of the century, and argues that key changes in the genre were a reflection of changing literary publics.
PIEJUS, ANNE. Le Théâtre des Demoiselles. Tragédie et musique à Saint-Cyr à la fin du Grand Siècle. Paris: Société française de musicologie, 2000.
Review: G. Durosoir in DSS 213 (2001), 741–744: Characterized as scholarly, comprehensive, and brimming with information, this book explores three main topics: the institutional life of Saint-Cyr, the artistic value of the work produced there, and the moral conflicts to which le théâtre musical gave rise and finally succumbed. The study features a description of all the musical pieces preserved in the Saint-Cyr archives and amply contextualizes this artistic production. It examines the status of musicians, compares literary and musical sources, and considers historical questions such as the musical tradition within Christian tragedy. Reviewer concurs with G. Forestier, author of the book's preface, who declares it "une contribution majeure à la recherche."
PIOFFET, MARIE-CHRISTINE. "Voyage imaginaire et altérité linguistique au dix-septième siècle." PFSCL XXIX, 57 (2002): 333–346.
Studies "une double attitude devant la différence linguistique" as either "l'effacement" or "le dénigrement." Discusses Cyrano, l'abbé de Chevremont, Gabriel de Foigny, Gomberville, La Fayette, Eustache Le Noble, de Pure, Madeleine de Scudéry, Veiras, and Villedieu. Concludes with reference to authors' ambivalence about all forms of alterity: "la diversité linguistique, loin d'être digne de mention, se dessine comme une entrave qu'on s'efforce d'occulter."
POLI, SERGIO. "Toutes les couleurs de la mer lexicographique." Les Méditerranées du XVIIe siècle. Actes du VIe colloque du Centre International de Rencontres sur le XVIIe siècle. Ed. G. Dotoli. Tübingen: Gunter Narr Verlag (Biblio 17), 2002: 33–48.
A study of representations of the sea in 17th-c. French literature, particularly at the level of description. Refers to Arnaud, Nicole, Saint-Amant and Tristan as writers who limited their representation of the sea, while Bouhours was an exception, particularly in les Entretiens d'Ariste et d'Eugène. Poli goes on to study references to the sea in the dictionaries of Nicot, Richelet, Furetière and l'Académie Française, and concludes by tracing the scientific and exotic elements of the sea.
POSNER, DAVID M. The Performance of Nobility in Early Modern European Literature. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1999.
Review: U. Langer in MP 99.3 (Febrary 2002): "Posner is much less concerned with theory than the new historicists or their French forebears... and his book stays within the confines of the literary text... We proceed from Cicero's De oratore to Baldassare Castiglione's Il libro del cortegiano, linger over Michel de Montaigne's Essais and Francis Bacon's Essayes, delve into Pierre Corneille's theater and Jean de La Bruyère's Caractères (1688). This sounds old-fashioned, and Posner's prudent and responsible weighing of interpretive options makes it seem more so. But on the whole his analyses are informed by a modern impetus: suspicion of rhetoric and noble theatricality, and a sense of the nobility's inevitable decline."
POULOUIN, CLAUDINE. Le Temps des origines: L'Eden, le Déluge, et les "temps reculés" de Pascal à L'Encylopédie. Paris: Champion, 1998.
Review: M.S. Seguin in RHL 102.3 (2002), 481–82: An analysis of the fascination for primitive history, concentrated on the years 1680–1720. First shows, in thinkers such as Bodin and Richard Simon, the loss of confidence in universal history; then shows how new histories evolved that were capable of integrating new knowledge, and looks into contemporary discussions of chronology, veracity of ancient sources, and archeological proof. Postulates that these attempts "contribuent à donner une certaine indépendance à la discipline historique, et préparent les esprits aux découvertes qu'apportera le XIXe siècle."
PRUVOST, VALERIE CELINE AGNES. "The Theater of Law: Performing Justice in Seventeenth- and Eighteenth-Century French Drama." DAI 63/03 (2002), 965.
Looks at Le Cid, Les Plaideurs, and Le Tartuffe, among others, as criticism of the legal system. Argues that the trial process, with its rules and policies, resembles the theater.
RANKE, KURT et al. Enzyklopädie des Marchens. Berlin: Walter de Gruyter, vol. 8 and 9, 1995/96, 1997.
Review: A. Gier in Archiv 237 (2000), 154–158: Highly admirable for its consistency (the project's first publication was in 1975), these volumes begin with entries in "M" and the focus has evolved from a Eurocentrism to a more inclusive perspective (an Orientalist has participated since 1986). Pertinent essays such as the one entitled "Märchen" (fairies) or the one on "Literatur und Volkserzählung" (Literature and the Folknarrative) complete these indispensable volumes. Gier offers a far-ranging commentary reminding the reader of Rousseau's view on La Fontaine's fables, for example.
RAVEL, JEFFREY S. The Contested Parterre: Public Theater and French Political Culture, 1680–1791. Ithaca, NY: Cornell UP, 1999.
Review: N.D. Pederson in RenQ 54 (2001), 1622–1624: Praised for contributing "a unique perspective on the relevance of theatre to political culture in early modern France" (1624), Ravel uses case study, avoids jargon and widely "synthesizes. . . existing scholarship with his own archival discoveries" (1623). 17th c. scholars will particularly appreciate chapter two, "Origins of the Contested Parterre, 1630–1680," chapter three, "The Parterre Becomes an Actor, 1680–1725" and chapter four, "Policing the Parisian Parterre, 1697–1751."
RESCIA, LAURA. Il Mito di Narciso nella letteratura francese barocca (1580–1630). Torino: Edizioni dell'Orso, 1998.
Review: B. Bolduc in PFSCL XXIX, 56 (2002), 271–272: "Informée par l'anthropologie structurale. . ., cette étude est divisée en sections consacrées aux dérivations éthiques, syncrétiques et hérétiques du mythe. L'approche thématique rassemble de façon éclairante des œuvres de genres divers." Introduction treats the sources of the myth, and Ovid in particular, as well as its medieval and Renaissance interpretations. Rescia then analyzes the ethical derivations of the myth in Dinet, Baudoin, de Croisilles, and de La Serre, the syncretic derivations (including Pygmalion) in Casseneuve, Sorel, and Hélie de Bourron Descoignée, and the heretic derivations in Poussin, Blaise de Vigenère, Desportes, Deimier, Du Lisdam, and Sorel. The conclusion also addresses the work of de La Roque, Urfé, and Mareschal. "Laura Rescia révèle un aspect inédit du caractère d'un personnage dont on n'a pas fini d'explorer l'étonnante modernité."
REVAZ, GILLES. "La 'veuve captive' dans la tragédie classique." Revue d'histoire littéraire de la France. mars-avril 2001, 213–226.
Review: M. Lagier in SFr 135 (2001), 642: Discovers "les composantes essentielles" by an analysis of "le schème tragique" of several key plays, Mairet's Sophonisbe, Thomas Corneille's Timocrate and Racine's Andromaque. Revaz considers historical context, the respect of the bienséances and the importance of "l'enjeu politique."
RIGGS, LARRY. "Social Mobility, Market Economics, and Amour-Propre in the Early Modern Theatrum Mundi." PFSCL XXIX, 57 (2002): 429–437.
Focuses on "The replacement of the ethically constraining traditional idea of the just price by the supposedly ethical neutral market price" in the 17th c., where "A key aspect of modernization is the emancipation of individual and monarchical ambitions from ethical constraints." With reference to La Rochefoucauld, La Bruyère, and Molière's Dom Juan.
ROHOU, JEAN. "L'Anthropologie pessimiste des 《 classiques 》: tentative de distinction et d'explication." RHL 101.6 (2001), 1523–50.
Sets out to show, against recent affirmations by J. Emelina (RHL 2000, 1481–1501) and M. Bouvier (La Morale classique, Champion, 1999), that the great authors of the time shared a globally pessimistic view of man, which the author ascribes to the decline of aristocratic generosity and increasing social competition at court in the period preceding the Enlightenment ideology of progress.
ROHOU, JEAN. Histoire de la littérature française du XVIIe siècle. Rennes: Presses Universitaires de Rennes, 2000.
Review: J.-M. Civardi in IL 54.2 (2002), 58–60: An updated edition of the first (1989). Conscious of the difficulty of periodization and even the category of "literature," author divides the century into five periods, while making it possible to follow themes throughout the century. An index of authors, patrons, genres and styles facilitates this. Includes new bibliographies after each chapter. "[F]ort utile pour les étudiants de premier et de deuxième cycles...."
Review: N. Négroni in PFSCL XXIX, 56 (2002), 273–274: An "edition" refondue et enrichie" of Rohou's previous work (1989), with a completely overhauled bibliography and recent critical references, as well as a historical lexicon. "L'ouvrage se présente non seulement comme un descriptif panoramique et synthétique sur le XVIIe siècle. . ., mais aussi comme un instrument de travail très utile car très habillement balisé." Particular emphasis on the notion of "la périodisation." Rohou joins chronological, historical, anthropological and literary readings with reception studies. Négroni regrets that "certains chapitres. . . juxtaposent trop rapidement. . . diverses mutations intellectuelles qui prennent racine au XVIe siècle" as well as Rohou's "vision syncrétique" of authors such as Théophile, Saint-Amant and Malherbe which does not do justice to the singularity of these authors. However, "la plupart des analyses qui nous sont proposées par Jean Rohou ne peuvent que réjouir les lecteurs."
ROLLA, CHIARA. "Les Romanciers 'rusés' de la première moitié du XVIIe siècle" in L'Ecriture de la ruse, Elzbieta Grodek, éd. Amsterdam: Rodopi, 2000, 145–161.
Review: C. Rizza in SFr 134 (2001), 389: Careful analysis of several key paratexts accompanying fiction of the early 17th c. Demonstrates principles such as the "fine morale," the relation between fiction and history, the problem of the vraisemblable and the bienséances.
ROQUEMORA, SYLVIA. "Les Voyageurs à la découverte du droit naturel" Littératures classiques 40 (2000), 347–384.
Review: C. Rizza in SFr 135 (2001), 636: Demonstrates importance of accounts such as those of Pyrard de Laval on Eastern India, of Tavernier on Persia, of Lejeune, Champlain and numerous Jesuit missionaries to the New World for the eventual (18th c.) elaboration of natural law.
ROUSSET, JEAN. Dernier regard sur le baroque. Paris: José Corti, 1998.
Review: n.a. in FMLS 37 (2001), 110: Eleven essays include a retrospective of Rousset's ground-breaking work on the notion of the baroque. "Baroque" is not limited to a period and the sections include essays ranging from analyses of Tartuffe to "le geste et la voix" (from Marivaux to Proust) and war and age (Claude Simon and Alice Rivaz).
RUBIES, JOAN-PAU. Travel and Ethnology in the Renaissance. South India through European Eyes, 1250–1625.
Review: L.A. Gordon in RenQ 55 (2002), 318–319: Finds that Rubies "has transformed this modest field [the analysis of travelers' accounts] into one of high accomplishment" (318). Focuses include cultural and intellectual history and while sources do not include Indian language sources, they do include "materials in half a dozen European languages" (318). Limiting himself geographically to Vijayanagar, the the southern Deccan region, Rubies challenges recent critics such as Edward Said. Rubies shows the concerns of both missionary and traveler in this "masterful work" (319).
SAFTY, ESSAM. "Les dernières honneurs dans la tragédie baroque: valeurs dramatique, morale et théologique." PFSCL XXIX, 56 (2002), 49–63.
A study of the ceremonial aspects of death as presented in baroque tragedy, with attention to the consecration or the apotheosis of innocent / virtuous heroes, grief expressed through nature, funerary urns, and secret or hidden honors paid to the dead.
SANGSUE, DANIEL. "Le récit de voyage humoristique (XVIIe–XIXe siècles)" RHL 101.4 (2001), 1139–62.
Analyzes the workings of humorous travel literature, whose archetype is the Voyage of Chapelle and Bachaumont. Also considers La Fontaine's Voyage de Paris en Limousin before examining the genre's development in the 18th and 19th centuries.
SCHWARTZ-GASTINE, ISABELLE. "Le mythe de Vénus & Adonis à l'épreuve de la tradition iconographique." DSS 214 (2002), 99–126.
The author catalogues the most significant of the many early-modern painters who depicted Ovid's myth. Although artists of diverse schools and periods produced distinctive interpretations of the myth, the author contends that a common style unites them all, "conférant quasiment à Vénus le statut de Madone chrétienne."
SCOTT, CLIVE. The Poetics of French Verse: Studies in Reading. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1998.
Review: n.a. in FMLS 37 (2001), 111: Welcome treatment from a scholar renowned for his "twenty-year dialogue with French verse." Recommended "for specialists and committed students alike," the volume includes considerations of "expressive resources and critical issues," elucidated by a pertinent analysis of Andromaque.
SELLIER, PHILIPPE. Port-Royal et la littérature. Vol. II. Le siècle de saint Augustin, La Rochefoucauld, Mme de Lafayette, Sacy, Racine. Paris: Champion, 2000.
Review: B. Papàsogli in SFr 135 (2001), 640: Complements volume I which was devoted to Pascal and includes certain previously published studies as well as other new ones. Multifaceted and magisterial treatment of Jansenism and of the profound Augustinianism of the century, informing both profane and sacred literature.
SERROY, JEAN, ed. Poètes français de l'âge baroque: Anthologie (1571–1677). Paris: Imprimerie Nationale, 1999.
Review: R. Crescenzo in RHL 101.6 (2001), 1658–59: A selection of 54 poets that puts into question the notion of the "baroque." Editor insists that the baroque in France, because of the emergence of a centralizing monarchy, is particular, but refuses to delineate a typology of baroque poetry, opting instead to speak of the poetry of "l'âge baroque" (1570–1670). "[U]n regard neuf sur une époque de la poésie française."
SGARD, JEAN. Le Roman français à l'âge classique, 1600–1800. Paris: Librairie Générale Française, 2000.
Review: J. G. Rosso in SFr 134 (2001), 402: Remarkable treatment of vast subject in 181 pages demonstrating the richness, diversity and depth of the genre. Instructive and a pleasure to read, the volume also includes an anthology of important texts defining the novel, a rich chronology, a bibliography and indices of themes and proper names.
SHOEMAKER, P. "'Mentir (pas très) subtilement': Hyperbolic Discourses in Early Modern France" PFSCL XXVII, 53 (2000), 527–551.
Review: C. Bernazzoli in SFr 133 (2001), 141: Shoemaker's analysis includes a rapid excursion from antiquity to our day focusing on the hyperbole as an important means of expression and invention. Shoemaker finds that the 17th c. ambivalence towards the figure is a sign of the century's ambivalence toward all rhetoric.
SIDER, SANDRA. "New Resources for Emblem Studies." RenQ 54 (2001), 1574–1580.
Highly useful review article of excellent, recently published resources, including two bibliographies: Alison Adams et al.'s 1999 Bibliography of French Emblem Books of the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries, vol. I (Droz) and Laurence Grove and Daniel Russell's 2000 The French Emblem: Bibliography of Secondary Sources (Droz). At least three other volumes reviewed pertain to French and have "ramifications beyond emblematics" (1576). Hans J. Böker and Peter M. Daly's 1999 edition, The Emblem and Architecture: Studies in Applied Emblematics from the Sixteenth to the Eighteenth Centuries (Brepols), Peter M. Daly's 1998 Literature in the Light of the Emblem. . . (Toronto UP) and Peter M. Daly and John Manning's 1999 edition, Aspects of Renaissance and Baroque Symbol Theory, 1500–1700 (AMS). Sider praises the U of Glasgow, AMS and Droz in particular as "having distinguished themselves as leaders in books about emblems," recommends highly the Glasgow Internet site: www.emblems.arts.gla.ac.uk/ as well as that of the newsletter of the International Society for Emblem Studies, "superbly edited by Alison Adams," accessed by adding SES to the above web address (1575)
STEDMAN, ALLISON MARGARET. "From Subversion to Status Quo: The Seventeenth-Century Generic Hybrid and the Cultural Implications of Literary Innovation in Early-Modern France." DAI 63/02 (2002), 615.
Examines the "novel / fairy-tale hybrid" in 27 works published between 1690 and 1715. Study aims to resurrect this forgotten genre, arguing that it changes our understanding of the transition from Absolutism to Enlightenment.
STEPHENS, SONYA, ed. A History of Women's Writing in France. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 2000.
Review: n.a. in FMLS 38 (2002), 112: This "invaluable resource" is found to be "uniformly well-written and well-edited." The volume goes well beyond the established canon, beginning with Radegund in the 6th c. and continuing to the present. The 20th c. is the best represented. Helpful bibliographies and biographies complement analyses of individual texts in literary and social context.
TAORMINA, MICHAEL ANTHONY. "A Poetics of Eloquence: The Rhetoric of French Baroque Poetry, 1600–1635." DAI 63/04 (2002), 1372.
Argues, through analysis of Malherbe, Théophile de Viau, and Saint-Amant, that eloquence and Ciceronian decorum are at the heart of Baroque poetry.
TERNAUX, CLAUDE. Lucain et la littérature de l'âge baroque en France. Citation, imitation et création. Paris: Champion, 2000.
Review: R. Crescenzo in RHL 101.6 (2001), 1659: "Une enquête passionnante" which discerns a Lucanian intertext in authors ranging from Du Bellay to Corneille. Analyzes the reception of the Pharsalia and its uses in literary creation. Study "ouvre des horizons sur la question de l'imitatio et apporte beaucoup à l'étude de la survie de l'Antiquité à l'époque moderne."
Review: J. Giovinazzo in SFr 133 (2001), 136: Demonstrates Lucan's importance for the esthetics and spirit of the period from 1560 to 1650. Direct citations and imitations, including those by Corneille illustrate the attraction for Lucan's obscure style, energetic expressions and metamorphoses.
Review: P. M. Smith in MLR 97.2 (2002), 422–23: Valuable contribution to studies on the reception and influence of the Roman poet Lucan from 1560–1660.
Review: J. Supple in FS 56.1 (2002), 89: Ternaux argues that Lucan's Pharsalia is an important source for numerous French baroque texts, including d'Aubigné's Tragiques and Corneille's La Mort de Pompée. The reviewer commends Ternaux's approach to intertextuality, which offers "a coherent reading of each text, showing how it feeds on, adapts and sometimes transcends the source text."
TERRIER, PHILIPPE, LORIS PETRU, & MARIE-JEANNE LIENGME BESSIRE, eds. Les Fruits de la saison. Mélanges de littérature des XVIe and XVIIe siècles offerts au Professeur André Gendre. Geneva: Droz, 2000.
Review: A.-P. Pouey-Mounou in IL 54.1 (2002), 60–63. Articles on Malherbe (M. Jeanneret), libertines and poetic descriptions of winter (J.-P. Chauveau), and Vaugelas's reading of Malherbe (Z. Marzys); as well as a trio of articles on La Fontaine (J. Lafond; R. Francillon; F. Eigeldinger).
THIELE, ANSGAR. "L'émergence de l'individu dans le roman comique." DSS 215 (2002), 251–261.
The author challenges some commonplaces of literary history by arguing that the comic genre, in exploring a spectrum of social characters excluded from more serious genres, contained the first traces of what would later become the literary representation the individual. His corpus: Sorel's Histoire comique de Francion et Furetière's Le Roman bourgeois.
THIROUIN, LAURENT. L'Aveuglement salutaire: Le Réquisitoire contre le théâtre dans la France classique. Paris: Champion, 1997.
Review: J. Rohou in RHL 101.4 (2001), 1288–89: In spite of the attention the question has received, this work is "largement novateur" since it extends our appreciation of the true stakes of the quarrel. Author wants to "nous faire comprendre une argumentation jusque-là dédaignée comme moralisme borné d'un âge révolu, [et] montrer qu'elle pose des problèmes fondamentaux de 《 poétique 》, d'《 anthropologie 》, et de 《 métaphysique 》 aussi bien que de 《 morale 》.
THIROUIN, LAURENT, ed. Pierre Nicole, "Traité de la comédie" et d'autres pièces d'un procès du théâtre. Paris: Champion, 1998.
Review: J. Rohou in RHL 101.4 (2001), 1288–89. An edition of Nicole's text, along with other texts by Rochemont, Varet, Senault, Conti, Racine, Molière, and others. "Tous ces textes sont précédés de brèves mais denses introductions; des notes élucident les difficultés, précisent les allusions et l'origine des citations."
TRINQUET, CHARLOTTE. "The Hidden History of Literary Fairy Tales in France (1690–1705)." DAI 62/11 (2002), 3808.
Shows that, far from descending from an oral, popular genre, fairy-tales "already existed for a century as a written courtly literature in Italy, from which French tellers drew about half of their literary production."
TRIVISANI-MOREAU, ISABELLE. Dans l'Empire de Flore: La Représentation romanesque de la nature de 1660 à 1680. Tübingen: Gunter Narr Verlag (Biblio 17 - 126), 2001.
Review: S. Tonolo in Il 54.2 (2002), 54–56: Study examines the topoi surrounding evocations of nature in prose fiction, from Clèves to minor works such as the stories of the Mercure Galant. Author then attempts to trace these uses of nature to previous ones (pastoral, songe, etc.), and looks finally at how the representation of gardens interferes in the novelistic plot as both space of intimacy and social gathering. Reviewer regrets only the absence of a comparison between fictional nature and other representational possibilities (painting, architecture).
TURNER, JAMES G. "Divulgence, "Autopsy", and the Erotic Text." PFSCL XXIX, 57 (2002): 465–473.
Turner studies L'Escole des Filles, ou la Philosopie des Dames (1655) and Nicholas Chorier's Latin Satyra Sotadica (1660), texts which he considers "misclassified" as "romans obscènes," in order to show how "their dialogue-form makes them performative rather than narrative, and entirely unlike the pornographic novel as defined for the eighteenth century by Jean-Marie Goulemot."
VAN DELFT, LOUIS. "L'Idée de théâtre (XVIe-XVIIe siècle)," RHL 101.5 (2001), 1349–65.
Notes a vast corpus of works at the time invoking the concept of "theater," not in the (relatively scarce) theatrum mundi tradition, but in an encyclopedic vein: "theater" indicated a means to look and know. Contains a copious bibliography of relevant titles.
VAN ELSLANDE, JEAN-PIERRE. L'Imaginaire pastoral du XVIIe siècle (1600–1650). Paris: PUF, 1999.
Review: F. D'Angelo in PFSCL XXVIII, 55 (2001), 526–528: "Le but premier de cet ouvrage est d'analyser le genre pastoral dans son contexte idéologique, de façon à pouvoir dégager les implications culturelles profondes d'un code littéraire aux apparences parfois stéréotypées. Selon la thèse soutenue par l'auteur, l'imaginaire arcadique français du XVIIe siècle serait 《 surdéterminé 》 par deux courants culturels majeurs de l'époque: la dévotion et le libertinage." The first chapter "présente le monde arcadique sous la forme d'un vaste théâtre," un "jeu." Subsequent sections establish correspondences between the work of Urfé and François de Sales, and also suggest that the work of the libertines, like that of Urfé, aspires to "un monde où les contraintes répressives de la société n'existeraient pas." Van Elslande then joins these two very different sectors, demonstrating their "tension dialectique" and linking it back to the notion of theatrum mundi. The reviewer regrets that Van Elslande did not give more space to the analysis of more minor pastoral texts.
VANHOUCK, BENJAMIN. "Henriette et Madeleine: jeux et enjeux de la récriture au XVIIe siècle." DSS 213 (2001), 673–687.
Juxtaposing Mémoires de la vie de Mlle Delfosses ou le Chevalier Baltazar (1695, author unknown) and Villedieu's Mémoires de la vie d'Henriette-Sylvie de Molière, the author seeks to explore the larger question of re- writing at the end of the century. His close reading leads to the following conclusion: "pour être original, rien de tel, nous dit l'auteur, que de se détourner de tout modèle. . . mettant en scène sa propre activité de romancier, mettant en abyme son propre livre et posent le problème de la liberté créatrice dans le cadre d'une activité d'imitation, cet auteur-là. . .se livre à une saine récriture, faisant du même, un autre."
VERWIEBE, BARBARA KATHARINA MARIA. Tempora et mores: Untersuchungen zu den französischen übersetzungen des Annalen des Tacitus im 16 und 17 jahrhundert. Bonn: Romanistischer Verlag, 1999.
Review: B. Boudou in RHL 102.1 (2002), 155–56. Analysis of 16th and 17th-century translations of Tacitus's Annals, based on Jauss's esthetics of reception. Translations studied "monographically" and in chronological order. Concludes notably that the political dimensions of Tacitus are downplayed in the 17th century.
VIALA, ALAIN. "Des mythes cythéréens et galants." Les Méditerranées du XVIIe siècle. Actes du VIe colloque du Centre International de Rencontres sur le XVIIe siècle. Ed. G. Dotoli. Tübingen: Gunter Narr Verlag (Biblio 17), 2002: 25–32.
Viala traces the inspirations of Watteau's Cythère paintings to various 17th-c. texts, including Dancourt, Madeleine de Scudéry, Lully, Quinault, Benserade, Molière, and La Fontaine, stating that "Les honnêtes gens de l'âge classique ignorent la 《 vraie 》 Méditerranée, mais se sentent à leur aise dans l'espace culturel qui en fait intervenir les mythes." 17th-c. authors therefore redraw the myth rather than simply reproducing the Mediterranean of myth, although it remains part of a "nostagie incurable."
VIALA, ALAIN. "De Scudéry à Courtilz de Sandras: les nouvelles historiques et galantes." DSS 215 (2002), 287–295.
Taking as his corpus La Princesse de Clèves, Célinte, and Les Apparences trompeuses ou les amours du duc de Nemours et de la marquise de Poyanne, Viala traces the parameters of the nouvelle galante and its role in the history of the novel.
VILLENEUVE, J. "Résistance, narrative et utopies: l'art de la 'gouverne' au XVIIe siècle." PFSCL 27.53 (2000), 587–598.
Review: C. Bernazzoli in SFr 133 (2001), 139: Analyzes the relation between narrative and utopia by means of the intertextuality in Campanelle's Civitas solis and Cyrano's L'Autre monde. . . In the latter, utopia becomes a récit of the imagination.
VUILLEMIN, JEAN-CLAUDE. "En finir avec Boileau...Quelques réflexions sur l'enseignement du théâtre 'classique'." RHT 53.3 (2001), 125–146.
An erudite and extremely well-documented appeal to teachers and scholars of the period to reflect upon and present theater not merely as a texte dramatique but also as a texte spectaculaire, "qui, constitué d'une grande variété de systèmes signifiants mis en œuvre lors de la représentation, relève quant à lui de la sémiotique."
VUILLERMOZ, MARC. Le Système des objets dans le théâtre français des années 1625–1650: Corneille, Mairet, Rotrou, Scudéry. Geneva: Droz, 2000.
Review: S. Read Baker in SCN 59:3 (2001), 301–306: This three-part study looks at the object and its mode of existence, "the semiological status of theatrical language," and "the interactions between objects and the dramatic plot," all of which contribute to a more precise understanding of the differences between the principal theatrical genres. The reviewer notes that Part II, on the rhetorical uses of objects, is "perhaps the richest for all students" of 17th-c. literature. Notably, metonymy and synedoche allowed playrights to overcome the limitations of contemporary stage decor. A "well-written, well-organized book," concludes the reviewer.
Review: C. Bernazzoli in SFr 134 (2001), 390–391: Convincingly demonstrates the crucial role and value of objects in the theatre by close analysis of four dramatists particularly significant for the renewal of French theatre. Vuillermoz discovers the objects in the texts (mentioned in dialogues and didascalie); they may be scenic or extra-scenic (evoked by a character). Systematic consideration of 1) morphology, 2) rhetorical values and 3) dramatic and dramaturgic functions.
Review: E. Minel in RHL 102.2 (2002), 343: "[V]oici du nouveau et du solide sur la mise en scène [classique]". Author "expose le système des 《 règles implicites qui régissent le fonctionnement des objets théâtraux 》 [et] s'attache à définir l'identité rhétorique de l'objet, son intervention dans le discours en tant que pseudo-mot, ou non."
WAGNER, MARIE-FRANCE & CLAIRE LE BRUN-GOUANVIC, eds. Les Arts du spectacle dans la ville (1404–1721) et Les Arts du spectacle au théâtre (1550–1700). 2 vols. Paris: Champion, 2001.
Review: A. Tissier in BHR 64.1 (2002), 228–29: "L'intéressant est particulièrement de voir comment le théâtre, au cours de trois siècles, s'est transformé dans l'espace urbain, dans l'espace scénique, dans l'objet même de sa définition." On regrette l'absence d'un index des oeuvres citées.
WILSON-CHEVALIER, KATHLEEN & ELIANE VIENNOT, eds. Royaume de fémynie: Pouvoirs, contraintes, espaces de liberté des femmes, de la Renaissance à la Fronde. Paris: Champion, 1999.
Review: N. Kuperty-Tsur in RHL 102.2 (2002), 338–39. 16 contributions that "visent à la révaluation à leur juste mesure de l'image et des oeuvres féminines à la Renaissance." A few articles treat questions that spill over into the early 17th century: "Amazones," the patronage of Marie de Médicis, and a study of "la signification culturelle des fleurs" from the Renaissance to Louis XIV. A model for the "nombreuses recherches encore à faire dans le champ fécond des études féminines."
WORTH-STYLIANOU, VALERIE. Confidential Strategies: The Evolving Role of the 'Confident' in French Tragic Drama (1635–1677). Genève: Droz, 1999.
Review: A. Howe in MLR 97.3 (2002), 706–07: "The first full-length study of the confident, this volume is a useful addition to Racine scholarship and to research on seventeenth-century dramaturgy."
WOSHINSKY, BARBARA. "Une drôle d'entreprise: Defining the Comic." PFSCL XXIX, 57 (2002): 387–396.
Posits that relatively little critical attention has been paid to "the comic per se." Woshinsky distinguishes the comic from laughter, humor, and satire, and defines the comic with reference to divertere: "The comic is biased, oblique; it thrives on interference and incongruity; it is irreducible to one point of view, moral or message." Moreover, "the comic act is self-consciously performative. . . continually in movement," creating "an impression of lightness and spontaneity. . . yet it is totally dependent on skilled timing, and prey to enormous risks." Equates the comic with both "act" and "play," concluding that "The point of comic analysis is not to resolve or eliminate contradictions, but to map them, and, venturing out of the city grid onto more unstable terrain, to disclose the stress lines underlying the uneasy social compromise."
WRIGHT, DOUGLAS GLEN. "Ghost Writers: Theories and Strategies of Communication in the Autobiographies of Augustine, Descartes, Rousseau, and Nietzsche." DAI 62/04 (2001), 1446.
Dissertation "explores the ambivalence about autobiography as a communicative act" by tracing "the intersection between the various explicit theories of linguistic communication presented by these authors and the rhetorical purposes into which these theories are enlisted."
WYGANT, AMY, ed. New Directions in Emblem Studies. Glasgow: Glasgow Emblem Studies, 1999.
Review: n.a. in FMLS 37 (2001), 476: Wide-ranging and generally exemplary volume includes an introduction by Wygant. 17th c. scholars will also appreciate Milad Doueihi's essay on 17th c. emblem books and the seat of the emotions and Leonard Hinds's discussions of narrative portraiture in D'Urfe's L'Astrée.
ZIPES, JACK, ed. The Oxford Companion to Fairy Tales: The Western Fairy Tale from Medieval to Modern. Oxford: Oxford UP, 2000.
Review: S. Jones in M&T 15.1 (2001), 107–109: An "encyclopedic survey of a variety of subjects related to fairy tales" that includes the work of major scholars with different approaches to fairy tale study. Notes that the work primarily concerns literary tales, and so much less attention is paid to oral tradition. Regrets that Zipes relied on Propp's theories of oral tales (as opposed to more recent work) in the introduction, but still declares the work a "thorough" review in which both the longer essays and the shorter entries will be of interest to a variety of readers and scholars.
ZUBER, ROGER. Les émerveillements de la raison: Classicismes littéraires du XVIIe siècle français. Préface de Georges Forestier. Paris: Klincksieck, 1997.
Review: J. Dagen in RHL 102.3 (2002), 476–78. A rehabilitation of the notion—both historical and transhistorical—of Classicism, understood as "un idéal d'équilibre, on d'équilibre compassé et de beauté froide, mais d'équilibre vivant et de beauté sensible" (RZ). Work organized around 3 generations: Henri IV; Guez de Balzac; and Boileau, Perrault and the Querelle—Boileau being "le héros attendu," exemplary. Long and positive review—despite a few reserves concerning the author's dismissal of the Moderns—of a work that aims to view the 17th century as inspired by "une doctrine essentiellement chrétienne" (JD).
FAYE, EMMANUEL, ed. Examen du traité de l'essence du corps contre Descartes. Paris: Fayard, 1999.
Review: R. Texier in DSS 213 (2001), 726–728: Written in 1680 (published in 1780), Arnauld's text undertakes a philosophical/theological debate in response to P. le Moyne's attacks against the Cartesian definition of the body, viewed by Le Moine as heretical on a number of levels. For the reviewer, Arnauld's highly esoteric text retains its interest today for the light it sheds on "l'acte de philosopher en toute indépendance. . .. Et la profession de foi—philosophique—à laquelle se livre Arnauld d'entrée de jeu est là-dessus d'une clarté et d'une précision sans égales. . ."
KREMER, E.J. and MOREAU, DENIS, eds. Oeuvres philosophiques d'Arnauld. Bristol, U.K.: Thoemmes Press, 2002, 6 vols.
Arnauld's key philosophical writings and correspondence with Malebranche, Leibniz and others. <info@thoemmes.com>.
AMATUZZI, ANTONELLA, ed. La correspondance d'Albert Bailly. Publiée sous la direction de G. Mombello. Volume III; année 1651. Aoste: Académie Saint-Anselme, 1999.
Review: M. Pavesio in PFSCL XXIX, 56 (2002), 243–244: Correspondence in particular with Marie-Christine de France, this volume represents a "témoignage précieux de la période comprise entre la Fronde et les premières années du règne effectif de Louis XIV," "une veritable banque de données à la disposition des historiens qui pourront dénicher ici des détails introuvables ailleurs." With "l'appareil de notes, riche et précis," including references to memoirs, journals, manuscript gazettes. Reviewer highlights "la valeur littéraire non-négligeable de cette correspondance qui se révèle une source historique irremplaçable dont toute étude sérieuse sur la période de la Fronde devrait tenir compte." Each letter is preceded by "une fiche avec indication des données diplomatiques essentielles." With an extensive bibliography.
LABROUSSE, ELISABETH, EDWARD JAMES, ANTHONY MCKENNA, MARIA-CRISTINA PITASSI, & RUTH WHELAN, eds. Pierre Bayle, Correspondance de Pierre Bayle, Tome 1, 1662–1674. Oxford: Voltaire Foundation, 1999.
Review: M. Chevallier in DSS 213 (2001), 725–726: This amply annotated and illustrated correspondence includes a substantial introduction by Bayle scholar Labrousse, a "personal chronology" in Latin penned by Bayle, glossary, bibliography, and index of names. "Voilà à tous égards un bel ouvrage," concludes the reviewer.
Review: P. Rétat in RHL 101.4 (2001), 1290: A superbly edited and produced volume of letters which "permettent d'entrer ... dans l'intimité du jeune Bayle."
LEIBACHER-OUVRARD, LISE. "Le Conforme et l'Incongru: L'Eclaircissement de Pierre Bayle sur les Obscénités (1701)." PFSCL XXIX, 57 (2002): 451–463.
Studies Bayle's reflexion on obscenity, calling it fundamental "parce qu'elle s'inscrit dans le débat de moralité qui sous-tend les guerres culturelles de la fin du siècle, mais aussi parce qu'en remettant en cause l'idéologie de l'Honnêteté et l'arbitraire de la censure, elle témoigne de la dimension théologique et politique de la question." Studies Bayle's 9 categories of "obscénités livresques," concluding that "c'est surtout par son style 《 plein de choses 》. . . et par un conformisme prétendu qui insinue partout l'incongru, que Bayle démontre la gageure de prétendre à une langue univoque, 《 honnête 》 et innocente dans un monde qui, pour lui, est foncièrement duplice et déchu."
MCKENNA, ANTONY, éd. Pierre Bayle, témoin et conscience de son temps: un choix d'articles du Dictionnaire historique et critique. Paris: Champion, 2001.
Review: J. Charnley in MLR 97.2 (2002), 429: Ninety edited articles from the Dictionnaire historique et critique "represent a useful addition to modern editions of Bayle's writing. . ." Reviewer cites lack of supporting appareil critique as a challenge to non-specialists.
Review: E. James in FS 56.2 (2002), 240: "Antony McKenna's new and very convenient single volume comprises eighty-eight articles and/or selected Remarques" from the Dictionnaire historique et critique. "His choice is designed to be widely representative of Bayle's diverse interests, political, cultural, philosophical and religious....The selected articles are preceded by a lucid and comprehensive Introduction of nineteen pages covering the significant features of Bayle's career and works and his philosophico-religious orientation." Includes "a very helpful bibliography."
Review: n.a. in BCLF 633 (2002), 1109: "Une anthologie légère et décevante."
MORI, GIANLUCA. Bayle Philosophe. Paris: Champion, 1999.
Review: P. Rétat in RHL 101.4 (2001), 1291. A refutation of E. Labrousse's interpretation of Bayle, which shows that "l'athéisme est la conclusion nécessaire et inévitable de ses raisonnements." Reviewer finds book largely convincing and finely argued, though wonders if it is truly possible to separate Bayle's "philosophy" from his "rhetoric."
Review: R. Whelan in FS 56.2 (2002), 240–241: A "challenging book" containing "seven meticulously erudite essays." Three of these are "comparative studies in historical philosophy"; three others focus on the interpretation of certain aspects of Bayle's writing, "particularly his speculative atheism, fideism, and flawed theory of toleration. A final shorter essay revisits Bayle's problematic Augustinianism and is published here for the first time."
AULOTTE, ROBERT, éd. Jean Benech de Cantenac: Les Marguerites. Exeter, University of Exeter Press, 1999.
Review: V. Worth-Stylianou in MLR 97.2 (2002), 428–29: "Les Marguerites, an epic poem of 1626 alexandrines, which appeared in Bordeaux in 1676, must rank among the least well-known works to appear in the Exeter Textes Littéraires series." Reviewer views the work as of interest to seventeenth-century scholars "not least for its sophisticated views on the relationship between art and nature and on the representation of perspective. However, despite Aulotte's generous footnotes. . ., one suspects that it is destined to remain marginal."
CLIN-LALANDE, ANNE-MARIE, ed. Jean Benech de Cantenac. Satyres nouvelles. Exeter: U of Exeter Press, 2001.
Review: B. Beugnot in PFSCL XXIX, 57 (2002): 529–530: Volume includes 17 satires and a dozen "pièces de circonstance, madrigaux ou requêtes." Reviewer notes that "Le texte en a été établi avec soin, sur les copies manuscrites lorsqu'elles étaient disponibles; ont été ajoutées un argument en tête de chaque pièce et un glossaire à visée plus pédagogique que savante." Also includes a 20-page introduction and an up-to-date bibliography. Benech de Cantenac's work resounds with well-known themes: "la rêverie utopique, la misère de l'homme et les malheurs du temps, la condition des grands, les masques sociaux, les faux dévots, la solitude, les femmes, l'éloge du roi." Clin-Lalande's annotation of the text is limited to "des éclaircissements indispensables et des sources ou échos évidents." A welcome contribution to our knowledge of provincial literature in the 17th c.
PIVA, FRANCO, éd. Catherine Bernard, Oeuvres, tome 2: Théâtre et poésie. Fasano-Paris: Schena-Didier Erudition, 1999.
Review: R. Godenne in LR 54 (2000) 190: Piva continues his work of editing and rehabilitating Bernard (in 1993 he had published her Romans et nouvelles and in 1996 her Commerce galant. . . ). Includes complete text of two plays and some 72 poems, the latter responsible for Bernard's renown in her time.
BLUM, CHARLES, ed. Beroalde de Verville. L'Histoire des vers qui file la soye. Paris: Champion, 2001.
Review: I. Zinguer in BHR 64.2 (2002), 484–85: "Heureuse initiative que cette étude et édition de l'Histoire des vers qui filent la soye. Elle permet d'appréhender et d'apprécier les caractéristiques de l'écriture béroaldienne ainsi que sa vision de la création où chaque manifestation de vie est signe de 'présence divine'. . ."
MORGAIN, STEPHANE-MARIE. La Théologie politique de Pierre de Bérulle (1598–1629). Paris: Publisud, 2001.
Review: BCLF 632 (2001), 850–51: "Cette interprétation politique du vocabulaire et des thèmes thélogiques de Bérulle constitue une perspective indéniablement nouvelle, ne serait-ce que par son exhaustivité."
FOUCART-WALTER, ELISABETH. Pieter Boel (1622–1674): Peintre des animaux de Louis XIV. Le fonds des études peintes des Gobelins. Paris: Réunion des musées nationaux, 2001.
Review: BCLF 635 (2002), 76–77: Catalogue "des reproductions des quatre-vingt-une études qui constituent le fonds Pieter Boel" publiée à l'occasion d'une exposition au Louvre (12 septembre–17 décembre 2001).
BEN MASSAOUD, SAMY. "Une nouvelle source d'étude de Boileau: les papiers Brossette." SFr 135 (2001), 581–596.
Detailed and animated account of the history of the "papiers Brossette" demonstrates their importance due to Brossette's exceptional collection of manuscripts, his "science de l'édition," and "parfaite connaissance de l'oeuvre du satirique" (595–596).
CORUM, ROBERT T., JR. Reading Boileau: An Integrative Study of the Early Satires. West Lafayette, IN: Purdue UP, 1998.
Review: C. Grisé in EMF 8 (2002), 266–67. Focusing of the first nine Satires, study emphasizes Boileau as young poet, prior to his role as codifier of French Classicism. Shows how the Satires dramatize the personal plight of the poet-speaker, reflect on various types of human folly, and argue for the superiority of satire itself with respect to other genres.
ROBERTS, WILLIAM. "Saint-Amant's and Boisrobert's Pont-Neuf Poems," PFSCL XXIX, 56 (2000), 135–152.
Saint-Amant's "Gazette du Pont-Neuf" and "Poète crotté" are compared in considerable detail, and shown to be part of a complex poetic evolution deriving from Théophile. "The scenes of early 17th century Parisian cityscape so deftly and colorfully evoked by Saint-Amant in his well-known poems 'la Gazette du Pont-Neuf' and 'le Poète crotté' can be seen, upon close examination, as constituting stages in a complex poetic progression that includes Théophile de Viau and Boisrobert." Boisrobert's "Hyver de Paris" is envisioned as a ballet scene, and in well-known passages Saint-Amant targets poetaster Marc de Maillet and also Marie de Gournay for picturesque ridicule. In Saint-Amant's poems, many topographical references to the Paris of 1620–1630 are seen to be systematically organized. Concludes that Saint-Amant "did work from specific texts. . . which were either directly before him or else very close at hand."
BOSSUET, JACQUES BENIGNE. La Vie cachée. Orbey: Arfuyen, 2001.
Review: BCLF 634 (2002), 117: La maison d'édition Arfuyen "republie un texte court composé par l'évêque de Meaux en 1691 et publié à titre posthume en 1731 à la suite des Méditations sur l'Evangile." Manque de préface qui aurait pu permettre une meilleure appréciation du texte.
ROUGET, FRANÇOIS & COLETTE H. WINN, eds. Louise Boursier. Récit véritable de la naissance de messeigneurs et dames les enfants de France. Fidelle relation de l'accouchement, maladie et ouverture du corps de feu Madame, suivi du Rapport de l'ouverture du corps de feu Madame. Remonstrance à Madame Boursier, touchant son apologie. Instruction à ma fille. Geneva: Droz, 2000.
Review: V. Worth-Stylianou in FS 56.2 (2002), 235: This collection of writings by Louise Bourgeois (dite Boursier), midwife to Marie de Médicis, includes autobiographical, polemical and instructional texts. This edition offers a "fairly thorough introduction" and is "helpfully annotated."
DUBU, JEAN. "Campistron émule de Corneille." PFSCL XXVIII, 55 (2001): 449–460.
Biographical summary, with particular reference to Campistron's Arminius, Alcibiade, Acis et Galatée, Phocion, Adrien, and Tiridate, and an analysis of Pierre Corneille's influence on this relatively unknown dramatist.
FERRARI, STEPHAN, ed. Jean-Pierre Camus. L'Amphithéâtre sanglant. Paris: Champion, 2001.
Review: J. Conroy in FS 56.3 (2002), 393–394: The reviewer praises Ferrari's "splendid introduction," which "situates Camus as the very model of a Counter-Reformation 'évêque de choc,' a Tridentine activist both in his life and his writing. Ferrari is particularly good at analysing [Camus's] complex intellectual heritage.... After a valuable analysis of the poetics of the genre and of Camus's work in general, Ferrari provides an excellent examination of the particular collection, skillfully combining stylistic, narratological and philosophical commentary."
JOUHAUD, CHRISTIAN. "Roman historié et histoire romancée: Jean-Pierre Camus et Charles Sorel." DSS 215 (2002), 307–316.
Jouhaud argues that Camus and Sorel were both proponents of the socio-political utility of the novelistic form (as opposed to those who proclaimed literature's autonomy), the one deploying it as an instrument of evangelization, the other as a political tool.
ROBIC-DE BAECQUE, SYLVIE. Le Salut par l'excès: Jean-Pierre Camus (1584–1652), la poétique d'un évêque romancier. Paris: Champion, 1999.
Review: N. Grande in RHL 102.1 (2002), 153–54. Work tries to understand "comment fonctionnait l'articulation entre écriture romanesque et sensibilité dévote dans le contexte des nouvelles relations qu'instaura le Concile de Trente entre littérature et religion." Analyzes how Camus defines his reader, opts for fact over fiction, and updates the allegorical tradition.
Review: E. Henein in FS 54.4 (2001), 541: "Madame Robic-de Baecque analyse tous les écrits de Camus pour cerner la 'lecture dévote' qui prétend 'divertir d'elle-même la lecture de divertissement' (p. 120) et qui 'relève d'une véritable expérience de dévotion (p. 145)." Dans ce travail "important," cohérent et bien fondé, "les stratégies narratives camusiennes sont analysées d'une manière lumineuse. . .."
Review: M. Vernet in PFSCL XXVIII, 55 (2001): 549–556: The first French thesis devoted to the literary work of Jean-Pierre Camus. Thanks to the vastness of his œuvre, a publication of just a fraction of his works would qualify him as "un des auteurs importants de ce premier demi-siècle." According to Vernet, "On se convaincra aisément, en lisant Le Salut par l'excès. . . de l'importance de Camus dans tout son siècle. La mise en contexte de cet étrange évêque-auteur est faite de façon exemplaire dans cette excellente étude dont la lecture apportera beaucoup, même aux dix-septiémistes chevronnés." This is "enfin une étude qui prend l'œuvre de Camus dans le bon sens, c'est-à-dire à la fois à partir des conditions historiques réelles qui informent l'univers intellectuel de l'auteur, mais aussi à partir d'un examen sérieux et convaincant de la place de cette position d'auteur dans la hiérarchie personnelle des relations de Camus à son temps." The study is "solide, bien conduite, très intéressante. . . [Elle] servira de guide à de nombreuses générations de chercheurs."
VERNET, MAX. Jean-Pierre Camus: théorie de la contre-littérature. Paris-Sainte-Foy: Nizet-Editions Le Griffon d'argile, 1995.
Review: G. Jucquois in LR 54 (2000), 390–391: Welcome volume on Camus's voluminous œuvre of some 265 titles. Camus, desirous of reaching a wide public, does not oppose works of literature to those of "contre-littérature." Contrary to Sorel, for example, Camus insists on the vraisemblable and strives to keep "une vision unifiée de la science et de la sagesse" (reviewer, 391). Vernet treats questions relative to civilization, dominant ideologies, as well as the nature and limits of literature and art (the volume opens with a fascinating analysis of a painting from 1614 of flowers for a scientific work).
DELOFFRE, FREDERIC & FRANÇOIS MOUREAU, eds. Robert Challe. Difficultés sur la religion proposées au Père Malebranche. Edition nouvelle, d'après le manuscrit complet et fidèle de la Staatsbibliothek de Munich. Geneva: Droz, 2000.
Review: M. Moriarty in FS 54.4 (2001), 544–545: "This splendid edition reveals that, even more belatedly than as a major novelist, Challe deserves recognition as a thinker of originality and power, whose place in the history of eighteenth-century deism deserves careful consideration."
MARTIN, CAROLE. Imposture utopique et procès colonial: Denis de Veiras-Robert Challe. Charlotteville: Rockwood Press, 2000.
Review: A. de Sola in FS 56.3 (2002), 398–399: "En somme, cette étude comparée de Veiras et de Challe, souligne que la spéculation utopique du premier dérive dans le romanesque, tandis que la fiction romanesque du second débouche sur une vision utopique." The reviewer concludes that Martin's examination of utopia and utopianism in Veiras's Histoire des Sévarambes and Challe's Journal de voyages aux Indes, Mémoires and Les Illustres Françaises is "méticuleuse, méthodiquement fouillée et riche de références."
CHAMPLAIN
CERASI, CLAIRE. Pierre Corneille à l'image et semblance de François de Sales. Paris: Beauchesne, 2000.
Review: R. Baustert in PFSCL XXIX, 56 (2002), 248–251: Proposes "une lecture inédite appuyée sur les personnages ou les pieces méconnues et opérée sous un éclairage nouveau." First section presents Corneille's Christian outlook, with a comparison of the language of Corneille and François de Sales. Corneille's late heroes benefit from a Salesian reading, particularly in terms of sacrifice, générosité, and obedience. Cérasi links the notions of Roman grandeur and Christian virtue in Corneille. The second half studies Cornelian traits of François de Sales, and in particular, "ce joyeux dépassement de soi-même qui est aussi, mais encore dans l'immanence, celui des héros cornéliens." "Ce qu[e Corneille] représente, au même titre que François de Sales, c'est cet humanisme chrétien fait des meilleurs apports de l'antiquité et de l'Ecriture." Reviewer cites the "nouveauté" of the approach and the originality of its ideas.
CIVARDI, JEAN-MARC. "Quelques critiques adressées au Cid de Corneille en 1637–38 et les réponses apportées" IL 54.1 (2002), 12–26.
Analyzes the attacks made on Corneille, and the defenses mounted by his partisans, in the famous Quarrel.
DOSMOND, SIMONE. "Corneille, Molière et Thalie." PFSCL XXVIII, 55 (2001): 403–412.
Study compares Corneille's comedies to Molière's comic œuvre in an attempt to identify "ce qui fait la spécificité de deux auteurs" with particular attention to each dramatist's characters, style, and comic devices.
DOSMOND, SIMONE. "Le Vers libre dans l'Agésilas de Corneille et l'Amphitryon de Molière." CAIEF no. 52 (2000), 279–293.
Review: C. Rizza in SFr 133 (2001), 140–141: A communication from the AIEF's day devoted to versification of theatrical works, Dosmond's analysis underscores the originality of Agésilas and the audacity of Amphitryon.
DUTERTRE, EVELINE. "L'influence de Scudéry sur Corneille." PFSCL XXVIII, 55 (2001): 327–343.
Posits an undeniable influence of Georges de Scudéry on Corneille who, although he does imitate Scudéry, nevertheless always remains faithful to his own dramatic vision. Compares Le Cid and Le Prince déguisé, La Mort de César and Cinna, and Sertorius and Arminius, with extensive discussion of Scudéry's Observations sur le Cid. Claims Scudéry's influence to have been beneficial to Corneille's own theorizing.
EKSTEIN, NINA. "Metaphors of Mathematics in Corneille's Theater." Neophil 86 (2002), 197–214.
Analysis finds particularly helpful two groups of mathematical metaphors: identities, which deals with equations-helpful both for its relationship to plot and the search for identity, and combinatorics, which deals with arrangements of elements-"the characters constitute the variables in the different combinations. . . of marriageable individuals" (202). Ekstein's stimulating and wide-ranging study (for "identities" she refers to some twelve plays, while for "combinatorics" she considers some fourteen) also includes a close reading, informed by the analysis of these mathematical metaphors, of one of Corneille's plays, Don Sanche d'Aragon. The play possesses to a striking degree both identities and combinatorics, arriving "at two perfectly balanced equations after passing through a dizzying array of combinations and variants" (210). Original and highly illuminating for Corneille's aesthetics, Ekstein suggests that, as time and space structure Racine's plays, these figures structure Corneille's.
EKSTEIN, NINA. "Sophonisbe's Seduction: Corneille Writing Against Mairet." EMF 8 (2002), 104–18.
Reads Corneille's Sophonisbe as a deliberate attempt to write around and against Mairet's version of the play.
FERNEY, FREDERIC. Performance review of Le menteur, mise en scène, Nicolas Briançon, Théâtre Hébertot, mai–juin 2002. Le Point 1549 (2002), 109.
"Nicolas Briançon a transposé la comédie dans le Paris de Proust. . . Tout cela est gai, léger, fantasque, fringant, c'est-à-dire—français."
GOODKIN, RICHARD. "Changing Classes, Changing Characters: Noblesse d'épée and noblesse de robe in Corneille's Le Menteur." PFSCL XXIX, 57 (2002): 419–428.
Studies the way in which Dorante "embodies. . . the conflict between the noblesse de robe. . .and the noblesse d'épée" at a time when the former found it "socially advantageous to present themselves as" the latter. Goodkin concludes, "What is perhaps original in this play is the idea that this is a society in which the most prestigious social position is becoming a fiction.. In a sense, then, neither group can truly be said to occupy the position of highest prestige."
GOSSIP, C. J. Corneille: Cinna. Valencia: Grant & Cutler, Ltd., 1998.
Review: n.a. in FMLS 37 (2001), 100: Gossip's focus is the text yet he also takes into account "the physical realities of the theatre of the time" (reviewer). Chapters on structure, character analyses, include "novel and engaging" exploration of Auguste and his clemency as well as of the genre itself (a tragedy which ends "happily").
GREWE, ASTRID. "Vertu" im Sprachgebrauch Corneilles und seiner Zeit. Ein Beitrag zur Geistes- und Sozialgeschichte des französischen 17. Jahrhunderts. Heidelberg: Winter, 1999.
Review: S. Dieckmann in ZRP 116 (2000), 801–802: This linguistic, literary and social analysis of the concept of "vertu" chez Corneille considers a wide spectrum of meanings from the military to comparisons of the concept with "générosité", "gloire" and "humanité" (801). Other considerations include the heroic and comparisons with the moral philosophy of Descartes, as well as the world view of Racine, Lafayette and Molière.
HENSHAW, AMY. "Descartes and Corneille: A Re-examination." Neophil 86 (2002), 45–56.
Investigates Jesuit teaching, in particular as it relates to the will, culpability and love, as a source for the similarities found in Corneille and in Descartes's Traité des passions. Advances, with numerous examples from Descartes and Corneille as well as from St. François de Sales and d'Urfé, Louis Rivaille's thesis (1936) that the fact that "all went to Jesuit schools might explain their similarities in thinking" (45).
KERR, CYNTHIA B. Corneille à l'affiche. Vingt ans de créations théâtrales, 1980–2000. Tübingen: Gunter Narr, 2000.
Review: F. Lasserre in DSS 213 (2001), 735–737: Informed by an expansive knowledge of Corneille's theatre and and an avid curiosity about "les secrets de la technique théâtrale," notes the reviewer, this book looks at a range of recent productions of Corneille's plays. Kerr examines several popular successes—Miquel's Sertorius, Strehler's l'Illusion comique, Huster's Le Cid, and Lavelli's Polyeucte—and attempts to understand the reasons for some of the more "unconventional" interpretations. A number of chapters are devoted to productions by directors "qui s'étaient plus spécialement consacrés à notre XVIIe siècle," Brigitte Jacques, Christian Rist, and Jean-Marie Villégier. Here, Kerr skillfully brings together "le monde du commentaire" and that of practioners of the theatre; she demonstrates that the practioner "a toujours été le maître de ce que nous considérons comme notre compréhension des ouvrages" and reveals "de quelle accumulation de matériel mental, psychologique et physique est faite une représentation" (emphasis in the original). Kerr's study, concludes the reviewer, points to the "évolution très importante, appliquée à Corneille, dans l'approche culturelle des ouvrages dramatiques."
Review: C. Rizza in SFr 135 (2001), 635–636: Amply demonstrates a diverse Corneille, an author "à la mesure de notre temps" as Kerr focuses on certain noteworthy mises en scène, such as Strehler's Illusion (we remember that Strehler's interpretation relies heavily on Jean Rousset's understanding of the baroque qualities of the play) (636).
Review: M.-O. Sweetser in PFSCL XXVIII, 55 (2001), 533–535: "Dans son Avant-propos l'auteur présente son ouvrage, recueil d'articles précédemment publiés dans diverses revues européennes et internationales, mais remaniés en vue de créer un ensemble auquel s'ajoutent des illustrations, une chronologique des principales représentations des pièces cornéliennes à Paris (1980–2000), un palmarès de trois metteurs en scène. . ., une liste de références de première publication de ces articles, et une utile bibliographie comprenant éditions complètes et individuelles, études sur Corneille et son théâtre. Ce qui relie ces études est l'intention de mettre en valeur l'originalité et la modernité des interprétations présentées." Includes chapters on various metteurs en scène and on specific representations of plays such as Sertorius, Le Cid, and Polyeucte. "On recommandera chaleureusement cet ouvrage très informé et stimulant, écrit dans un style alerte, à tous les historiens du théâtre et aux spécialistes de Corneille."
LASSERRE, FRANÇOIS, éd. Alidor ou l'Indifférent. (n.p.): L'épangialiste, 2000.
Review: A. Niderst in PFSCL XXVIII, 55 (2001), 537–538: This is Lasserre's edition of a text found by E. Fraser in 1946 and attributed since then to Corneille. Includes a bibliography, an index, and a literal transcription of the manuscrit, as well as a version of the pastoral with modernized spelling. Lasserre dates the play at 1628, before Mélite. Niderst maintains: "Nous pensons, comme François Lasserre, qu'il est difficile d'imaginer une superchérie littéraire et un faux Corneille adroitement fabriqué aux XIXe ou au XXe siècles." Niderst cites in particular the main character's verve, imagination and presence of mind. Niderst therefore concludes, "Mais enfin nous croyons souvent reconnaître la voix de Corneille. . . Nous sommes donc entraîné à nous rallier aux affirmations (d'ailleurs fort prudentes) de François Lasserre, et nous ne pouvons que rendre hommage à la méticuleuse sagacité de sa démarche."
Review: C. Rizza in SFr 135 (2001), 635: Lasserre's "extremely prudent and solid" work leads to new and convincing conclusions about this anonymous pastoral attributed to P. Corneille. Modernized version with rich critical apparatus, a faithful reproduction of the manuscript in the National Library of Scotland and an ample and well-documented study.
LASSERRE, FRANÇOIS. "La dédicace de La Suivante ne s'adresserait-elle pas à un poète dramatique?" PFSCL XXVIII, 55 (2001): 279–291.
Lasserre identifies the subject of the dedicatory epistle as Nicolas Gougenot, a fellow dramatist. "Selon notre point de vue, Corneille a eu, au cours de sa formation, trois sources d'inspiration doctrinale: sa proper pratique. . ., ses modèles. . ., et puis maintenant la théorie d'un irrégulier, Gougenot."
LASSERRE, FRANÇOIS. "Le 《 raisonnement 》 dans les débuts dramatiques de Corneille." PFSCL XXVIII, 55 (2001): 487–507.
Compares Corneille's Mélite, Clitandre, and La Veuve to Mairet's Sylvie and Rotrou's L'Hypocondriaque, with particular attention to the raisonnements of each play, both in the monologues and in the scenic elements. Lasserre suggests Corneille's attention to raisonnements is innovative because they proceed "de la tournure d'esprit des personnages, de leur manière de négocier les situations."
LONGINO, MICHÈLE. "Médée and the Traveler Savant." EMF 7 (2001), 73–114.
Argues that Corneille's play "bears witness to and contests" the first stirrings of France's colonial power; sees in the character Pollux as a "traveler-savant" who is able to cast a critical eye on his own country. "Médée was the outsider woman, and as such the double victim, with whom marginalized women would empathize over the centuries; but how many women would recognize themselves in Creüse, the complicit insider woman, consumer of exotic commodities? Almost as an antidote to the nascent rampant materialism and exploitation Corneille detected taking hold, he traced out and idealized a new character, the traveler-savant, who would disinterestedly but usefully bring home knowledge of foreign people and offer it to local purposes, but who would at the same time cast a critical eye on his own society."
LONGINO, MICHELE. "Pollux: modèle cornélien du nouveau voyageur savant ou La "naissance" de l'anthropologie." Les Méditerranées du XVIIe siècle. Actes du VIe colloque du Centre International de Rencontres sur le XVIIe siècle. Ed. G. Dotoli. Tübingen: Gunter Narr Verlag (Biblio 17), 2002: 271–283.
Longino maintains that, "Il est possible de lire dans la Médée de Corneille une mise en question des mouvements français dans le monde maritime de son époque, et d'y répérer un nouveau profil qui s'impose, à la suite de nouvelles conditions étatiques: celui du voyageur savant." According to Longino, "Pollux. . .n'écrira pas des mémoires ou des récits de voyage; mais sur scène il fera preuve de tous les réflexes d'un anthropologue précoce." Longino concludes, "La sagesse de Pollux est perdue pour ses concitoyens. Les intuitions et les conseils de l'anthropologue ne sauvent pas cet Etat, mais font paraître sa chute d'autant plus insensée."
LOUVAT, BÉNÉDICTE & MARC ESCOLA. Pierre Corneille. Trois discours sur le poème dramatique. Paris: Flammarion/GF, 1999.
Review: E. Minel in RHL 102.2 (2002), 343: The pocket edition of this text is the sign of a general "travail de relecture des théoriciens de la dramaturgie du XVIIe siècle." Text used is that of the 1660 edition, not the 1682 one used by Couton. Introduction places the Discours within their polemical context.
Review: C. Rizza in SFr 133 (2001), 140: Useful tool for students and particularly important and ample presentation including a chronology, notes, commentaries, bibliography and glossary. In contrast to other theoreticians such as Chapelain, Corneille's rhetoric is born of his concrete experience as author of theatre. Text of 1660 is used, but variants from subsequent editions are found in the notes.
MINEL, EMMANUEL, éd. Longepierre. Médée. Parallèle de Monsieur Corneille et de Monsieur Racine. Dissertation sur la tragédie de Médée par l'abbé Pellegrin. Paris: Champion, 2000.
Review: P. Gethner in PFSCL XXVIII, 55 (2001), 544–546: "This new critical edition makes available an eminently readable play that has been out of print for several decades. . . The extensive introduction is superb. Following a brief biography of the playwright, Emmanuel Minel analyzes in depth the dramaturgical problems posed by the story. . ., the three previous dramatic versions in France. . ., a balanced discussion of both Longepierre's dramaturgy. and his style. . . The discussion of the four main characters, and how Longepierre's depiction of them differs from previous versions, is detailed and perceptive." Gethner calls the inclusion of supplemental texts "an extra bonus." The appendix is deemed "useful." "The bibliography is unusually complete."
Review: B. Papàsogli in SFr 133 (2001), 148: Minel's edition of these texts includes an ample historical-philological apparatus focusing especially on Médée, a biographical notice on Longepierre and a study of the tragedy in relation to its preceding French versions, considering the dynamics of action, psychology of the characters, style and variants. Impressive bibliography and catalogue of editions of Médée.
Review: R. Tobin in ECr 41 (2001), 101: "Eminently readable and welcome edition of Longepierre's three texts for the "larger literate public." Finds the Dissertation by Pellegrin "insightful" for "early eighteenth-century perspectives on classical tragedy," but indicates certain oversights and inaccuracies.
NIDERST, ALAIN. Corneille et Racine. PFSCL, XXVII, 52 (2000), 9–292.
Review: C. Berrone in SFr 133 (2001), 141–142: These essays are the outgrowth of the 1998 colloque organized by the "Mouvement Corneille" in conjunction with l'URLF of the U de Rouen and the Société d'étude du XVIIe siècle. The volume is characterized by scrupulous examination of texts, a rejection of generalizations. As Niderst states, these guiding principles result in "comparaisons. . . audacieuses et. . . fécondes" (12). Wide-ranging, includes essays by renowned specialists on topics which include, among others: the political and the sentimental spheres, parallels between the two authors and their relation or debt to lesser known authors and their influence on other works such as l'Astrée.
PHILONENKO, ALEXIS. "Corneille et Schiller: Du héros." PFSCL XXVIII, 55 (2001): 473–480.
Comparative study of the theory of the hero in Corneille's and Schiller's œuvres, with particular attention to the ways in which they seek a common goal, to wit: "l'élucidation du sublime dynamique au sens kantien, caractérisé par la tension (Spannung), des facultés de connaître au sein du mouvement élémentaire de la vie gigantesque."
PICCIOLA, LILIANE. Corneille et la dramaturgie espagnole. Tübingen: Narr (Biblio 17), 2002.
Review: Fr. Lasserre in PFSCL XXIX, 57 (2002): 563–567: Picciola adopts "un point de vue global" with analyses which delve into the "contexte sociologique des actions et. . . les sentiments des personnages." Work represents "une connaissance extrêmement circonstanciée de l'ensemble du théâtre du Siècle d'or" which "en exploite la variété avec la sûreté d'une fréquentation de longue main, et en expose de nombreuses particularités, au fur et à mesure des besoins de la recherche." Particular emphasis is paid to L'Illusion comique, Le Cid, and Don Sanche d'Aragon, with further chapters on"la comédie urbaine," the influence of la comedia on Corneille, the role of the valet, and different forms of tragedy in Corneille (tragédie d'horreur, tragédies sacrées, tragédie philosophique). Picciola systematically rejects any "emprunts" which was not explicitly acknowledged by Corneille himself; for Lasserre, this rejection limits the interest of the study. Lasserre also regrets the paucity of dramaturgical commentary.
PICCIOLA, LILIANE. "Héraclius, récriture hispano-cornélienne de La Rueda de la fortuna." PFSCL XXVIII, 55 (2001): 345–357.
Compares Héraclius to Mira de Amezcua's La Rueda de la fortuna (1625), with reference also to Calderón de la Barca's play on a similar topic. Picciola concludes, "Corneille a su tirer un grand profit de sa lecture des comedias, qu'il a realisé entre son expérience propre et les pratiques espagnoles une synthèse remarquable, qui constitue sa manière proper et dont le reste de son œuvre se ressent."
RAUSEO, CHRIS. "Allégorisme cornélien et européen." PFSCL XXVIII, 55 (2001): 269–277.
A comparative study of "quelques catégories de représentation allégoriques communes à Corneille et à des dramaturges tells que Shakespeare, Calderón et Andreas Gryphius," including (1) "le double sens, ou l'ambiguïté voulue et assumée"; (2) "l'expansion conséquente d'une métaphore"; and (3)"l'iconographie du theatre."
REBEYKOW, JEAN-CHRISTOPHE. "Diderot devant Pierre Corneille." RHT 53.4 (2001), 299–316.
A study of the "singularly complex" relationship between Diderot's theater criticism and the works of Pierre Corneille. Concludes, "Selon Diderot, les limites de Corneille sont pour une grande partie celles de la tragédie française du XVIIe siècle"—for example, the exclusive use of noble characters and the "absence de naturel."
RONZEAUD, PIERRE. Pierre Corneille. Le Cid. Anthologie critique. Paris: Klincksieck, 2001.
Review: M. Margitic in PFSCL XXIX, 57 (2002): 568–570: A "Parcours critique" which offers "a variety of — often, but not always, complementary — modern readings of Le Cid," which "range from the erudite to the theatrical and from the rhetorical to the psychocritical, among others. They are arranged topically, instead of chronologically," and include P. Bénichou, S. Doubrovsky, M. Bertaud, Ph. Sellier, J. Serroy, M. Margitic, R. Pintard, P. Voltz, M. Vuillermoz, J. Garagnon, P. Pavis, and R. Albanese, Jr. Overall, these selections "offer the reader a broad spectrum of modern scholarly contributions to the study of Le Cid." Also included is "an examination of Corneille's responses to Le Cid's critics during the famous Querelle." Ronzeaud's own reading stresses the importance of reading the play in its original version, an important tactic, according to Margitic. Sizable bibliography.
SAFTY, ESSAM. "Le corps mort dans la tragédie baroque: de l'anonymat au spectacle." PFSCL XXIX, 57 (2002): 305–322.
Studies the way in which "le corps mort. . . obéit à un certain nombre d'impératifs où se reconnaissent tout à la fois l'idéologie d'une époque et les exigences du genre." Subsections include: "Le corps anonyme," "La découverte du corps mort," "Les belles morts," "Le spectacle du corps mort," Studied in the context of Racine, La Calprenède, Guérin de Bouscal, Benserade, Du Ryer, Corneille, B. de Courgenay, Tristan l'Hermite, and others. Concludes that the "corps mort" eventually earns "un rôle pédagogique dans la direction des âmes."
SERROY, JEAN, ed. Pierre Corneille. L'Illusion comique. Paris: Gallimard, 2000.
Review: C. Kerr in PFSCL XXVIII, 55 (2001), 556–558: "Le présent ouvrage témoigne une fois de plus des remarquables qualités d'éditeur et de critique de Jean Serroy qui nous guide de main sûre à travers les aspects essentiels de la pièce et de la vie de Corneille. Ce qui rend cette édition exemplaire est la façon dont Jean Serroy arrive à dompter l'《 étrange monstre 》 sans le priver de son mystère. Il éclaire le texte tout en y laissant des zones d'obscurité. Il ouvre des pistes de réfléxion. Il explique. Il contribue, par ses observations judicieuses, à l'inépuisable plaisir que procure L'Illusion. Ce volume reproduit le texte original de 1639 ainsi que toutes les modifications que le dramaturge y a apportées en 1664." Volume also contains "une table de concordance" of the 1639 & 1682 editions. "Le dossier comprend une chronologie, une notice, une courte histoire de la mise en scène et du jeu des acteurs, une bibliographie et un résumé de la pièce acte par acte." Kerr concludes, "Tout le mérite de cette édition, si bien conçue et présentée, consiste justement à faire valoir le génie de Corneille: sa 《 couleur propre 》."
Review: C. Rizza in SFr 134 (2001), 390: Highly useful "Folio edition" is characterized by Serroy's usual careful criteria. The original edition is the basis of this edition which also includes a preface and notes on the linguistic character of the text. A general chronology, list of variants and a bibliography are included. Of particular interest is the notice on the circumstances of the play's composition and first representation. Clear and original interpretation by Serroy of this play which, in the last decade of the 20th c., saw renewed critical and dramatic interest.
SERROY, JEAN, ed. Pierre Corneille. Le Menteur. La Suite du Menteur. Paris: Gallimard, 2000.
Review: C. Gossip in PFSCL XXVIII, 55 (2001), 558–560: Contains une "Préface judicieuse" in which "[l]es deux volets d'un diptyque théâtral sur le mensonge créateur contiennent des indices qui les rattachent au cœur même des préoccupations cornéliennes." The text reproduced is that of the 1682 edition, along with a selection of variants; reviewer would have liked to see less edited versions of the plays (from 1644 and 1645, for example.)
Review: A. Howe in FS 56.3 (2002), 395–396: "In presenting the two comedies side by side, this welcome edition invites a reassessment of La Suite at the same time as a comparison between the two plays." The reviewer praises "Jean Serroy's elegantly written introduction and informative notice," as well as the following interesting and useful features: "an account of stage performances down the centuries (mainly of Le Menteur), a fairly full bibliography, and some forty pages of significant variants and explanatory notes...." The reviewer's one major reservation concerns the choice of base texts (Corneille's last revised versions of 1682): "It would have been preferable to follow the recent trend among editors of Corneille's earlier comedies of presenting the versions first offered to his public."
SOARE, ANTOINE. "Du Cid à Horace en passant par la tragi-comédie." PFSCL XXIX, 56 (2002), 65–102.
Defines tragi-comedy before and after 1635 with an examination of "la tragédie morale de l'action," "l'Amour tyrannique et la surthéâtralisation," "sujets romanesques et sujets historiques," "la hiérarchie des épreuves héroïques," "l'intertextualité," and "remords ou fermeté." Compares Corneille to Mairet, Rotrou, Georges de Scudéry, La Calprenède, and Racine. Appendix offers a list of "sujets et types d'intrigue tragi-comiques de 1634 à 1641."
VUILLEMIN, JEAN-CLAUDE. "Illusions comiques et dramaturgie baroque: Corneille, Rotrou et quelques autres." PFSCL XXVIII, 55 (2001): 307–325.
Article revisits the mechanism of "le théâtre dans le théâtre," and the notion of "le jeu de rôle." Studies three major functions of this notion with reference to reception studies, including a "fonction didactique," a "fonction de focalisation," and a "fonction d'illusion." Makes a claim for the "prodigieuse efficacité" of the mechanism, particularly in the case of L'Illusion comique.
ZOTOS, ALEXANDRE. "D'une Sophonisbe l'autre ou le roman comique de deux tragédies rivales." PFSCL XXVIII, 55 (2001): 359–373.
Article explores Corneille's "refus de la dispute" regarding the relative merits of his own Sophonisbe and Mairet's play on the same topic. "[T]out prouve que [la] Sophonisbe [de Corneille], donnée pour intrinsèquement 《 autre 》, se voulait aussi, par là même, une Sophonisbe 《 contre 》." Examines in detail "l'enjeu proprement esthétique de la controverse" and cites reasons for the failure of Corneille's play.
CUCHE, FRANÇOIS-XAVIER. "Les deux Médée des deux Corneille." PFSCL XXVIII, 55 (2001): 433–447.
Studies Thomas Corneille's choice of the story of Médée for a libretto written for Charpentier in 1693, particularly in light of his brother's tragedy on the same topic. "Du pathétique de la grandeur, même criminelle [de la pièce de son frère, Thomas] passe à un pathétique du 《 sensible 》,. . . et de la suprématie de la terreur à celle de la pitié." The later libretto is both a hommage to his older brother and an affirmation of Thomas's own originality.
GIBSON, WENDY, éd. Thomas Corneille. Le Comte d'Essex. Exeter: UEP, 2000.
Review: A. Howe in FS 56.2 (2002), 239: "The editor wisely... makes no exaggerated claims for the play as a neglected masterpiece. Her Introduction does, however, succinctly explicate the enduring interest that Essex holds for the modern reader, not least as a treatment of fairly recent historical events which daringly contradicted its audience's expectations of the personages involved, while also perhaps implying comment on contemporary Franco-British relations...." The edition contains "a full complement of endnotes and a useful bibliography."
Review: n.a. in BCLF 634 (2002), 115–16: Excellente édition critique de la tragédie de Thomas Corneille publiée en 1678: "Ce n'est pas un chef-d'oeuvre méconnu qu'on est invité à redécouvrir, mais plutôt une pièce ayant joué dignement son rôle dans la vie théâtrale française."
MINEL, EMMANUEL. "Thomas Corneille sur les traces de son frère Pierre Corneille: une écriture de cadet fraternel. Antiochus (1666) et Rodogune, La Mort d'Annibal (1669) et Nicomède." PFSCL XXVIII, 55 (2001): 413–431.
Comparative study which concludes: "si le théâtre de Pierre est un théâtre de la grandeur: de l'héroïsme et du tour de force. . ., le théâtre de son cadet, Thomas, peut passer pour un théâtre de bonheur — même dans la tragédie malheureuse—: bonheur d'un rapport à l'autre, à l'écriture, à l'inspiration; référentialité qui se construit comme connivence, familiarité, humour libre mais permis.
NIDERST, ALAIN, éd. Thomas Corneille. Le Festin de pierre. Paris: Champion, 2000.
Review: J. Carson in FS 56.2 (2002), 238–239: This "welcome" edition makes it easier for scholars to assess how Thomas Corneille "[took] the Molière original, very artfully versified it, rendered it more classically rigorous, and, essentially, neutered it." The Introduction contains an interesting discussion of the reasons behind the composition of this version of Dom Juan, as well as "a brief analysis of Corneille's 'Accommodements avec le Ciel' in his treatment of the text [...]."
Review: J.-P. Collinet in SFr 135 (2001), 639: Praises "l'heureuse initiative" of Niderst in this publication; his perspective is to judge the play on its own merits rather than in comparison with Molière's corresponding play. Niderst's multifaceted introduction complements this edition of "une nouvelle comédie. . . non sans charme ni mérite."
Review: P. Gethner in PFSCL XXVIII, 55 (2001), 546–547: A "fine new critical edition," with careful attention to Thomas Corneille's additions and suppressions of Molière's work. "Alain Niderst provides a useful introduction that briefly reviews the career of Thomas Corneille, discusses the Don Juan plays in France prior to 1665, shows how innovative Molière was in his treatment of the subject, notes what sort of changes Thomas made and why, and gives the performance history of both versions." "Although not a masterpiece or a replacement for Molière, this revision is both enjoyable to read and a significant document in literary history."
PETEY-GIRARD, BRUNO. "De l'oraison mentale au sermon intérieur: la petite rhétorique du révérend père Coton." PFSCL XXVIII, 54 (2001), 45–60.
Review: S. Costa in SFr 135 (2001), 632: This study demonstrates the importance of persuasion through reading, spiritual practice and through acquisition of knowledge. Coton's guide to meditation gives direction to the seeker through an "inquadramento spirituali" accompanied by sacred texts (632).
KRAMER, M. "La Comédie des proverbes et les Curiositez françaises d'A. Oudin; un lien privilégié." PFSCL XXVII, 53 (2000), 489–499.
Review: C. Bernazzoli in SFr 133 (2001), 139: Convincing analysis of the two works, both quantitative and qualitative, demonstrates that the Comédie is the direct and immediate source of the Curiositez.
ALCOVER, MADELEINE, ed. Cyrano de Bergerac. Oeuvres complètes I. L'Autre monde ou les Etats et Empires de la lune, Les Etats et Empires du soleil, Fragment de physique. Paris: Champion, 2000.
Review: P. M. Harry in PFSCL XXVIII, 55 (2001), 511–515: A "handsome critical edition" which the reviewer cites as "reliable." All three texts are "supported by a rich critical apparatus," including a biography of Cyrano, "together with illustrations of key figures and documents; a physical and textual bibliographical study of the three manuscripts and first edition of La Lune; an analysis of both novels, comprising a discussion of their possible dates of composition, a synopsis, and a critical study of them. All three texts are accompanied by a full set of explanatory notes, and the Fragment is provided with its own introduction also. Texts and variants are followed by useful appendices," including historical documents, family trees, épîtres and préfaces to the first editions, correspondence, a glossary of terms, and a bibliography. "This volume is an immense and highly impressive achievement."
Review: A. Mothu in DSS 213 (2001), 723–725: The extensive three-part introduction consists of a biographie, containing new data largely the fruit of the editor's research; critique textuelle, a meticulous and "methodologically excellent" description of the various manuscripts and editions; and finally an analyse, in which Alcover deals with key questions raised by the novels, including the relationship of Cyrano's sexual preference to his work. Summarizing Alcover's thesis, the revewer writes "l'homosexualité innerve toute l'œuvre romanesque de Cyrano et nous en fournit la clef, étant l'inversion première qui suscita et dynamisa toues les autres (scientifiques, philosophiques ou morales). The critical appartus for each work is equally impeccable. For the reviewer, this volume constitutes the definitive reference on Cyrano.
Review: B. Parmentier in RHL 102.3 (2002), 474–75. Long awaited critical edition, based on manuscripts or original editions, that is also "le témoignage d'une recherche en cours." Contains, in annex, archival documents on Cyrano, as well as abundant information on the transmission of the texts. Editor's introduction proposes an interpretation of the "double roman" based on "la dynamique de déplacement des lieux communs" (MA), and rejects esoteric readings of the text.
Review: C. Rizza in SFr 134 (2001), 392: This first of three volumes in the Sources classiques collections directed by Philippe Sellier is edited by an eminent Cyrano specialist known for her critical acumen and her 1977 edition of Autre monde. Includes an ample and authoritative introduction with biographical documentation (the result of archival research), analyses relating to dating, structure, utopia and numerous other socio-cultural and textual concerns, appendices indicating variants and an imposing bibliography.
DARMON, JEAN-CHARLES & ALAIN MOTHO, eds. Cyrano de Bergerac. Lettres satiriques et amoureuses, précédées de lettres diverses. Paris: Desjonquères, 1999.
Review: P. Ronzeaud in RHL 102.1 (2002), 158–59: "Le tableau le plus complet de l'imagination épistolaire de Cyrano," in an edition that respects punctuation while modernizing spelling. Gives texts of the 47 letters from the 1654 edition, 17 extras from 1662, and 2 manuscript letters published in 1933. Contains an important introduction "qui, en 28 pages, livre une éblouissante analyse des problèmes que posent les textes de Cyrano," and places them within the libertine "culte de l'ironie" (J.-C. Darmon) and "anthropologie négative."
DONETZKOFF, DENIS. "Défense et illustration d'une orthodoxie spirituelle: Robert Arnauld d'Andilly, éditeur des lettres de Jean Duvergier de Hauranne, abbé de Saint-Cyran." TL 14 (2001), 215–232.
Highly informative exploration allows us insight into the conditions and stages of letter writing in the 17th c. and in particular that of Saint-Cyran. Reflections on the choice of letters shows the part Nicole played. Demonstrates the editor's work on content, colorful images, counsel and theology. Donetzkoff concludes that not only did the Port-Royal circle choose, polish and adapt Saint-Cyran's correspondence, but the resultant text does not convey Saint-Cyran's thought "dans son immédiateté."
PETERS, JEFFREY N. "Telling Time: Rewriting as Allegorical Violence in d'Aubignac's Histoire du temps." EMF 8 (2002), 119–33.
Shows how d'Aubignac's work rewrites Scudéry's "Carte de Tendre" so as to emphasize the continuity between seventeenth-century France and antiquity; d'Aubignac proposes "a genealogy of Western allegory that prioritizes discursive continuity over originality."
BANDERIER, GILLES. "Un Chapitre inédit du Debvoir mutuel d'Agrippa D'Aubigné." BHR 64.2 (2002), 369–75:
"On peut supposer qu'il s'agit d'un chapitre isolé et autonome, voire d'une première version de l'ensemble du traité, hâtivement dicté à un secrétaire, selon l'habitude d'Agrippa." Banderier rectifie la foliotation capricieuse de ces feuillets de la collection Tronchin (Bibliothèque Publique et Universitaire de Genève) et les rejoint au Debvoir mutuel.
POT, OLIVIER, ed. Poétiques d'Aubigné. Actes du colloque de Genève (mai 1996). Geneva: Droz, 1999.
Review: D. Bjaï in RHL 102.3 (2002), 473–74: Various studies of 1) violence, 2) the link between text and image, 3) poetics and graphics, and 4) intertextuality in the Tragiques. Also contains contributions on the Confession catholique du Sieur de Sancy and Sa vie à ses enfants, as well as an itemization of the contents of the fonds Tronchin in Geneva.
PRAT, MARIE-HELENE. Les Mots du corps. Un imaginaire lexical dans Les Tragiques d'Agrippa d'Aubigné. Genève: Droz, 1996.
Review: O. Pot in BHR 64.1 (2002), 141–46: Riche analyse rhétorique, sémantique, sémiologique jointe à une méthode rigoureuse "fait de cette étude. . . une véritable encyclopédie des représentations du corps au XVIe siècle. . ."
THIERRY, ANDRE, éd. Agrippa d'Aubigné. Histoire Universelle, T. X., 1620–1622. Genève: Droz, 1999.
Review: B. Boudou in RHL 102.3 (2002), 472–73. The last volume of the incomplete Histoire. "On ne peut que saluer la qualité de cette édition, agrémentée de notes d'un index."
Review: P. De Lajarte in BHR 63.3 (2001), 669–71: "Ce dixième et dernier tome de l'Histoire universelle par quoi se trouve parachevée la monumentale entreprise éditoriale d'A. Thierry, débutée il y a vingt ans en 1981, nous offre le texte, inachevé par Aubigné du fait de sa mort et demeuré longtemps manuscrit, de ce qui aurait dû, si l'écrivain avait eu le temps de donner à son projet son plein aboutissement, constituer le quatrième tome de son Histoire, suite et complément des trois précédents."
DUGGAN, ANNE E. "Nature and Culture in the Fairy Tales of Marie-Catherine d'Aulnoy." M&T 15.2 (2001), 149–167.
Uses an analysis of the relationship between nature and culture to situate d'Aulnoy's tales, particularly "The Bee and the Orange Tree," within the trend of "aristocratic romanticism." Posits that d'Aulnoy prefigures Rousseau, opposes Perrault and the salon tradition in her treatment of gender and society. By juxtaposing d'Aulnoy's "The Bee and the Orange Tree" and Perrault's "Patient Griselda," Duggan analyzes the ways in which d'Aulnoy deploys "'nature' to legitimate the equality of the sexes. . .and situates her ideal society. . .in ways that anticipate the theories of Jean-Jacques Rousseau."
MAINIL, JEAN. Madame d'Aulnoy et le rire des fées. Essai sur la subversion féerique et le merveilleux comique sous l'ancien régime. Paris: Kimé, 2001.
Review: M.-A. Thirard in PFSCL XXIX, 56 (2002), 262–266: Mainil characterizes d'Aulnoy's art "par la mise en place d'une 《 écriture ironique 》, impliquant une forme de distanciation, voire de sedition qui annoncerait les contes parodiques du XVIIIe siècle." Mainil posits "une probable contamination entre le monde des contes et le monde de Versailles," and demonstrates that "le conte avait tout pour plaire au public. The notion of 《 écriture ironique 》 "est. . . essentiellement basée sur un décalage entre le conte et le roman," a thesis which Mainil supports by a study of multiple rewritings of the same story, which demonstrates d'Aulnoy's conscious reflection on the reading of her stories. In particular, "Il s'ensuit pour une femme de lettres comme Mme d'Aulnoy la nécessité de pratiquer dans ses contes une forme de sedition cachée qualifiée par l'auteur de 《 sedition oblique 》, tout en prétendant correspondre aux stéréotypes relevant d'une écriture naïve du genre" which renders Mme d'Aulnoy's work "profondément 《 moderne 》." Reviewer suggests that Mainil's work will contribute "à une nouvelle forme de réception de l'œuvre de Mme d'Aulnoy."
THIRARD, MARIE-AGNES. "Les contes de Madame d'Aulnoy: La tentation du merveilleux." PFSCL XXIX, 56 (2002), 197–221.
Attempts to "cerner par quelles techniques privilégiées Mme d'Aulnoy parvient à créer un univers merveilleux, mais aussi par quels procédés subtils elle prend parfois ses distances à l'égard même de ses creations." Sections on "La creation du merveilleux," include "le mélange des univers," "la déformation de la réalité," "la monstruosité," "la metamorphose," "le parti-pris d'excellence," and "le thème du pays merveilleux," while sections on "La destruction du merveilleux" include "les phénomènes de distanciation," "l'humour destructeur," "la subversion de la fin du conte," and "la parodie du conte férique" which studies "La Princesse Printanière" in particular.
THIRARD, MARIE-AGNES. "Le Génie familier de Madame d'Auneuil, un art du conte à la croisée des chemins." PFSCL XXIX, 57 (2002): 477–498.
Article includes a short biography of d'Auneuil, followed by a brief analysis of her œuvre, particularly in terms of the evolution of le merveilleux and the status of the woman writer at the beginning of the 18th c. Includes a consideration of the notion of translation in the text, a study of places, an analysis of secondary narratives, a consideration of love relationships, and the themes of le rencontre, l'esclavage, l'emprisonnement, le rapt, le séquestration. Article is followed by the reedited text of the story (see below).
THIRARD, MARIE-AGNES, ed. Madame d'Auneuil. Le Génie familier, nouvelles persanes, traduites de l'arabe. PFSCL XXIX, 57 (2002): 499–520.
Text of d'Auneuil's conte, annotated by M.-A. Thirard.
SCHRENCK, GILBERT. Nicolas de Harlay, sieur de Sancy (1546–1629), l'antagoniste d'Agrippa d'Aubigné. Etude biographique et contexte pamphlétaire. Paris: Champion, 2000.
Review: G. Banderier in BHR 63.3 (2001), 675–78: "M. Schrenck nous propose un travail de grande importance: la première biographie de Sancy. Plusieurs difficultés le menaçaient. Il fallait commencer par faire table rase des préjugés albinéens et accepter de regarder Sancy tel qu'il fut et non plus à travers le prisme déformant du pamphlet. La parfaite objectivité de M. Schrenck est à louer, même si d'Aubigné ne sort pas grandi de l'affaire."
Review: A. Arrigoni in SFr 135 (2001), 631–632: A careful examination of the historical and cultural context of his time informs Schrenck's biography of this statesman who served the monarchy from 1589 to 1600. A revendication countering d'Aubigné's characterization of de Harlay as an "homme sans foi et sans scrupule" (631).
SCHRENCK, GILBERT, éd. Nicolas de Harlay, sieur de Sancy. Discours sur l'occurrence de ses affaires. Paris: Champion, 2000.
Review: G. Banderier in BHR 63.3 (2001), 678–80: Edition critique d'un texte qui sert d'annexe à la biographie de Sancy par G. Schrenck. Relatant des événements de 1589 à 1600, le Discours fut rédigée au printemps 1611. La préface de G. Schrenck "éclaire l'arrière-plan du Discours en le replaçant au sein de la production des mémorialistes et en précisant les mécanismes sociaux qui conduisirent Sancy à s'endetter. . ."
LIM, SEUNG-HWI. "Mathieu de Morgues, Bon Français ou Bon catholique?" DSS 213 (2001), 655–672.
By looking at the ever-changing thought and career of de Morgues, pamphleteer active between 1631–1643, Lim seeks to understand more fully the complexity of the "Bons catholiques" camp, affiliated with the parti dévot, which opposed Richelieu and the "Bons Français."
BAVEREL-CROISSANT, MARIE-FRANÇOISE. "Une personnalité contestée. Des Barreaux." Revue d'histoire littéraire de la France sept.–oct. 2000, 1285–1295.
Review: C. Rizza in SFr 134 (2001), 388: Praiseworthy article by Baverel-Croissant who is preparing an edition of Des Barreaux's poetry. First-hand study of documents and correspondence permits the reader to appreciate the familial and cultural environment of this friend of Théophile.
BAVEREL-CROISSANT, MARIE-FRANÇOISE. La Vie et les œuvres complètes de Jacques Vallée Des Barreaux (1599–1673). Paris: Champion, 2001.
Review: C. Rizza in PFSCL XXIX, 56 (2002), 244–246: Study attempts to correct previous commentaries on the works of Des Barreaux while offering a complete version of his mostly unedited work. The first, biographical section includes information on his family, his education, and his relationship with the more erudite milieux of his era, as well as photographs. The second section is an edition of his works, including previously unedited poetry inspired by his relationship with Marion de L'Orme and his libertine poems. In general, the poems "traitent les thèmes de la condition humaine et de la mort: ils révèlent une sensibilité et une profondeur comparables aux meilleurs poèmes de Théophile, confirmant . . . l'influence durable exercée par ce poète sur notre auteur." Reviewer would have liked more comparison of Des Barreaux with libertines of the period, as this would have contributed to a more general understanding of libertinage in the 17th c.
AZOUVI, FRANÇOIS. Descartes et la France. Histoire d'une passion nationale. Paris: Fayard, 2002.
Review: F. de Buzon in QL 830 (du 1er au 15 mai 2002), 8–9: L'ouvrage commence à la mort de Descartes (1650) et termine avec la première moitié du XXe siècle. "L'analyse des nuances individuelles menée par François Azouvi est telle que l'on échappe à l'imagerie qui voudrait que le cartésien soit toujours de gauche (contra Maurras) et l'anticartésien de droite (contra Nizan), même si une bonne partie de la droite et de l'extrême-droite a joué Pascal contre Descartes. Cette histoire si riche et documentée s'interrompt précisément au moment où la technicité des études cartésiennes fait désormais apparaître à l'évidence la très grande complexité du philosophe et son irréductibilité à un système simpliste, même si les échos des anciennes querelles résonnent toujours."
Review: B. Wilson in TLS 5170 (May 3 2002), 8–9: Treats question of how Descartes became archetypal of the French nation. Argues that even before Voltaire's critique of Descartes made the philosopher a cause, "Descartes had been a prism through which the great conflicts of French thought were played out." Descartes is constantly distorted to fit contemporary prejudices, and accordingly may be a "philosopher of order" who teaches the "principles of universal hierarchy" or an anti-fascist. Book closes with 1946 and shows how the end of the war becomes "a victory for Descartes as well as France."
CLEMENSON, DAVID LEE. "Species, Ideas and Idealism: The Scholastic and Cartesian Background of Berkeley's Master Argument." DAI 62/07 (2002), 2448.
Looks at Berkeley's idealism in the context of Descartes; argues specifically that "Descartes' theory of ideas was not representationalist, as is often supposed, but a kind of direct realism; Cartesian ideas render intelligible individuals directly present to the intellect."
FAYE, EMMANUEL, ed. Descartes et la Renaissance. Actes du colloque international de Tours des 22–24 mars 1996. Paris: Champion, 1999.
Review: E. J. Campion in FR 75, 3 (2002), 597–98: Contains the proceedings of a conference that explored "how Descartes made creative use of Renaissance philosophers, theologians, and writers in order to formulate his own views on such diverse topics as God's existence, the dignity of humanity, and the scientific method." Essays examine the religious dimensions of Descartes's writings, his intellectual debt to Montaigne, the originality of Les Passions de l'âme, and areas of his thought that anticipated Pascal. Essays of "consistently excellent" quality that make "an important contribution to the history of European philosophy and the history of ideas during the early modern period."
HENSHAW, AMY. ""Descartes and Corneille: A Re-examination." Neophil 86 (2002), 45–56.
Investigates Jesuit teaching, in particular as it relates to the will, culpability and love, as a source for the similarities found in Corneille and in Descartes's Traité des passions. Advances, with numerous examples from Descartes and Corneille as well as from St. François de Sales and d'Urfé, Louis Rivaille's thesis (1936) that the fact that "all went to Jesuit schools might explain their similarities in thinking" (45).
HERTICH, ALEXANDER CHARLES. "The Moebius Strip: Intertextual Turns in Raymond Queneau's 'Le Chiendent'." DAI 62/04 (2001), 1432.
Argues that Descartes' Discours de la méthode was central to the construction of Queneau's novel.
JULLIEN, VINCENT. "De la fortuna du cartésianisme napolitain." Les Méditerranées du XVIIe siècle. Actes du VIe colloque du Centre International de Rencontres sur le XVIIe siècle. Ed. G. Dotoli. Tübingen: Gunter Narr Verlag (Biblio 17), 2002: 337–347.
Jullien demonstrates how "Descartes et son œuvre vont en effet constituer une bannière susceptible d'unifier la philosophie et la science dite 'moderne' puis, presque aussitôt, le cartésianisme sera vivement critiqué, voire mis en pièces par ses propres enfants." He concludes, "Descartes et son œuvre, d'une part servent bien l'œcuménisme moderniste du XVIIe siècle et de l'autre ouvrent un domaine de controverses profondes et nombreuses."
WATSON, RICHARD. Cogito, Ergo Sum: The Life of René Descartes. Godine, 2002.
Review: n.a. in The New Yorker (12 August 2002), 81: "Probably the strangest biography of the year, this volume is the product of more than forty years of obsession by Watson. . . He is less interested in the revered philosopher and mathematician than in the diminutive, arrogrant Frenchman who fathered a child out of wedlock, probably dabbled in drugs, and practiced vivisection on animals. . . This excessively colloquial, willfully eccentric book is as infuriating as it is entertaining. . ."
KADDOUR, HEDI. Performance review of Desmaret's Les Visionnaires mise en scène par Christian Schiaretti, la Comédie de Reims, Centre dramatique national. NRF 558 (juin 2001), 252–255.
"C'est cela le parti pris de Schiaretti: avoir fait réinvestir cette comédie par les rythmes et le comique de la farce et de la Commedia dell'Arte. . ..Plaisirs du gag et de l'anachronisme, dans la grande tradition des tréteaux."
PETEY-GIRARD, BRUNO. "'Il a escrit en prose plusieurs tres doctes et bien sainctes prieres. . .'; Remarques sur le formulaire de prières de Philippe Desportes." SFr 133 (2001), 3–17.
Divided into three parts, Petey-Girard analyzes Desportes's prayers, "un ensemble de textes qui n'était pas originellement destiné au grand public" and which put at the service of devotion "une parole 'littéraire' qui sait dire les besoins des croyants" (17). A section on the relation of the prayers to civic life on one hand and spiritual life on the other is followed by a second on prayer and literary qualities and concludes with a consideration of the 1594 "formulaire de prières." Reveals Desportes's engagement in the spiritual dimension of the royal politic.
BLANC, ANDRE, éd. Pierre du Ryer, Esther, Thémistocle. Paris: Klincksieck, 2000.
Review: C. Bernazzoli in SFr 135 (2001), 634: This edition of a sacred and profane plays by Du Ryer includes a short biography of the dramatist as well as an assessment of his dramatic production. Particularly noteworthy are Blanc's observations on Du Ryer's originality, dramatic construction, characters, dialogue and a comparison with Racine's Esther.
MAZOUER, CHARLES. "Pierre Du Ryer, contemporain de Corneille." PFSCL XXVIII, 55 (2001):293–305.
Reads six Du Ryer against Corneille's tragic universe as an "éclairage lateral." "Toute la première moitié de sa production tragique crée un monde passablement étranger à Corneille, il semble bien qu'on puisse faire deux parts dans cette production, la seconde rejoignant seule la problématique cornélienne, surtout avec Scévole et Thémistocle, qui marquent le triomphe de l'héroïsme dans des tragédies à fin heureuse."
LARCADE, VERONIQUE. "Les Vies parallèles de Maximilien de Béthune, duc de Sully et de Jean-Louis Nogaret de la Valette, duc d'Epernon, ou réussir en politique à l'aube du XVIIe siècle." XVIIe siècle no. 204 (juillet-sept. 1999), 419–448.
Review: C. Rizza in SFr 133 (2001), 138: Demonstrates that the diversity of character rather than religious faith accounts for the rivalry between Sully and Epernon. While the former announced the triumph of the emerging class and birth of absolute monarchy, Epernon reaffirmed the ancient role of the nobility (138).
GIORGI, GIORGETTO. "La fonction des lieux méditerranéens dans les Aventures de Télémaque." Les Méditerranées du XVIIe siècle. Actes du VIe colloque du Centre International de Rencontres sur le XVIIe siècle. Ed. G. Dotoli. Tübingen: Gunter Narr Verlag (Biblio 17), 2002: 109–119.
Examines the figure of l'allusion in Fénelon's descriptions of la Sicile, l'Egypte, Tyr, Chypre, la Crète, l'île d'Ogygie, et l'Italie, with a particular focus on the political nature of the allusions in question.
LE BRUN, JACQUES, éd. Fénelon: Oeuvres II. Paris: Gallimard, 1997.
Review: V. Kapp in RF 113 (2001), 270–272: Containing Télémaque, the Lettre à l'Académie as well as philosophical and political writings, this volume upholds high standards of quality as it includes exceedingly useful commentary of a historical and literary nature as well as Le Brun's perspective on Fénelon's life and work. Le Brun finds that the heart of Fénelon's thought is the "mise en cause du moi . . . [un] effacement à la fois involontaire et volontaire" (272).
ORCIBAL, JEAN, éd. et collaborateurs. Correspondance de Fénelon: les dernières années, 1712–1715. Vols. XVI and XVII. Genève: Droz, 1999.
Review: R. Parish in MLR 96.4 (2001), 1076: "The final volumes in this major editorial enterprise contain the output from the last years of Fénelon's life, coinciding poignantly with those of Louis XIV, and conveying overall a strong atmosphere of the fin de règne." Letters fall in to four main categories: the battle against Jansenism, friendship and spiritual direction, the administration of Fénelon's diocese, and literary matters.
LESNE-JAFRO, EMMANUELE, ed. Fléchier et les Grands Jours d'Auvergne. Actes d'une Journée d'étude, Université Blaise Pascal — Clermont-Ferrand, 3 octobre 1997. Tübingen: Narr (Biblio 17), 2000.
Review: J.-P. Collinet in PFSCL XXIX, 57 (2002): 545–547: Reviewer praises volume for its interdisciplinarity. Volume begins with a biography of Fléchier as well a short overview of his work (by Lesne-Jafro). Includes contributions by historians: P. Charbonnier on 《 une volonté politique antiseigneuriale. . . et centralisatrice 》; A. Lebrigre on the history of judicial reform; B. Dompnier on the role of the diocese of Clermont-Ferrand in the avant-garde of the Reform; R. Sauzet on Fléchier as seen by his notary E. Borelly. Also includes articles by literary critics: J. Garapon, who offers 《 une promenade en littérature 》, citing the numerous "références et emprunts" found in Fléchier's work; A. Fontvieille on Fléchier's criticisms of rhetoric; Fr.-X. Cuche on le Panégyrique de Saint-Louis; and C. Cagnat-Debœuf on Fléchier's flagrant plagiarism of Pascal. Lesne-Jafro concludes the volume by studying the question of why Fléchier didn't edit his own memoirs. Reviewer lauds the "contenu dense et substantiel" of this volume which "ouvre des perspectives plus larges sur le règne personnel de Louis XIV."
THOUVENIN, PASCALE, éd. Nicolas Fontaine. Mémoires ou Histoire des solitaires de Port Royal. Paris: Champion, 2001.
Review: W. Doyle in FS 56.1 (2002), 94: "In 210 pages of learned introduction [Thouvenin] traces the vicissitudes of the manuscript and, even more importantly, sets out the context in which it was written and first appeared in its best-known but now superseded form.... Stripped of the hagiographic accretions of polemical eighteenth-century editors, with its Latin quotations and Biblical allusions fully restored, this magnificent edition gives us the authentic Fontaine for the historian of both religion and literature to work on."
Review: BCLF 632 (2001), 950–51: ". . .un texte fondamental sur le jansénisme, écrit par un homme, Nicolas Fontaine, qui côtoya tous les proches de ce mouvment religieux, philosophique et politique si particulier du XVIIe siècle." Edition critique rigoureusement documentée qui s'appuie sur un manuscrit original complet.
CASTONGUAY-BELANGER, JOëL. "L'auréole de l'homme de science dans les éloges académiques de Fontenelle." PFSCL XXIX, 57 (2002): 347–359.
Posits that "ce qu[e Fontenelle] souhaite avant tout démontrer, c'est que la connaissance scientifique est une connaissance utile, et que derrière la réflexion pure et abstraite point toujours une retombée technologique bien concrète." Fontenelle eventually writes a kind of laicized hagiography of the scientist meant to reduce suspicion of this oft-considered 'heretical' group.
CERASI, CLAIRE. Pierre Corneille à l'image et semblance de François de Sales. Paris: Beauchesne, 2000.
Review: R. Baustert in PFSCL XXIX, 56 (2002), 248–251: Proposes "une lecture inédite appuyée sur les personnages ou les pieces méconnues et opérée sous un éclairage nouveau." First section presents Corneille's Christian outlook, with a comparison of the language of Corneille and François de Sales. Corneille's late heroes benefit from a Salesian reading, particularly in terms of sacrifice, générosité, and obedience. Cérasi links the notions of Roman grandeur and Christian virtue in Corneille. The second half studies Cornelian traits of François de Sales, and in particular, "ce joyeux dépassement de soi-même qui est aussi, mais encore dans l'immanence, celui des héros cornéliens." "Ce qu[e Corneille] représente, au même titre que François de Sales, c'est cet humanisme chrétien fait des meilleurs apports de l'antiquité et de l'Ecriture." Reviewer cites the "nouveauté" of the approach and the originality of its ideas.
GUIDERDONI-BRUSLE, AGNES. "Images et emblèmes dans la spiritualité de saint François de Sales." DSS 214 (2002), 35–54.
Author details the integration of emblems and images into de Sales' discursive style and his "active spirituality." Eschewing ornamental and esthetic uses of the emblem, de Sales claims its intimate role in the subject's relationship with God.
MELLINGHOFF-BOURGERIE, VIVIANE. François de Sales (1567–1622). Un homme de lettres spirituelles. Genève: Droz, 1999.
Review: J. Balsamo in RF 113 (2001), 533–535: Extremely laudable and comprehensive work emphasizes "les dynamiques, entre les modèles français et italien, mondain et religieux, qui animent la vie savante de l'époque" (534). François de Sales's correspondence is the "lieu privilégié" of Mellinghoff-Bourgerie's investigation which demonstrates remarkably the bishop's cultural and linguistic competencies, finds the letters to be "le creuset d'une spiritualité. . . complexe, . . .religieuse et politique" (534). Balsamo singles out for highest praise of its innovative qualities the four chapters on the style and enjeux of the letters where Mellinghoff-Bourgerie illuminates mystical connotations as well as codes of rhetoric and civility. Includes a very useful "Registre des lettres autographes de François de Sales" where each of the 262 correspondents receives a detailed bio-bibliography.
TERREAUX, LOUIS. "Sur un livre récent: François de Sales un homme de lettres spirituelles par Viviane Mellinghoff-Bourgerie (Genève: Droz, 1999)." SFr 135 (2001), 555–558.
This review article of Mellinghoff-Bourgerie's book praises her careful and wide-ranging analyses, as reflected in her subtitle: "culture, tradition, épistolarité." Rejecting the "appartenance montaniste" of François de Sales, Mellinghoff-Bourgerie details his Erasmian heritage (555); her linguistic analyses focus on his "plurilinguisme" and "culture ultramontaine" (555). For Mellinghoff-Bougerie, François de Sales "n'est pas un écrivain du Grand Siècle. Il est bien plus proche de l'Edit de Nantes que de sa Révocation" (557). Mellinghoff-Bougerie's "Registre des lettres autographes" with notices on destinataires will be used with profit along with the "grande édition d'Annecy" (558).
SCHEFER, CHARLES, éd. Antoine Galland. Voyage à Constantinople (1672–1673). Paris: Maisonneuve et Larose, 2002.
Review: BCLF 637 (2002), 145–46: "Du journal qu'il a rédigé tout au long de sa vie, riche en voyages, ne subsistent que deux parties, celle qui concerne sa vie à Paris et couvre les années 1708 à 1715, et celle qui fait le récit de ses voyages en Orient de 1670 à 1675. Le journal publié ici va de 1672 à 1673, et correspond à une partie seulement de ce que devait être l'original."
DARMON, JEAN-CHARLES. "Le Jardin et la loi: de l'utilité comme fondement du Droit et du Politique chez Gassendi." Littératures classiques no. 40 (2000), 53–73.
Review: C. Rizza in SFr 135 (2000), 633: This article in Littératures classique's volume of essays on "Droit et Littérature" traces the current of Gassendi's thoughts on utility and justice by a consideration of certain crucial moments. Darmon's important analysis demonstrates that Gassendi's position is "tutt'altro che apolitica o incerta" (633).
CHAPLIN, PEGGY E., ed. Gillet de la Tessonerie. Le Triompe des cinq passions. Exeter: U of Exeter Press, 2000.
Review: F. Lasserre in PFSCL XXIX, 56 (2002), 253–255: Second Gillet de la Tessonerie play re-edited by P. Chaplin. 15-page introduction with 12 pages of notes, offers a biography of Gillet, and then an analysis of this play. "Deux problèmes principaux s'offrent à l'examen critique, celui de la structure dramatique, et celui de la doctrine." Chaplin demonstrates "que Gillet parvient à créer avec vraisemblance les retournements ou les effets dramatiques necessaries. Elle conclut donc l'examen des deux problèmes par une appréciation d'une équitable bienveillance." Reviewer criticizes the quantity of typographical errors and the failure to cite corrections to the original text, as well as faulty "corrections" and substitutions. However, "Globalement, l'intérêt porté à Gillet de la Tessonerie sera servi, de manière très positive, par l'édition de P. Chaplin, qui a des qualités, signalées plus haut."
GIRAUD, YVES. "Antoine Godeau et les Samedis du Maris." Vie des salons et activités littéraires, de Marguerite de Valois à Mme de Staël. Actes du colloque de Nancy. Nancy: PU de Nancy, 2001.
THOMPSON, JOHN JAY. "Transferts culturels et littéraires de la Méditerranée en Lorraine: L'exemple du Richecourt de Simplicien Gody (1628)." Les Méditerranées du XVIIe siècle. Actes du VIe colloque du Centre International de Rencontres sur le XVIIe siècle. Ed. G. Dotoli. Tübingen: Gunter Narr Verlag (Biblio 17), 2002: 209–217.
Thompson examines "la ferveur renouvelée qui, au début du XVIIe siècle, s'est cristallisée autour du transfert de [Saint] Nicolas, de son lieu de sépulture méditerréanéen à son sanctuaire à Port, près de Nancy," with a comparison to the miraculous instantaneous tranferral of Cunon de Richecourt. Thompson demonstrates "comment Simplicien Gody. . . décrit les Lorrains face à leurs ennemis, dans le contexte de la Guerre de Trente Ans, comme des Chrétiens aux prises avec les Turcs, son intention étant de signifier que les Lorrains doivent se garder de la Vengeance Divine et de son possible instrument, les malheurs de la guerre."
D'ASCENZO, FREDERICA. "L'espace marin dans la fiction narrative de Gomberville." Les Méditerranées du XVIIe siècle. Actes du VIe colloque du Centre International de Rencontres sur le XVIIe siècle. Ed. G. Dotoli. Tübingen: Gunter Narr Verlag (Biblio 17), 2002: 179–191.
A study of Polexandre which posits that, "Le décor exotique dans lequel nous plongent les voyages maritimes, leur implication politique, la recherche de soi à travers la quête d'un absolu, font de cette dernière de Polexandre un véritable creuset où fusionnent tradition et connaissances d'une époque charnière, imagination poétique et exigences romanesques." The sea is never described, but Gomberville pays particular attention to wind and islands, and spatial and temporal details are precise and accurate, resulting in "un subtil mélange entre le réel authentique et documenté et l'imagination poétique." D'Ascenzo concludes with a discussion of "l'homologie entre l'espace marin et la forme romanesque."
LASSERRE, FRANÇOIS, ed. La Comédie des comédiens et Le Discours à Cliton. Biblio 17 Tübingen: Gunter Narr Verlag, 2000.
Review: P. Pasquier in DSS 213 (2001), 729–731: For the reviewer, Lasserre's edition of these two texts clearly constitutes an effort to "rehabilitate" this lesser-known author. Lasserre asserts that the merit of La Comédie des comédiens is found not in any "realistic" portrait of the Hôtel de Bourgogne acting company but rather in its unique staging of a play-within-a-play "où pièce-cadre et pièce intérieure contribuent également au jeu subtil de l'illusion. . .." Lasserre studies the Discours à Cliton as one of major treatises on French dramatic esthetics. The reviewer disagrees, however, with Lasserre's attempt to defend Gougenot as the author of Discours à Cliton. Both texts are presented with their original spelling and punctuation.
RILEY, PATRICK. "Blaise Pascal, Jeanne Guyon, and the Paradoxes of the moi haïssable." PFSCL XXIX, 56 (2002), 223–240.
Considers "the relation between religious ideologies of the self in Pascal and Madame Guyon, and the practice of autobiography." Asks "how it is possible to produce such a thing as a Quietist autobiography, how it is possible to write about a self whose very existence is denied in principle, how it is possible to create a first-person narrative recounting the erasure of subjectivity and its purported replacement in the soul by the presence of God." Concludes that Guyon writes "the self's epitaph."
SMITH, SARAH JANE NIX. "Balaam's She-ass Speaks: Madame Jeanne Guyon and her 'Justifications'." DAI 62/03 (2001), 1075.
Shows how Guyon mounts a defense against charges of Quietism by inventing a double-edged voice of submission and assertion.
BEAREZ, BERNADETTE Alexandre Hardy, témoin de son époque. Milano: La Nuova Italia, 2000.
Review: C. Bernazzoli in SFr 135 (2001), 632–633: An ample and well articulated bibliography complements this socio-politically oriented analysis of Hardy. Focus is on the conception of the monarchy and the aristocratic ideal, as well as the situation of the peuple.
Review: A. Howe in PFSCL XXIX, 56 (2002), 246–248: "Béarez's thesis is that Hardy's theatre reflects the social and political climate prevalent in France during its emergence from the upheavals and devastation of the Wars of Religion. In particular, from a close reading of Hardy's works, she demonstrates that they engage in debates of strong contemporary relevance, concerning, for example, the role and conception of the monarchy, the desirability of practising severity or clemency, and the permissibility of tyrannicide." Contrasts with Hardy's unfavorable treatment of the lower classes. "All but a handful of his 34 extant plays are discussed." Reviewer cites as a shortcoming "that the contextualizing of Hardy's plays is achieved exclusively in relation to modern historical scholarship." Includes an extensive bibliography of modern historical works. Lacks an index.
PEYROCHE D'ARNAUD, GUILLAUME, éd. Claude Hopil. Méditations sur le Cantique des Cantiques et Les Douces extases de l'âme spirituelle. Genève: Droz, 2000.
Review: C. Rolla in SFr 134 (2001), 387: This scholarly edition is part of the collection "Textes littéraires français" and will undoubtedly do much toward increasing critical attention to this author who merits it. Includes a brief biography, rich critical apparatus (numerous sources of Hopil are detailed), and a respectful reproduction of the original text.
PLANTIE, JACQUELINE, ed. Claude Hopil, Les Divins élancements d'amour, exprimés en cent cantiques faits en l'honneur de la Très-Sainte-Trinité. Paris: Champion, 1999.
Review: Y. Quetot in RHL 101.4 (2001), 1287–88: Enthusiastic review of Jacqueline Plantié's editorial work on poems whose comprehension and analysis is made possible by notes, glossary, index, bibliography, and information on the composition of the collection and its models. "La mise en lumière de 《 ces modèles ou précurseurs 》 permet de mieux cerner la singularité de l'oeuvre."
COHEN, MARK A. "La Bruyère and the 'Usage' of Childhood: The Idea of Pedagogy in the Caractères." FrF 26 (2001), 23–42.
Successfully fills a surprising lacuna in La Bruyère studies as well as in 17th c. studies in general. Argues that the Caractères "was intended to be a pedagogy for adults" (23) and proves the relevance to the work of La Bruyère's own pedagogical experiences as tutor to the duc Louis de Bourbon and his intellectual ties with the Petit Concile. Cohen pertinently analyzes La Bruyère's emphases including but not limited to language, education, "le naturel," childhood as "a time of enormous potential," and "attentiveness [as] the chief quality that the pedagogue must arouse and direct" (30–32, 36, 39). Demonstrates that "the striking language of the Caractères [is] an unmatched propaedeutic for understanding the truth about the things of the world" (41).
ESCOLA, MARC, ed. Jean de la Bruyère. Les Caractères de Théophraste traduits du grec, avec les Caractères ou les Moeurs de ce siècle.
Review: B. Papàsogli in SFr 133 (2001), 145–146: Numerous annexes, including a table of concordances of the Caractères' various editions complete this monumental (936-page) edition which impresses by its philological and critical apparatus. Escola's presentation is genetic and a "trouvaille" allows him to favor the hypothesis that the Caractères are an authentic example of "retorica del discontinuo" (145).
Review: B. Parmentier in RHL 102.3 (2002), 475–76: An edition that combines characteristics of two recent editions (Bury and Van Delft), and concentrates on the typography of the Caractères, which is not, Escola emphasizes, a "fragmentary" text in the romantic sense, in that it depends on sequential reading. The edition thus "propose une méthode d'analyse textuelle qui fait place non seulement à la pluralité de lectures possible, mais aussi à l'évaluation des formes matérielles de l'ouvrage, jusqu'aux corrections sous presse." Also reproduces the "keys" that circulated at the time, because they bear witness to a type of reading in vogue.
RICORD, MAXINE. Les Caractères de La Bruyère ou les exercices de l'esprit. Paris: PUF, 2000.
Review: E. J. Campion in FR 75, 4 (2002), 782–83: A "thought-provoking study" that examines the semantic field of the term esprit in the work of La Bruyère. Argues that although La Bruyère used the term in the traditional sense of "mind," he also associates it with "l'âme." Reveals the religious dimensions of Les Caractères.
Review: M. Escola in DSS 212 (2001), 558–559: A favorable review of this study of La Bruyère that seeks to understand the text through a comprehensive investigation of l'esprit. Ricord first offers an inventory and classification of the diverse uses of this term throughout Les Caractères and juxtaposes this with other relevant writings (by Bouhours, Méré, La Rochefoucauld, etc.). She provides thus "une topographie sémantique" the analyses of which derive from very attentive readings of the text. Ricord then examines "the stylistic practice of l'esprit," according special place to the use of irony, and finally considers the reader's reception of irony, "geste d'intelligence, l'ironie forcerait l'intelligence."
Review: B. Papàsogli in SFr 133 (2001), 145: Praiseworthy for the sensitivity of its interpretation, Ricord's study focuses on the key concept "spirit" which represents a wide-range of vast and nuanced meaning. The central section of her study consists of analyses of La Bruyère's style, in particular irony and rhetorical "jeux."
GANIM, RUSSELL. Renaissance Resonance: Lyric Modality in La Ceppède's Théorèmes. Amsterdam-Atlanta: Rodopi, 1998.
Review: C. Grisé, in EMF 8 (2002), 262–63. Author maintains that the lyric tradition, as much as the devotional, shaped La Ceppède's work; shows how the orthodox Catholic poet appropriates, so as to sanctify, secular poetic genres. Close readings of lyric topoi in the Théorèmes are combined with comparisons between other devotional poets' use of lyric modes. "[A]n important contribution to the history of French lyric poetry."
GŒURY, JULIEN. L'Autopsie et le théorème poétique des Théorèmes spirituels (1613–1622) de Jean de La Ceppède. Paris: Champion, 2001.
Review: R. Ganim in PFSCL XXIX, 57 (2002): 539–541: Ganim calls this volume "une addition importante aux ouvrages récents sur le poète aixois." Taking "une perspective néo-structuraliste," the work can be divided into four parts: a section on "morphology" "met en exergue la construction générale du texte;" a section on "anatomy" considers primarily "l'élocution," privileging "les multiples voix narratives et les modèles variés que prend la muse;" a section on "physiology" studies "la composition de l'alexandrin, l'agencement et la 《 mélodie 》 des rimes, ainsi que 《 le principe de répétition 》. . . [et] le concept de 《 ressassement 》;" and finally a fourth section which "souligne le rôle du poète et du lecteur dans le processus contemplatif." Overall, Gœury's goal is "de scruter le langage et la construction de l'expérience dévote." However, Ganim faults the work for neglecting "les paradoxes et les portraits humains qui font des Théorèmes un des textes les plus pénétrants de la poésie baroque," and for only citing bits of La Ceppède's text when more complete citations would have illuminated the reader. Ganim is disappointed that Gœury "néglige le côté humaniste chez le poète aixois," stating, "Bref, le point de vue qu'adopte l'auteur apparaît souvent comme trop distant et abstrait pour un ouvrage qui a pour but l'engagement direct du lecteur." Nevertheless, "l'enquête de Julien Gœury pose des questions et ouvre des voies qui méritent notre exploration."
BEASLEY, F.S., & K.A. JENSEN, eds. Approaches to Teaching Lafayette's La Princesse de Clèves. New York: MLA, 1998.
Review: N. Grande in RHL 101.5 (2001), 1471–72. Contextual, thematic and pedagogical articles on the inimitable novel. Volume serves as a "témoignage d'une vitalité pédagogique qui ne peut que susciter l'admiration des enseignants français."
KUPPER, NELLY GROSSMAN. "A Woman's Choice: Duty and Desire in La Princesse de Clèves." SYM 55.2 (2001), 95–105.
Reading of the novel that rejects both traditional and feminist critical views of Mme de Clève's untimely death: " . . .it is a story of tragedy in which the Self is overcome by its attachment to the Other, where personal choice is overshadowed by family's wishes, and in which life is extinguished by the force of pre-history."
LETTS, JANET. Legendary Lives in La Princesse de Clèves. Charlottesville: Rookwood, 1998.
Review: M.-Fr. Hilgar in FR 76, 1 (2002), 119–20: The author reads La Princesse de Clèves from the perspective of its historical narratives. By examining closely the work of sixteenth- and seventeenth-century historians, Letts shows how the narrators of the novel revise the circumstances surrounding the lives of historical figures such as Marie de Lorraine, Marie Stuart, Anne Boleyn, Henri VIII, Diane de Poitier, Henri II, and Catherine de Médicis. The author demonstrates how narrators in the novel often revise history in the stories they tell in an effort to influence their listeners.
MOREAU, ISABELLE TRIVISANI. "Zaïde et l'altérité, histoire méditerranéenne." Les Méditerranées du XVIIe siècle. Actes du VIe colloque du Centre International de Rencontres sur le XVIIe siècle. Ed. G. Dotoli. Tübingen: Gunter Narr Verlag (Biblio 17), 2002: 77–92.
Moreau posits that, "En regardant les lieux de la Méditerranée mentionnés par le texte on peut observer cmment leur place au sein de l'histoire principale ou des récits retrospectifs permet, par le passage du présent au passé, un élargissement du champ spatial de l'œuvre." Moreau concludes, "Le roman, par l'intermédiaire de Zaïde dont l'identité se découvre peu à peu, apprend à Consalve comme au lecteur à reconnaître une autre culture: la Méditerranée n'apparaît plus au terme du roman comme un espace contenant des pays inconnus dont le nom évoque le danger, l'éloignement, la fuite."
THOMAS, FRANCIS-NOëL. "Recent English Translations of La Princesse de Clèves." EMF 8 (2002), 268–83.
An examination of the five currently available English translations of Lafayette's novel. Singles out Terence Cave's for praise.
BAK, MARCEL. "Le Jardin des oliviers chez Jean de la Fontaine: une allégorie de l'ennui dans Les Amours de Psyché et de Cupidon." AJFS 39,1 (2002), 9–27.
A study of notions of "théâtralité" in Les Amours de Psyché et de Cupidon that shows how La Fontaine's poem is organized around an oscillation between ennui and divertissement. Linking the world of the court with a Christian, monastic tradition through the image of the garden, La Fontaine presents a heroine who follows a path from innocence to corruption to salvation.
BANDERIER, GILLES. "Le Poème du Quinquina et la poésie médicale de la Renaissance." Le Fablier: Revue des Amis de Jean de La Fontaine. La Fontaine et l'héritage de l'Europe humaniste. Actes du colloque de l'Institut de France. Première partie. 13 (2001): 37–44.
This study reevaluates a lesser-known text by La Fontaine. Banderier studies (1) "les postulats sur lesquels reposait jusqu'ici l'exégèse de l'œuvre"; (2) "les liens qui pouvaient unir le Poème du Quinquina à la tradition humaniste du poème medical"; and finally proposes "plusieurs rapprochements avec. . . le poème publié en 1530 par le médecin italien Girolamo Fracastoro."
BIRBERICK, ANNE L. Reading Undercover: Audience and Authority in Jean de La Fontaine. Lewisburg: Bucknell UP, 1998.
Review: C. Grisé, in EMF 8 (2002), 263–66: An analysis of author/audience relations in La Fontaine that argues for the existence of a new type of reading and writing, one that responds to "a rhetorical situation entailing dissimulation, dispersion, and indirection" (AB), and that necessitates the reader's active participation. Examines notably the Fables as metapoetics. Reviewer feels that some of the author's distinctions regarding types of readers blur together, that some significant examples of readers are ignored, and that the book lacks a strong concluding synthesis of the main thesis.
CALDER, ANDREW. The Fables of La Fontaine: Wisdom Brought Down to Earth. Geneva: Droz, 2001.
Review: J. Johnson in SCN 60:1 (2002), 75–77: A "well-documented work" that approaches the fables as skillful renderings of timeless wisdom about the human condition. Author insists on the necessity of situating the fables within the context discourses of wisdom offered by La Fontaine's precursors, including Aesop, Homer, Socrates, Horace, Erasmus, Montaigne and Rabelais. The reviewer notes that the analyses of certain fables are thin but concludes that the book "will prove especially useful for undergraduates, for scholars wishing to consider La Fontaine in a larger humanistic context, and for those seeking a quick introduction to particular fables and their thematic connections with other fables and texts in the Lafontainian corpus."
CIFARELLI, PAOLA. "Le fablier de Rinuccio d'Arezzo et ses traductions françaises au XVIe siècle." Le Fablier: Revue des Amis de Jean de La Fontaine. La Fontaine et l'héritage de l'Europe humaniste. Actes du colloque de l'Institut de France. Première partie. 13 (2001): 53–67.
Cifarelli details "les circonstances de la tradution latine" in the more general framework of the humanist fable of the Quattrocento, and then explores the French branch of this tradition. Cifarelli concludes: "Quant aux 'artisans de la fable' qui, au cours du XVIe siècle, ont publié des versions françaises de collections latines, ils ont joué un rôle considerable dans la preservation d'un patrimoine dont le génie de La Fontaine saura tirer le plus grand profit" (64). A table of French translations of Rinuccio follows.
DANDREY, PATRICK. "La Fontaine, poète humaniste?" Le Fablier: Revue des Amis de Jean de La Fontaine. La Fontaine et l'héritage de l'Europe humaniste. Actes du colloque de l'Institut de France. Première partie. 13 (2001): 9–15.
The Président de la Société de Jean de La Fontaine introduces this issue of Le Fablier with a succinct but trenchant summary of the organizing principles of the humanist tradition of the Renaissance, and of La Fontaine as heir of that tradition. These introductory remarks are followed by brief presentations of the 8 conference papers which follow.
DUFFY, BRIAN. "The Patient Ant and the Foolish Grasshopper: John Updike's Elaboration on La Fontaine." SYM 55.2 (2001), 59–77.
Duffy explores "the extent to which La Fontaine's short and condensed narrative exerts its influence" on Updike's "Brother Grasshopper."
FUMAROLI, MARC. "Allocution d'ouverture." Le Fablier: Revue des Amis de Jean de La Fontaine. La Fontaine et l'héritage de l'Europe humaniste. Actes du colloque de l'Institut de France. Première partie. 13 (2001): 100–101.
In his opening statement for the Colloque de l'Institut de France, Fumaroli interrogates La Fontaine's ambitions vis-à-vis the Académie Française and his eventual entry into this august body.
GONTHIER-FISHMAN, CATHERINE. "Un dialogue marginal au seuil et dans les mailles de 'Les Amours de Psyché et de Cupidon' de Jean de La Fontaine." DAI 62/12 (2002), 4191.
Analyzes La Fontaine's author-reader relationship, in both the paratext and text of Psyché, as part of the author's "unflinching aesthetical and political questioning."
GRIMM, JURGEN. "L'expression morale dans l'Heptaméron et dans les Fables." Le Fablier: Revue des Amis de Jean de La Fontaine. La Fontaine et l'héritage de l'Europe humaniste. Actes du colloque de l'Institut de France. Première partie. 13 (2001): 90–95.
Study seeks to fill a gap in La Fontainien criticism by comparing the Fables to the Heptameron, because of the eminently moral nature of the latter. Seeks not to find particular influences or similar morals, but "parallélismes" or "contraintes structurelles auxquelles les deux auteurs se voient confrontés dans des situations analogues" (95).
GRISE, CATHERINE M. Cognitive Space and Patterns of Deceit in La Fontaine's Contes. Charlottesville, VA: Rockwood Press, 1998.
Review: J.-P. Collinet in SFr 134 (2001), 397–398: Highly praiseworthy and on a par with but in a different spirit than the study of John C. Lapp, Esthetics of Negligence. Grisé's volume deserves to be counted "parmi les plus importantes contributions nord-américaines. . . de La Fontaine et de son oeuvre en tant que conteur" (198). Grisé substitutes for the usual motif index of folklorists, a grill specifically adapted to La Fontaine and founded by her on the most recent and promising developments of narratology (397).
GRISÉ, CATHERINE M. "La Fontaine's Little Red Riding Hood: 'La Clochette' and the Pastourelle Genre." EMF 8 (2002), 244–67.
Proposes that some of the contextual difficulties surrounding "La Clochette"—specifically, its seemingly light-hearted treatment of rape—can be resolved by viewing it as a continuation of the medieval pastourelle genre.
MATHIEU-CASTELLANI, GISELE. "L'écriture à la première personne et le modèle de la narration humaniste." Le Fablier: Revue des Amis de Jean de La Fontaine. La Fontaine et l'héritage de l'Europe humaniste. Actes du colloque de l'Institut de France. Première partie. 13 (2001): 79–89.
"De la tradition narrative de la Renaissance, La Fontaine reprend un trait. . . --l'irruption dans le récit d'une écriture à la première personne. . . L'écriture de la fable est évidemment marquée par la subjectivité dans les sequences lyriques de confession et d'épanchement, mais aussi dans les insertions critiques sur le petit genre de la fable, ou encore dans le discours encomiastique. . . [L]'écriture à la première personne informe également. . . la glose, le commentaire, la digression." Examples studied with reference to the Amyot-Plutarque tradition and also to the Nouvelles Recréations et Joyeux Devis de Bonaventure des Périers.
MONFERRAN, JEAN-CHARLES. "Marot, le marotique et La Fontaine." Le Fablier: Revue des Amis de Jean de La Fontaine. La Fontaine et l'héritage de l'Europe humaniste. Actes du colloque de l'Institut de France. Première partie. 13 (2001): 25–35.
According to Monferran, "Mon approche . . . [est] de tenter de comprendre de qui ou peut-être même de quoi parle La Fontaine quand il évoque Marot" (25). Article includes a study of the reception of Marot in the 17th c., followed by an in-depth analysis of La Fontaine's "pieces de 'la pension poétique,' séquence unanimement reconnue pour relever de l'imitation de Marot." He concludes, "C'est cette figure-là du poète de l'Adolescence clémentine qui marque peut-être le plus profondément l'imaginaire de La Fontaine, plus encore que les tours de Clément" (35).
NEPOTE-DESMARRES, FANNY. La Fontaine: Fables. Paris: PUF, 1999.
Review: I. Landy-Houillon in DSS 212 (2001), 560–561: The author eschews biographical, historical, and lexical approaches to the Fables in favor of a purely "scriptural" reading, alone capable of conveying the "dynamique de métamorphose permanente des genres susceptibles d'abriter des moralités. . .." Although the reviewer takes issue with some of the author's interpretations and conclusions, she praises nonetheless "le sérieux et la précision d'une étude ambitieuse et originale qui n'exclut pas une approche plus ludique de la 'fabrique des Fables.'"
Review: R. Runte in FR 75, 2 (2001), 364–65: A compact study of the fables appropriate as an introduction to La Fontaine's work for undergraduate students. "[S]urprisingly complete and sophisticated" in this context, it examines "the history and definition of the fable genre, the life of the fabulist and the unity and meaning of the Fables choisies." Also includes a bibliography, a model explication de texte of "La Mort et le bûcheron," and discussions of La Fontaine's antecedents and successors.
NIDERST, ALAIN. "La Fontaine et Huet." Le Fablier: Revue des Amis de Jean de La Fontaine. La Fontaine et l'héritage de l'Europe humaniste. Actes du colloque de l'Institut de France. Première partie. 13 (2001): 45–50.
A reconsideration of La Fontaine's "Epître à Huet." Niderst reexamine's Huet's role in the Querelle des Anciens et des Modernes, as well as resemblances between La Fontaine and Huet in sensibility, philosophy, attitudes toward Descartes, and an interest in Plato.
RUNYON, RANDOLPH PAUL. In La Fontaine's Labyrinth: A Thread Through the Fables. Charlottesville: Rookwood Press, 2000.
Review: J. Chang in PFSCL XXIX, 57 (2002): 370–371: Runyon tackles "the open-ended and seemingly self-evident question of the sequencing of the fables," arguing "that what links the fables together is not an arbitrary order but precisely the key that determines how their meaning must be grasped." Runyon identifies a "surprising pattern" which offers "mosaic-like unity." Runyon's work leads "to the discovery that, if some of the words, images and events in a given fable should find their raison d'être in relation to counterparts in a neighboring fable, the individual poem would cease to be self-enclosed systems. What really interests Runyon, thus, is the tension and cohesion which characterize the sequencing of the fables."
Review: P. Dandrey in Le Fablier 13 (2001): 105–106: "Cet ouvrage revient utilement sur la difficile question de l'architecture du recueil des Fables, en s'interrogeant sur les principes de régulation et d'enchaînement des apologues au sein de chacun des douze livres. Son idée maîtresse réside paradoxalement dans la négation de la notion de 'principe', dans le refus de poser que l'architecture du recueil obéisse à une règle explicite ou secrète" (105). Book includes a review of La Fontainien criticism on this topic. For Runyon, "C'est la libre inspiration de l'analyste et sa subjectivité de goût qui gouvernent le jeu avec des bonheurs que son lecteur est, à son tour, libre d'évaluer avec la même latitude. . .L'ouvrage de M. Runyon relève moins, en somme, de l'analyse critique que de la lecture critique. Et c'est d'ailleurs un compliment que l'on peut lui faire: les fables sont faites pour être lues. . ." (105). Dandrey suggests Runyon would have done well to consult the recent edition of the Fables annotated by Yves Le Pestipon, whose point of departure is very similar to the labyrinth reconstructed by Runyon.
Review: W. Engel in SCN 59:3 (2001), 298–301: Runyon sets out to discover the underlying organization or connecting thread of the fables by looking at "the order of the fables La Fontaine has established, skipping none. . .." This study reveals that "four fifths of the 239 pairs of contiguous fables share at least one verbal link—all of the contiguous pairs have either a situational or verbal link." Runyon analyzes the quantity and nature of the links between contiguous fables and argues for an intentional and "subtle design" underlying the fables.
SHAPIRO, NORMAN R., trans.Jean de La Fontaine. Once Again, La Fontaine. Sixty More Fables. Illustrated byDavid Schorr, foreword byJohn Hollander. Middletown, Connecticut: Wesleyan University Press, 2001.
Review: S. D. Blackford et al. in VQR 78.3 (Summer 2002), 83: "The fourth and so far best volume of Norman Shapiro's La Fontaine project (three of the Fables, one of the Contes et nouvelles), this is the first to be accompanied by a CD-ROM (on which Douglas Sills skillfully reads 26 translated texts). (...) John Hollander sums up the standard history of fable as a genre and La Fontaine's place in it... The volume is rather too lightly annotated and features a hit-or-miss bibliography of current studies in English. (...) Readers will find Shapiro at the height of his powers, giving a fluent yet accurate account of La Fontaine's most ironic, ambiguous, allusive, and metaphorically dense fables in a language that captures the poet's multiple registers and subtle rhythms."
SLATER, MAYA. The Craft of La Fontaine. Athlone/Farleigh Dickinson, 2000.
Review: A. Génetiot in PFSCL XXIX, 57 (2002): 574–576: "Une étude minutieuse et attentive à la lettre des Fables, qui se veut (p.X) à la fois 《 méfiante 》, avide de déceler les nuances cachées, et 《 naïve 》, abordant le grain du texte au sens littéral — cette fausse naïveté herméneutique visant à faire surgir des faits nouveaux derrière les évidences trompeuses du 《 bien connu 》 et à mettre en évidence les ambivalences de l'œuvre ainsi que la perpétuelle tension entre l'humour et le pessimisme moral." The first section discusses La Fontaine's style, and in particular two techniques: "la 《 compression 》" and his 《 excès stylistique 》. The second part discusses anthropomorphic metaphors, while the third part concentrates on the animals of the Fables and the fourth part focuses on the human characters. The final section deals with the intertextuality of the Fables. Slater's work is primarily an attempt at a thorough "compréhension analytique" of La Fontaine's work, and, as such, "constitue une stimulante invitation. . . à la relecture des Fables."
Review: L. Grove in MLR 97.3 (2002), 707–08: "Slater's text-based approach excels as a close critical reading and the careful dissection of chosen fables underpins each of the ten chapters."
Review: N.B. Palmer in CHOICE 39, 5 (2000), 887: A close, rigorous analysis of the fables that reveals concealed satire and literary allusions. Excellent bibliography and notes.
VAN DELFT, LOUIS. "L''ample comédie': La Fontaine et Lucien." Le Fablier: Revue des Amis de Jean de La Fontaine. La Fontaine et l'héritage de l'Europe humaniste. Actes du colloque de l'Institut de France. Première partie. 13 (2001): 19–23.
Van Delft elaborates a "point de contact" (21) or "filiation" (23) between La Fontaine and Lucien's "Icaroménippe" with a particular emphasis on the theatricality of the authors' approaches. Article also contains a summary of 17th c. scholarship on and translations of Lucien. The article is followed by a reproduction of the 1655 frontispiece of the Ablancourt translation of Lucien (24).
HEDLEY, JO. "Charles de la Fosse's 'Rinaldo and Armida' and 'Rape of Europa' at Basildon Park." Burlington 1189 (2002), 204–212.
Accepts that two paintings held at Basildon Park were commissioned from la Fosse by Ralph, Earl of Montagu, between 1690 and 1692, but argues that the subject of one of the paintings has long been misidentified. Author contends that the painting in question represents Rinaldo and Armida, not Mars and Venus; relates it to a painting by Bauïn at Versailles and an opera by Lully.
CHIHAIA, MATEI. "Anatomie einer Maxime: Wissen über den Menschen bei La Rochefoucauld und bei Knigge." ZFSCL 111 (2001), 165–182.
Close study of La Rochefoucauld's maxim on nature, man's body organs and his pride, comparing and contrasting it with the text of the 18th c. German writer Adolph Freiher von Knigge, Uber den Umgang mit Menschen (1788). Includes sections on the Augustinian quality of La Rochefoucauld's text and its dialogical, Jansenist character. Chihaia finds that Knigge transforms La Rochefoucauld's descriptions into prescriptions: "Was bei den Franzosen zu einem dialogischen Konflikt zugespitzt wird, mündet bei ihm [Knigge] durch geschickte Differenzierung in einer positiven Moral" (182).
FIORENTINO, FRANCESCO, éd. François de La Rochefoucauld. Massime. Venezia: Marsilio, 2000.
Review: B. Papàsogli in SFr 135 (2001), 640–641: Welcomes this new Italian edition of La Rochefoucauld's Maximes. Praiseworthy for its elegance and perspective (the Maximes were at their outset a divertissement for a worldly society). Introduction and annotations will stimulate the readers' interest.
HOPE, QUENTIN M. "La Rochefoucauld: The Moraliste as Moralizer and Mentor." RomN 42 (2001), 61–64.
While acknowledging that one attraction of the maxims is that they "do not teach or moralize," Hope argues that La Rochefoucauld does believe that individuals can correct their faults. Hope finds this belief in some of the maxims and especially in a critical letter which La Rochefoucauld wrote to his son.
LAFOND, JEAN. "Un duc et pair de France éditeur." TL 14 (2001), 243–255.
Multifaceted analysis clearly demonstrates that La Rochefoucauld was not "un écrivain de 'premier jet'", traces the adventures of pirated editions, details the care and precautions involved in the manuscrit de Liancourt and its production, reveals the code or convention prohibiting l'honnête homme to "faire métier d'écrire" (Montaigne, cited here, 244) and offers pertinent and highly informative observations on the order of the maximes, commenting as well on the difficulties of editing Pascal.
WARNER, STUART D. & STÉPHANE DOUARD, eds. and trans. La Rochefoucauld. Maxims. South Bend, IN: Saint Augustine Press, 2001.
Review: M. Slater in TLS 5173 (May 24 2002), 31: A bilingual edition. The translators are not up to the task of translating the maxims. Their English versions are at best serviceable and are sometimes ungrammatical or incomprehensible. Slater cites mistranslations of key words and one instance of an English translation having the opposite meaning of the French original.
DELOFFRE, FREDERIC. "Madame de La Sablière et ses familiers." Vie des salons et activités littéraires, de Marguerite de Valois à Mme de Staël. Actes du colloque de Nancy. Nancy: PU de Nancy, 2001.
LOSKOUTOFF, YVAN. L'Armorial de Calliope. L'Oeuvre du Père Le Moyne S.J. (1601–1671): Littérature, héraldique, spiritualité. Tübingen: Gunter Narr Verlag (Biblio 17 #125), 2000.
Review: C. Carlin in PFSCL XXVIII, 55 (2001), 538–539: "Yvan Loskoutoff's detailed exploration of the use of heraldry in Le Moyne's corpus sensitizes the reader to the importance of heraldic symbols as a literary device in encomiastic texts and in the epic, notably in Le Moyne's Saint Louys." 31 plates. Carlin concurs with Loskoutoff's estimation of Le Moyne's originality: "in his combination of nationalistic and spiritual aims, Le Moyne exploits heraldry more profoundly than the other writers who make use of it." The last third of the book focuses on a topos to which Le Moyne returned often: "the ephemeral nature of earthly existence." "Yvan Loskoutoff convinces us that in its rich stock of images popular prior to 1660, heraldry as a figure de style deserves a closer look."
Review: D.J. Culpin in FS 56.1 (2002), 90–91: "Loskoutoff's approach is to consider... heraldry as a figure of speech or a trope, across the range of Le Moyne's work." Le Moyne's interest in heraldry is linked to the Jesuit taste for "exuberant visual display," to préciosité and the Hôtel de Rambouillet, and to aristocratic culture and ideology. This book "will fascinate all those who are interested in the poetry, emblems and moral thought of the Baroque and early Classical periods."
Review: G. Bosco in SFr 134 (2001), 391: Loskoutoff's focus is Le Moyne's fascination with and use of the heraldic as a figure of discourse, lending itself to edification and encomium. Richly informative, well-structured and up-to-date critically, Loskoutoff's study will be enriching to several disciplines.
Review: G. Demerson in RHL 101.6 (2001), 1655–56: Book aims at understanding heraldry as rhetorical figure using the case of Le Moyne. Examines the cultural/artistic context of heraldry, its functions (praise, propaganda, satire), and the way it also serves to denounce the illusions of "la gloire." Sympathetic review of a work on a maligned author; reviewer only takes exception to the "rigidity" of the book's structure.
PREAUD, MAXIME. Jean Lepautre (II) (Bibliothèque nationale de France. Inventaire du fonds français. Graveurs du XVIIe siècle. XII). Paris: BNF, 1999.
Review: S. Loire in Burlington 1184 (2001), 700–701: Follows a volume on the Lepautre family published in 1993 which featured Antoine Lepautre (1621–79), an important architect in the early years of Louis XIV's reign, as well as his nephew Jacques (c.1653/57–84) and half the prints by Jean (1618–82), whom the reviewer cites as "one of the most inventive and prolific seventeenth-century engravers." The present volume fills in many details of Jean Lepautre's biography, provides a thematic categorization of his ornament prints, and for the first time allows us fully "to appreciate the full extent of Lepautre's œuvre."
MINEL, EMMANUEL, éd. Hilaire de Longepierre. Médée. Suivie du Parallèle de Monsieur Corneille et de Monsieur Racine, et de la Dissertation sur la tragédie de Médée par l'abbé Pellegrin. Paris: Champion, 2000.
Review: P. Gethner in PFSCL XXVIII, 55 (2001), 544–546: "This new critical edition makes available an eminently readable play that has been out of print for several decades. . . The extensive introduction is superb. Following a brief biography of the playwright, Emmanuel Minel analyzes in depth the dramaturgical problems posed by the story. . ., the three previous dramatic versions in France. . ., a balanced discussion of both Longepierre's dramaturgy. and his style. . . The discussion of the four main characters, and how Longepierre's depiction of them differs from previous versions, is detailed and perceptive." Gethner calls the inclusion of supplemental texts "an extra bonus." The appendix is deemed "useful." "The bibliography is unusually complete."
Review: B. Papàsogli in SFr 133 (2001), 148: Minel's edition of these texts includes an ample historical-philological apparatus focusing especially on Médée, a biographical notice on Longepierre and a study of the tragedy in relation to its preceding French versions, considering the dynamics of action, psychology of the characters, style and variants. Impressive bibliography and catalogue of editions of Médée.
Review: R. Tobin in E Cr 41 (2001), 101: "Eminently readable and welcome edition of Longepierre's three texts for the "larger literate public." Finds the Dissertation by Pellegrin "insightful" for "early eighteenth-century perspectives on classical tragedy," but indicates certain oversights and inaccuracies.
HEYER, JOHN HAJDU, ed. Lully Studies. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 2000.
Review: B. Gooch in SCN 60:1 (2002), 140–148: Eleven essays covering a range of subjects, including Lully's biography and style, reaction to his work, and theatre design. P. Ranum relates Lully's rise to power and efforts to maintain that power. B. Harris-Warwick studies phrase structure in dance music. B. Norman analyzes Quinault's libretto for Isis, outlining plot, tracing precursors, and identifying the work's uniqueness. Other essays deal with the role of the pastoral; the performance of Alceste in Strasbourg; and Lully's influence on subsequent artists. The reviewer praises all the essays as "superbly documented and well-written" and calls the book "a superlative addition" to Lully scholarship.
Review: P. Gethner in PFSCL XXIX, 56 (2002), 259–262: "The eleven essays are of very high quality and contain a huge amount of useful material." They include: a "foreword by the late James R. Anthony that briefly traces the evolution of Lully scholarship," as well as essays by J. de la Gorce on Lully's genealogy and his relationship with his family, P. Ranum on Lully's careful protection of his privilège, B. Norman on Isis as an experimental form, J. S. Powell on the pastoral elements in the collaborations of Lully and Molière, B. Coeyman, who offers a "detailed walk-through of the Palais Royal opera house," L. Rosow on Lully's techniques for heightening emotion, R. Harris-Warwick on Lully's treatment of standard dance forms, C. B. Schmidt on "the publication of Lully scores in Amsterdam," C. Cessac on the "concert performance of portions of Alceste in Strasbourg, H. Schneider's on Lully and Gluck, and M. Couvreur on Lully and Proust. "All in all, this is an enjoyable and informative collection that belongs in every academic library."
POISSON, GEORGES & FRANCOISE CHANDERNAGOR. Maintenon. Paris: Norma, 2001.
Review: BCLF 635 (2002), 84: Ouvrage "savant et distrayant" de G. Poisson, "conservateur général du patrimoine et expert en histoire de l'Architecture à l'âge classique," et de F. Chandernagor, auteur de L'Allée du roi (1981). "Maintenon repose sur l'idée heureuse d'associer l'histoire architecturale du château de Maintenon à celle de Françoise d'Aubigné, qui en fit l'acquisition en 1674, et qui se vit conférer peu de temps après, par le roi, le nom de Madame de Maintenon. Ce sont donc l'histoire politique et les Beaux Arts qui sont ici conjugués dans un livre dont la présentation n'est pas faite pour dissimuler le manque de rigueur scientifique."
SABA, GUIDO. "Georges de Scudéry et Jean Mairet, éditeurs de Théophile de Viau." TL 14 (2001), 189–203. Analysis, by today's preeminent editor and critic of Théophile, of the latter's two 17th c. editors, Scudéry for Théophile's oeuvres and Mairet for Théophile's correspondence. Saba carefully examines pertinent paratexts, provides complete descriptions of 17th c. editions, refers the reader to critics of Scudéry and Mairet for studies on the influence of Théophile on them, and declares that if Saba's efforts "sont d'un intérêt certain. . . la part qui revient à Jean Mairet est. . . plus importante" (201). Convincingly demonstrates that instead of being a recueil "monstrueux de désordre" (Antoine Adam), Mairet's edition was representative of 17th c. norms; thanks to Mairet, 72 letters in French and 23 in Latin as well as the heroic L'Epistre d'Actéon à Diane were preserved, texts which "se révèlent comme des documents précieux sur sa biographie morale et intellectuelle" (203).
TOMLINSON, PHILIP. "Jean Mairet and Henri II de Montmorency, or What's a Poet Worth?" Some New Evidence." PFSCL 28. 54 (2001), 31–44.
Review: S. Costa in SFr 135 (2001), 633–634: Presents a corrective to biographical and historical documentation on Mairet and his patron (Mairet was the duke's official poet and secretary). Mairet is seen as an atypical example of writers of his time (Tomlinson details his life of privation).
NADLER, STEVEN, ed. The Cambridge Companion to Malebranche. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2000.
Review: S. Peppers in PhQ 52 (April 2002), 258–261: "A welcome revival of Malebranche studies outside France." Content can be divided into three broad groupings: metaphysics / epistemology; moral theory, theodicy and philosophy of religion; and the philosophical and historical context for Malebranche's thought.
CARLIN, CLAIRE. "Les Sœurs Mancini en Méditerranée." Les Méditerranées du XVIIe siècle. Actes du VIe colloque du Centre International de Rencontres sur le XVIIe siècle. Ed. G. Dotoli. Tübingen: Gunter Narr Verlag (Biblio 17), 2002: 321–335.
An account of Hortense and Marie Mancini's flight from their miserable marriages to the region of the Mediterranean, based on a study of the sisters' memoirs, and in particular Marie's La Vérité dans son jour. Carlin follows Marie to Paris, where she requests the king's permission to establish herself in the city, and her eventual departure from Paris for Marseille. According to Carlin, the account demonstrates that, "Ce ne sont pas des Françaises et leur conduite aberrante les marque comme Autre, et l'Autre doit être moqué et supprimé, car l'Autre fait peur-surtout si cet Autre est une femme qui refuse de se conformer aux normes sociales."
CARLIN, CLAIRE. "Les Sœurs Mancini en Méditerranée." Les Méditerranées du XVIIe siècle. Actes du VIe colloque du Centre International de Rencontres sur le XVIIe siècle. Ed. G. Dotoli. Tübingen: Gunter Narr Verlag (Biblio 17), 2002: 321–335.
An account of Hortense and Marie Mancini's flight from their miserable marriages to the region of the Mediterranean, based on a study of the sisters' memoirs, and in particular Marie's La Vérité dans son jour. Carlin follows Marie to Paris, where she requests the king's permission to establish herself in the city, and her eventual departure from Paris for Marseille. According to Carlin, the account demonstrates that, "Ce ne sont pas des Françaises et leur conduite aberrante les marque comme Autre, et l'Autre doit être moqué et supprimé, car l'Autre fait peur—surtout si cet Autre est une femme qui refuse de se conformer aux normes sociales."
BRAY, BERNARD. "Entre le Grand Seigneur et Louis le Grand, L'Espion turc de Jean-Paul Marana et ses observations méditerranéennes." Les Méditerranées du XVIIe siècle. Actes du VIe colloque du Centre International de Rencontres sur le XVIIe siècle. Ed. G. Dotoli. Tübingen: Gunter Narr Verlag (Biblio 17), 2002: 243–256.
A study of the first versions of Marana's work (1684), which contain thirty letters by the author, in which Marana, in his missives to Constantinople, regularly makes reference to the Franco-Spanish conflict taking place, at least in part, in the Mediterranean. Bray studies "les procédés qu'utilise Marana pour concilier deux vraisemblances en apparence incompatibles: d'une part celle des message que l'espion adresse au Grand Vizir, au Kaïmakan . . . ou au Capitan Bassa. . . et d'autre part la vraisemblance attachée au projet affiché par Marana en tête de son ouvrage: obtenir la protection de Louis XIV grâce à un récit mettant en valeur les victoires de ses soldats et de ses marins, et en fin de compte sa supériorité sur les autres souverains européens."
SCHRENCK, GILBERT. "Marguerite de Valois et son monde, ou la chambre bruissante." Vie des salons et activités littéraires, de Marguerite de Valois à Mme de Staël. Actes du colloque de Nancy. Nancy: PU de Nancy, 2001.
NIDERST, ALAIN. "Madeleine de Scudéry, Ménage et Pellisson, éditeurs de Sarasin." TL 14 (2001), 233–242.
Close commentary and analysis of the Sarasin edition reveals that it demonstrates "que les temps ont changé et qu'un nouveau monde commence" (242). By what is included and omitted and by the paratexts, the reader can also arrive at "une définition de la véritable préciosité" (241). Including a number of inédits and omitting several early obtainable texts, the edition's guiding principle seems to have been "plaire aux habitués des Samedis et à leur temps" (238).
MOMBELLO, GIANNI. "Le Recueil trilingue de Jean Meslier (Paris, 1629)." SFr 134 (2001), 222–250.
Impressively argued and documented ground-breaking study focuses on Jean Meslier's recueil of Aesop's fables, published five times during the 17th c. Mombello describes in detail the content of Meslier's volume, its focus (Meslier's intent was to "mettre en vedette" his French version), and its judicious pedagogical reflections. Mombello characterizes Meslier's style as "imagé et naturel" (231) and furnishes a list of particular locutions (searchable via FRANTEXT) (231–238). Although Mombello does not insist that Meslier's recueil was one of La Fontaine's sources, he suggests that further research might well demonstrate such an influence.
ARNAUD, VANESSA H. "Gossip as Surveillance in Molière's The Misanthrope." PFSCL XXIX, 57 (2002): 407–416.
"This paper explores how gossip functions as an invisible force of surveillance in the fabricated world of Molière's Le Misanthrope," in particular, "the subtle use of gossip" to negotiate "relations of power. It functions as a means of discipline, serves as a form of art for self-enhancement, generates close alliances, or masks malice and jealousy." With particular reference to Louis XIV's Mémoires, Arnaud posits that the hidden king's power is "enacted through the surveillance and gossip of his subjects."
BAADER, RENATE, éd. and trans. Molière: Les Précieuses ridicules. Comédie. Die lächerlichen Preziösen. Komödie. Französisch/Deutsch. Mit einer Anthologie preziöser Texte von Mlle de Scudéry. Stuttgart: Philipp Reclam jun., 1997.
Review: B. Oetjen in Archiv 237 (2000), 445–447: Richly informative, Baader's volume includes her new distinguished translation of Molière's play as well as a translation of important précieux texts of Mlle de Scudéry. Baader's insightful inclusion of the latter and her commentary correctly differentiates Molière's characterization from "la véritable préciosité" of Scudéry which incorporates the ideal of honnêteté.
BASCHERA, MARCO. Théâtralité dans l'oeuvre de Molière. Tübingen: Gunter Narr Verlag (Biblio 17 #108), 1998.
Review: E. Minel in RHL 102.2 (2002), 340–41: Analyzes "la réflexion comique interne aux comédies de Molière," concentrating specifically on the tensions between Italian styles and the "textuality" of French theater, and between the dissimulating "mask" and identifying "character." Also insists that Molière's theater "marque la 《 brisure 》 ontologique entre texte et parole."
BOURQUI, CLAUDE. "Molière interprète de tragédies hagiographiques". Revue d'histoire littéraire de la France (jan.–fév. 2001), 21–35.
Review: M. Lagier in SFr 135 (2001), 638: Reassessment of this body of work examines lexical keys and structure as well as public taste. Molière's l'Illustre Théâtre by its introduction of the comédien martyr may have provided a certain apology for the theatre.
BRAIDER, CHRISTOPHER. "Image and Imaginaire in Molière's Sganarelle, ou le cocu imaginaire." PMLA 117.5 (2002), 1142–1157.
"The image in Le cocu imaginaire thus occasions reflection on the comic and critical potential of the relation between things and pictures and thus between bodies and minds. . . The pertinacity with which. . . Molière's play challenges the dualist underpinnings of classical representation leads to still-wider issues, bearing on the status of royal imagery, on the image's ambiguous place in contemporary logic, and on its even more ambiguous role in early modern theology, an intellectual discipline to which, despite the era's growing secularism, all others remain subordinate."
CAINES, MICHAEL. Performance review of Tartuffe: A new translation by Ranjit Bolt. Dir. by Lindsay Posner. Lyttleton Theatre. TLS 5163 (Mar 15 2002), 20.
"Vibrant new translation" which is "quirkly energetic" and takes "some wonderfully irreverent liberties with the French." Performance reminds us that Tartuffe has something to say about stardom and that Orgon swaps one idol for another.
DANDREY, PATRICK. Molière et la maladie imaginaire ou De la mélancolie hypocondriaque. Vol. 2 of La Médecine et la maladie dans le théâtre de Molière. Paris: Klincksieck, 1998.
Review: J. P. Gilroy in FR 75, 6 (2002), 1275–76: Examines different forms of hypocondrie mélancolique as they are defined and discussed in medical authorities such as Hippocrates and Galen, and shows how Molière demonstrated a mastery of the science he ridiculed so often in his theater. Dandrey shows that the medical treatments recommended by Argan's physicians and the disguised Toinette are derived from contemporary medical literature. The volume contains thorough analyses of Le Malade imaginaire and Monsieur de Pourceaugnac in the context of sickness and monomanie, and suggests that Béralde's "comments about medicine's inability to uncover the secrets of nature might be part of a larger structure of skepticism in Molière concerning all traditional belief-systems."
Review: Ph.-J. Salazar in PFSCL XXVIII, 55 (2001), 524–526: "Ouvrage monumental. . . [et] quasi 《 monstrueux 》 par ses dimensions, presque 1 700 pages de texte, de citations, de références, une Astrée d'érudition." Indeed, Salazar supposes that, because of its length, the book will never be translated into English. "D'où son importance accrue pour les études internationales sur le théâtre du XVIIe en général et sur l'esthétique de l'Early Modern period." First volume treats "les comédies dans lesquelles le personnage de Sganarelle fait travailler l'idéologie médicale. . . Pour Dandrey, Sganarelle est une culture de l'imposture dont les mécanismes linguistiques, idéologiques, culturels et sociaux sont à chercher dans la mise en scène d'un savoir de la médecine et des praticiens." Salazar lauds in particular Dandrey's work on "l'anthropologie classique des passions" in the second chapter of the second part of this work. The second volume concentrates on Le Malade imaginaire and Monsieur de Pourceaugnac, and Dandrey "fait remonter tout le fond carnavalesque d'une part et d'autre part cathartique du 《 concept improbable 》 de maladie imaginaire, afin d'exposer . . . l'idéologie classique du 《 Pouvoir de l'imagination 》. . . et celle 《 Du délire 》." State of the art bibliography.
DANDREY, PATRICK, ed. Molière. Trois comédies morales: Le Misanthrope, George Dandin, Le Bourgeois gentilhomme. Paris: Klincksieck, 1999.
Review: E. Minel in RHL 102.2 (2002), 340: Anthology of 12 articles dating from 1968 or later on "la fabrique du texte comique," "la diversité des formes," "rapports du comique et de la société," and "rapports du théâtre et de la morale." Pro forma review lauds editor's clear presentation.
DEJEAN, JOAN, ed. Molière. Le Festin de pierre (Dom Juan). Edition du texte d'Amsterdam (1683). Genève: Droz, 1999.
Review: M.-Fr. Hilgar in FR 76, 1 (2002), 121–22: Reproduces for the first time since the seventeenth century the original, uncensored version of Dom Juan published in Amsterdam in 1683. In a lengthy introduction, DeJean traces the history of the play's alterations and publication, including Thomas Corneille's 1681 version in verse of the play under its original title, Le Festin de Pierre, the 1682 version under the new title Dom Juan, and the 1683 Dutch version. The introduction includes discussions of differences between multiple copies of the same 1682 edition, as well as the history of the 1683 Amsterdam reconstruction of the text. This 1999 edition includes in an appendix all of the scenes that were censored in 1682, as well as several of the scenes rewritten in verse by Thomas Corneille. "Cette nouvelle édition sera fort appréciée."
DOSMOND, SIMONE. "Corneille, Molière et Thalie." PFSCL XXVIII, 55 (2001): 403–412.
Study compares Corneille's comedies to Molière's comic œuvre in an attempt to identify "ce qui fait la spécificité de deux auteurs" with particular attention to each dramatist's characters, style, and comic devices.
DOSMOND, SIMONE. "Le Vers libre dans l'Agésilas de Corneille et l'Amphitryon de Molière." CAIEF no. 52 (2000), 279–293.
Review: C. Rizza in SFr 133 (2001), 140–141: A communication from the AIEF's day devoted to versification of theatrical works, Dosmond's analysis underscores the originality of Agésilas and the audacity of Amphitryon.
FERNEY, FREDERIC. Performance review of Amphitryon, mise-en-scène, Anatoli Vassiliev, Comédie Française, printemps 2002. Le Point 1538 (2002), 122.
"Vassiliev met de l'Orient, des rites et des simagrées dans la farce. Pis: il dévoie le matérialisme enchanté de Molière dans une parabole eucharistique."
FERNEY, FREDERIC. Performance review of Dom Juan, ou le festin de pierre, mise-en scène, Daniel Mesguich, Athénée-Théâtre Louis-Jouvet, mars–avril 2002. Le Point 1540 (2002), 120.
"S'il fait de Sganarelle un clown, s'il transforme Monsieur Dimanche en juif pieux, s'il assoit le Pierrot de Molière sur un croissant de lune et lance des sirènes aux trousses de Dom Juan, il parvient cette fois à nous surprendre et à nous émouvoir."
FINN, THOMAS P. "Dueling Capitalism in Molière: Cornering the Corner Markets." PFSCL XXIX, 56 (2002), 23–32.
Presents Molière's characters as "emblematic" of the "shift from a feudalist mind set to a more capitalist society" because, in their world, "the law of supply and demand begins to supplant a social structure in which only one entity has the capacity to set value and eliminate competition of dissident voices." Particular reference to Arnolphe and Alceste. Includes analysis of cost/benefit analysis, the economics of absence, equitable exchange, etc.
GAINES, JAMES F. "Enlightenment Obfuscations: Molière Among the Philosophes." PFSCL XXIX, 57 (2002): 397–405.
Studies the philosophes' "retrospective interpretation of Molière as a continuation of the obfuscation that prevailed in a nation that had already grown too used to statist economic subterfuge by the 1720's." With particular reference to Voltaire, Diderot and Rousseau.
LE ROUX, MONIQUE. Performance review of Sganarelle ou le cocu imaginaire, mise en scène de Thierry Hancisse at the Studio-Théâtre of the Comédie Française, January–February 2002. QL 822 (du 1er au 15 janvier 2002).
Hancisse "donne un joli rôle à Julie Sicard, nouvelle jeune pensionnaire si douée. Surtout il confère au personnage de la suivante (Sylvie Bergé) une présence dense et muette, au-delà de ses brèves confidences de femme solitaire, qui est d'un vrai metteur en scène."
LIM, CHAE-KWANG. "Le jeu comique de Molière et de sa troupe, est-il naturel ou excessif? La contribution du langage corporel à l'intelligence dramatique de ses pièces." RHT 53.4 (2001), 283–298.
A study of how Molière creates "l'illusion du naturel dans des situations comiques invraisemblables" through the use of rhetoric, facial expression, gesture and "mimetic distance."
MALACHY, THERESE. "Les 'monstres' de Molière." Revue d'histoire du théâtre (juillet–sept. 2000), 235–240.
Review: M. Lagier in SFr 135 (2001), 638: Supported by theories of Aristotle and Bergson on comedy, Malachy analyzes Molière's plays where extravagance is tied to monstrosity. Molière the actor is also taken into consideration, with gestures and grimaces revealing the folie in question.
MASKELL, DAVID. "Terence, Tabarin and Molière's Fourberies de Scapin." FS 56.3 (2002), 303–315.
Explores "the neglected Terentian elements in Les Fourberies de Scapin" through a rhetorical reading of the play; demonstrates that the work is "a joyful celebration of the power of words," and not merely Tabarinesque farce. Maskell concludes that Les Fourberies "implicitly asserts and actually demonstrates that Molière is attached to the alliance of Terence and Tabarin as a comic principle."
MAZOUER, CHARLES, ed. Trois comédies de Molière: Etudes sur Le Misanthrope, George Dandin, Le Bourgeois gentilhomme. Paris: Klincksieck, 1999.
Review: J. Mallinson in PFSCL XXVIII, 55 (2001), 543–544: Selection of texts "occasional. . . but not arbitrary." "Charles Mazouer's book serves two immediate aims: to indicate points of entry into these texts which will bring out the inherent interest and complexity of each, and to suggest what links them at thematic and aesthetic levels." Mazouer "covers much familiar territory," including literary background, themes, and other literary considerations, including performance. "Mazouer [also] raises other, more open-ended problems of analysis or interpretation. . . The result is a study which offers a good deal of insights into three specific texts, but which also, and more significantly, opens up many fertile and extensive areas to explore. . ."
Review: E. Minel in RHL 102.2 (2002), 340: Editor disagrees with the artificiality of the grouping of these three comedies, imposed by the Agrégation, and seeks to show "l'originalité de chaque oeuvre" (CM). Book consists, then, of 3 autonomous studies, and includes a copious bibliography, a discography, and references to Lully's partitions.
MCBRIDE, ROBERT, ed. Molière. L'imposteur de 1667 prédécesseur du Tartuffe. Durham: University of Durham Press, 1999.
Review: C. Bourqui in RHL 101.6 (2001), 1662–63: Editor proposes to reconstruct the missing 1667 version of Tartuffe using the Lettre sur la comédie de l'imposteur, which he previously edited, as a basis. While the result cannot, by the nature of the task, truly be an "edition critique," reviewer judges that the work — "la meilleure approximation possible ... de la seconde version du Tartuffe" — has "un intérêt incontestable," without saying exactly what this is. Lauds especially the annotation of the text, calling it "une mine d'informations."
Review: J.-P. Collinet in SFr 134 (2001), 396: An "entreprise risquée" but praiseworthy by this "fin connaisseur" of Molière attempts a reconstruction of the original production. Ingenious attempt and careful study also attributes, plausibly, the Lettre to François de la Mothe le Vayer.
Review: M.-Fr. Hilgar in FR 75, 6 (2002), 1276–77: Based on the precise and detailed description of L'Imposteur contained in the Lettre sur la comédie de l'Imposteur, this audacious, but convincing study demonstrates that L'Imposteur and the later Tartuffe were two very different works rather than the same play as critics have often suggested. McBride argues that the author of the Lettre was La Mothe Le Vayer, and that the 1667 version was more salacious than Tartuffe.
MERON, EVELYNE. "Molière et Corneille: Dom Garcie de Navarre." PFSCL XXVIII, 55 (2001): 389–401.
Citing her preference for Molière's play over Corneille's Don Sanche d'Aragon, Méron seeks to "dégager quelques caractères originaux de la jalousie selon cette pièce." Méron then compares the play to Shakespeare's Othello, Lafayette's Princesse de Clèves, and Corneille's play.
NORMAN, LARRY F. The Public Mirror: Molière and the Social Commerce of Depiction. Chicago and London: University of Chicago Press, 1999.
Review: C. Bourqui in RHL 101.6 (2001), 1665–67: Book examines the paradox of the much vaunted "corrective" function of comedy, which caused Molière's audience to "établir un rapport inédit avec la production d'un auteur comique." Starting from the observation that Molière's work contains a startling number of portraits of all kinds, including of himself, book tends to center on Le Misanthrope as an interrogation of the function an utility of portraits, which always end up being excessive or uncontrollable. Notes that the author has eschewed all diachronic or evoluative analysis, as well as a material approach to Molière's production, in favor of "un grand principe explicatif." Reviewer hypothesizes that the larger context of portraits—salon culture and Scudéry in particular—seems crucial to the subject, but is more or less ignored. Nonetheless, the book "servira de référence à chaque fois qu'il sera question de portrait et de public chez Molière," and notes that the book's "euro-compatibilité" (in its use of both French and American research) should ensure a French readership.
Review: K. Gounaridou in SCN 60:1 (2002), 69–72: An in-depth study of satire in Molière's œuvre, this book is divided into three parts: "Creation," "Recognition," and "Dramaturgy." The first section argues for the inextricable link between representation and reception, suggesting that the former may have been "the public's own portrait of their social commerce as a site of depiction," citing honnêteté as emblematic of this process. Part two examines the "spectacle of self-recognition" in Molière's work, and part three argues for satire as the driving force of dramatic conflict. "Intelligent and innovative," Norman's analysis sees Molière's comedy "as a baroque self-reflexive mirror in which the spectator becomes aware of the nature of self-discovery and the fashioning of his or her identity."
Review: R. Tobin in DSS 212 (2001), 560: Reviewer characterizes Norman's approach as innovative insofar as he transforms the commonplace about genres—that we identify with tragic characters and distance ourselves from comic characters. Norman argues rather that spectators identify with the actors "dans un acte de participation narcissique." Norman's analysis, beginning with Critique de l'Ecole des femmes, examines how "les specatateurs négocient l'espace qui les sépare intellectuellement et émotionnellement de la scène." Although the reviewer notes Norman devotes less attention to the plays following Le Misanthrope, he concludes "son livre reste une étude incontournable, dont les implications intéresseront les spécialistes du XVIIe siècle, les théoriciens de la comédie et tous ceux pour qui l'art est au fond un reflet de la société."
Review: E. Woodrough in MLR 97.1 (2002), 185–86: "The mirror, like the portrait, already one of the most fruitful areas of seventeenth-century research in recent years, is a convenient metaphor for Larry F. Norman's investigation of Molière's satirical purpose in the major and minor 'sitcoms' he writes about salon life, but is perhaps a little overplayed in the text."
PARENT, BRICE. Variations comiques ou les récritures de Molière par lui-même. Paris: Klincksieck, 2000.
Review: C. Bourqui in RHL 101.6 (2001), 1667–68: Examines the fact that "Molière se répète," not as proof of lack of inventiveness, but as a principle of variation and "récriture" which is Molière's "principe poétique" (BP). "[U]n ouvrage compact et dense" that is productive of key plays—Le Misanthrope, Dandin—which may not exploit fully all of the consequences of the thesis.
Review: J.-P. Collinet in SFr 134 (2001), 397. Collinet suggests that "retraitement" or "remploi" would be more exact for Parent's volume which is clearly and agreably written. The analyses are solid, stimulating and pertinent; Parent studies "micro récritures," "macro récritures" or "travail d'amélioration," and "motifs ou récritures scéniques." This rewriting is also developed in other sections which demonstrates its necessity, its creativity and its poetic principle. The critical apparatus includes tables of récritures and a bibliography.
PETERS, JEFFREY N. "The Rhetoric of Adornment in Le Misanthrope." FR 75.4 (2002), 708–719.
Argues that the central themes of Molière's play are organized around an ancient metaphor that compared eloquent expression to ostentatious attire. Described in the seventeenth century "as either a conceptually reliable conveyor of ideas or a suspicious form of vacuous decoration, eloquentia constituted the figural clothing of the body of speech." In the play, "Alceste's argument that truth can be located behind the duplicitous masks of social interaction invokes the early modern ambivalence with regard to this rhetorical tradition, and construes the ornatus as a form of linguistic apparel that deforms the literal and hides an absence of social merit."
PINEAU, JOSEPH. Le Théâtre de Molière: une dynamique de la liberté. Paris: Minard, 2000.
Review: C. Bourqui in RHL 101.6 (2001), 1668–69: A complete and chronological overview of Molière's production organized around the theme of dynamism. Taking up a familiar idea of Molière criticism, author puts forth a vision of the playwright as defender of comic sense, and adversary of pretension of all kinds. Lapidary summary of positions suggests reviewer may not agree. But "les propos tenus sont en constant dialogue avec la plupart des ouvrages phares de la critique molièresque," and book contains an exhaustive bibliography.
Review: J.-P. Collinet in SFr 135 (2001), 637–638: The subtitle represents the common denominator Pineau has found and elucidated throughout this "bel et suggestif essai" (637). Pineau analyzes the psychology of characters, the structure of dramatic action and dialogue, recapping in a vigorous synthesis his results.
Review: J. P. Gilroy in FR 75.4 (2002), 780–81: A "highly readable overview of the complete dramatic works of Molière" that "provides many valuable insights into themes and structural techniques that occur throughout the whole body of Molière's works." Argues that Molière's highest ideal is "an inner maturity and freedom that enable an individual to enter into fulfilling relationships with other people." Also provides "a very perceptive analysis of the typical structure of a Molière comedy, as fixed in Tartuffe."
Review: R. Horville in RSH 263.3 (2001), 265–267: The author has achieved the difficult goal of finding an original critical perspective on such an author. He follows the theme of the exaltation of liberty as a fundamental element in Molière's theater. He demonstrates how concepts of freedom come into play at different levels of Molière's creative process.
Review: R. McBride in FS 56.1 (2002), 93–94: "The Molière who emerges from this unpretentious, well-informed and lively study is... a perceptive observer of society whose comedy stems from infantilism in characters who exclude themselves from an art of civility knowing no class boundaries. Full of insight into characterization, with a succinct summary of the comic movement in each play, this study presents its theme in a cogent and attractive manner."
PREST, JULIA, éd. Molière. Le Mariage forcé. Exeter: UEP, 1999.
Review: C. Bourqui in RHL 101.6 (2001), 1664–65: Play presents an interesting editorial problem, because it has three different versions. Reproduces spelling and punctuation of the original, and presentation of text differs from Couton's Pléiade only in its chronological basis. Editor gives little information on choreography, but pays much attention to musical questions surrounding the comédie-ballet (while not reproducing the original partitions).
Review: W. Brooks in MLR 96.4 (2001), 1073–74: Welcome critical edition explores "what can be gleaned from the admittedly incomplete musical and choreographical evidence in respect of Le Mariage forcé, Molière's second comédie-ballet, and offers . . . the first holistic appreciation of it. In the course of her study, Prest not only demonstrates that Molière conceived it as an integrated whole, in other words, not as a play with crudely interpolated ballet interludes, but also shows how much its reliance on the fusion of different art forms was designed to please Louis XIV."
Review: J.-P. Collinet in SFr 134 (2001), 396–397: A study which is "minutieuse et bien informée" and which demonstrates the "malléabilité" of the play complements this edition. Of importance to specialists in fine arts (since the play knew three stages, accompanied by music successively by Lully and Charpentier, and in the first version, choreography by Beauchamp). Molière's own evolution is as remarkable as the play's.
Review: B. Norman in FR 75, 2 (2001), 365–66: Presents the three different versions of Molière's second comedy-ballet and first full-scale collaboration with Lully. Includes the complete text of both the livret and the 1668 edition, as well as the arrangement of the musical numbers in the 1672 version based on a thoughtful argument for one possible combination of Le Mariage forcé with La Comtesse d'Escarbagnas. This is "a useful compact edition . . . that presents or describes the major sources, summarizes the context in which they were created, and suggests many possibilities for fruitful future research."
Review: n.a. in FMLS 37 (2001), 476: Judged "an honest edition" within the limits of the Textes littéraires series format. Welcomes this edition of a text not so readily available otherwise, which also discusses textual evolutions. Missing is the musical score and commentary on the dances.
ROBIN, JEAN LUC. "La chute de la maison Orgon: mercantilisme et économie symbolique dans Tartuffe." PFSCL XXIX, 56 (2002), 33–46.
"La présente analyse du Tartuffe a pour objet les rapports économiques envisages dans leur dimension symbolique." Posits a "double geste" on the part of Molière: in his theater, "Molière . . . met à jour l'essence de l'économie au XVIIe siècle;. . . [et] en offrant sur son theater une tribune au pouvoir, il dévoile la fonction authentique de l'économie dans l'édifice culturel de la civilisation classique."
SCOTT, VIRGINIA. Molière, A Theatrical Life. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 2000.
Review: F. Assaf in PFSCL XXIX, 57 (2002): 571–573: Book "presents in highly detailed fashion the life of Jean-Baptiste Poquelin as a theatre man in seventeenth-century France." Scott's intent is "to introduce to her English-speaking readers Molière and those who came in contact with him. The book is clearly aimed at those with no familiarity with French literature or history." Scott argues "that Molière's plays do provide clues to his own life and passions, and, somehow, tell, or help tell, a story of his life." The book includes chapters on Molière's antecedents, "Madeline Béjart and her antecedents," the beginnings of Molière's troupe, the time spent in the provinces, and the difficulties upon returning to Paris. Various other chapters attempt to "correlate the plays' contents with the evolution of Molière's life and his relationship with Louis XIV, his fellow troupe members, and Lully." The book "offers a vivid picture of Molière as a living, breathing human being" the envoi at the end "deals with the aftermath of Molière's death. Reviewer laments "numerous typos" in this re-edition of Scott's 1999 work.
Review: W. D. Howarth in ThR 27 (2002), 216–217: Study "presents a rounded and sympathetic portrait of Molière the actor, the playwright and the human being." Chapters on Molière's early years require much speculation, and Scott is honest in distinguishing such speculation from fact. She handles the various cabals and relationships with men of letters well. Howarth particularly praises her treatment of Molière's marriage. "Scott succeeds in doing full justice to both partners."
SERROY, JEAN. "Molière méditerranéen." Les Méditerranées du XVIIe siècle. Actes du VIe colloque du Centre International de Rencontres sur le XVIIe siècle. Ed. G. Dotoli. Tübingen: Gunter Narr Verlag (Biblio 17), 2002: 219–230.
Serroy reconsiders Molière's œuvre "en choisissant ce petit bout de la lorgnette que constitue le rétroviseur des années méditerranéennes." He concludes, "Certes, l'œuvre de Molière ne fait qu'une place secondaire à cette Méditerranée largement tributaire de stéréotypes, de références et de convention," asking, "Faut-il penser que [Molière] les a associés [ces stéréotypes, etc.], fut-ce inconsciemment, à l'image d'un bonheur vécu avec sa troupe, lors de ces longues années passées à sillonner les routes du midi?"
SLATER, MAYA, ed. and trans. Molière: The Misanthrope, Tartuffe and Other Plays. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2001.
Review: D. Shaw in MLR 97.2 (2002), 427–428: "With its companion volume, this collection is clearly designed to compete with the two-volume translation of Molière's major plays published by Penguin Classics in 2000, and Maya Slater's attempt at translating Molière into verse generally works well. The collection contains translations of L'Ecole des Femmes, Tartuffe, Le Misanthrope, and Les Femmes savantes, as well as La Critique de L'Ecole des Femmes and L'Impromptu de Versailles."
WEBER, BRUCE. Performance review of Tartuffe, adapted and directed by Jeff Cohen, TriBeCa Playhouse, winter 2002. NYT 1-29-2002, Section E, Column 2, Page 5.
Set in 1930's Manhattan, the play, the reviewer notes, seems to fit well with the aftermath of Sept. 11, with its anti-fanatic message. "This is a genial 'Tartuffe,' full of flaws and a little on the sophomoric side but ingratiating nonetheless."
PITTS, VINCENT J. La Grande Mademoiselle at the Court of France (1627–1693). Baltimore and London: The John Hopkins UP, 2000.
Review: M. Stefanovska in PFSCL XXIX, 56 (2002), 269–271: Reviewer calls Pitts' work a "balanced, sensitive, scholarly yet readable biography" in which he "perfectly seizes" his subject's "idiosyncrasies." The work combines biography with historical and literary study, a combination that is not without tension, particularly in the struggle between thematic and chronological presentation. Pitts "provides a critical reassessment of the place that Mademoiselle's Memoirs should occupy in historical and literary scholarship," and the edition "fills a deplorable lack of a contemporary scholarly edition of Mademoiselle's collected works," including "references to countless contemporary documents, an extensive literary and historical bibliography, documentation on the reconstruction of Saint-Fargeau, and. . . a detailed Appendix" on Mademoiselle's fortune. Pitts' work has the merits of "objectivity and nuance" and is "a most welcome contribution both to studies on early modern historical memoirs and to contemporary scholarship on women's writing."
KRAMER, M. "La Comédie des proverbes et les Curiositez françaises d'A. Oudin; un lien privilégié." PFSCL XXVII, 53 (2000), 489–499.
Review: C. Bernazzoli in SFr 133 (2001), 139: Convincing analysis of the two works, both quantitative and qualitative, demonstrates that the Comédie is the direct and immediate source of the Curiositez.
BOUCHILLOUX, HELENE. "Apologie et théologie dans les Pensées de Pascal." RPFE 1142.1 (jan–mars 2002), 3–19.
Bouchilloux montre "1 / que la réflexion pascalienne sur l'art de persuader exclut une persuasion sans conversion, puis 2 / qu'en dissociant efficacité et utilité des preuves, les Pensées ne visent autre chose qu'à faire apercevoir une vérité qu'on ne saurait pourtant recevoir sans une humiliation de la raison et une conversion du cœur."
FERREYROLLES, GERARD, éd. Pascal. Pensées. Paris: Libraire générale française, 2000.
Review: B. Papàsogli in SFr 135 (2001), 639–640: Happy marriage of the text established by Philippe Sellier and Ferreyrolles's excellent philological study. The critical apparatus includes Ferreyrolles's "densa introduzione", abundant annotation, a chronology, a glossary, analytical index and a table of concordances. Vital and accessible edition for students and scholars alike.
FERREYROLLES, GERARD. "Les Païens dans la stratégie argumentative de Pascal." RPFE 1142.1 (jan–mars 2002), 21–40.
Ferreyrolles compare le statut des païens dans les Pensées et dans les Provinciales pour arriver à la conclusion que "les Pensées reconnaissent une valeur aux sentiments, aux lois, et même à la religion, des païens," ce qui signifie "la validité de l'instance naturelle" et ce qui établit entre les deux œuvres "une continuité qui met à mal la thèse de la prétendue 'rupture idéologique.'"
HILLEN, SABINE. "《 Je ne suis pas donc je cogite 》 : un face à face Pascal-Perec." Orbis Litterarum 57.1 (2002), 52–74.
A rapprochement of the apparently neutral writing of Pascal and Perec which refutes the substantialist notion of the subject. The author argues that Pascal hides behind the canvas of his thoughts, and when he does appear in Les Pensées, he admits the impossibility of knowing himself.
LE GUERN, MICHEL. "Le tri des papiers, le tri des arguments." RPFE 1142.1 (jan–mars 2002), 41–54.
"Le tri des papiers et le tri des arguments manifestent chez Pascal une attention constamment contrée sur le destinataire. Ce qui l'intéresse, ce n'est pas la virtuosité de la démonstration ou le plaisir d'avoir raison dans le débat. [...] Les arguments qui ont en eux-mêmes une valeur probante, mais qui ne sont pas adaptés à la psychologie du destinataire" sont écartés.
MAREK, HEIDI. "Pascal im Bade: Jean-Philippe Toussaints La Salle de bain und La télévision." RF 113 (2001), 38–58.
Argues against the prevalent view that Toussaint's work is "un roman ludique, dépourvu de profondeur" by developing the important intertextual relation with Pascal's Pensées. Marek demonstrates the key role of the latter, quoted in 10 extracts in the novel. Of particular importance are reflections on "mouvement" and "immobilité" (47).
MICHON, HÉLÈNE. "L'Irreprésentable dans les Pensées de Pascal." RHL 102.1 (2002), 33–43.
Author argues that Pascal modifies the traditional conception of the unrepresentable, which becomes the universe, and man himself, rather than God. For Pascal, the Incarnation is the model of representation, an act by which God's presence becomes comprehensible.
PASQUA, HERVE. Blaise Pascal, penseur de la grâce. Paris: Téqui, 2000.
Review: H. Michon in DSS 213 (2001), 728–729: A brief and accessible study of Les Pensées and Ecrits sur la grâce. The reviewer notes that Pasqua offers little that is new but commends the thematic organization (e.g., "la nature déchue," "liberté"), "préalable désormais très utile à l'étude suivie du texte." The reviewer also praises the author's detailed discussion and analysis of the key concepts at the heart of theological debates about grâce, citing a wide range of authors in addition to Pascal.
PECHARMAN, MARTINE, ed. Pascal: qu'est-ce que la vérité? Paris: PUF, 2000.
Review: N. Hammond in FS 56.2 (2002), 237–238: A collection of essays dealing with Pascal's treatment of truth. Articles by Pierre Magnard, Jean-Pierre Cléro, Hélène Bouchilloux, Christian Lazzeri, Bernard Sève and Martine Pécharman; subjects include Pascal's theory of fictions, phenomenal truth, pyrrhonism, and truth as a "destination morale." Missing are a bibliography and "reference to the not-inconsiderable secondary research in both French and English on precisely the book's subject," but otherwise the reviewer finds the collection "excellent."
RILEY, PATRICK. "Blaise Pascal, Jeanne Guyon, and the Paradoxes of the moi haïssable." PFSCL XXIX, 56 (2002), 223–240.
Considers "the relation between religious ideologies of the self in Pascal and Madame Guyon, and the practice of autobiography." Asks "how it is possible to produce such a thing as a Quietist autobiography, how it is possible to write about a self whose very existence is denied in principle, how it is possible to create a first-person narrative recounting the erasure of subjectivity and its purported replacement in the soul by the presence of God." Concludes that Guyon writes "the self's epitaph."
STEINBERGER, DEBORAH, ed. Françoise Pascal. Le Commerce du Parnasse. Exeter: U of Exeter Press, 2001.
Review: P. Gethner in PFSCL XXIX, 56 (2002), 281–282: "This collection of letters (apparently a genuine correspondence) between Françoise Pascal and various acquaintances provides what is no doubt a faithful reflection of the tone of conversation and poetry produced in salon groups during the second half of the seventeenth century." Allows access to aspects of Pascal's personality. An appendix includes four poems by Pascal, "including an eloquent statement of the emotional response she has to theatrical performances. . . and a condemnation of beautiful women who fail to perceive how their lack of education and good sense detracts from their reputation. The editor also includes a liminary poem composed by Tersandre. . . for Pascal's tragicomedy Sésostris." "The useful introduction gives biographical information about Françoise Pascal, explains what is historically significant about this collection, and pinpoints the feminist component of her thought."
MILLER, PETER N. Peiresc's Europe: Learning and Virtue in the Seventeenth Century. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2000.
Review: N. Hammerstein in HZ 273 (2001), 765–766: Scholarship and knowledge are considered as virtue in this study of Peiresc as a prototype of late Humanism. Peiresc's own literary production, ideals and character are examined, as are those of his circle.
Review: E. Reeves in RenQ 54 (2001), 1618–1621: Judged "an excellent contribution to early modern intellectual and social history," Miller's volume includes chapters which focus on Gassendi's biography of Peiresc, Peiresc's exemplarity and collegiality reflecting "the early modern ideal of 'civil conversation'" (Miller 57), the "importance of antiquarian knowledge for issues of early modern stagecraft" and both a philosophical and literary examination of "why the antiquaries did what they did" (Miller 131). Reeves recommends Miller's "persuasive and enjoyable study. . . to all students of early modern intellectual history" (1621).
Review: L. T. Sarasohn in Isis 93.1 (2002), 124–125. Emphasizes Peiresc's neo-Stoicism, using him "as a touchstone for his time but also as the point of departure for discussion of the thought of others, both before and after Peiresc." Reviewer finds the book doesn't problematize early modern stoicism enough.
Review: J. Tolbert in PFSCL XXIX, 57 (2002): 551–553: Unlike previous scholars of Peiresc, Miller "develops another facet of the portrait of Peiresc—that of antiquarian. . . Miller examines the concepts of learning and virtue as exemplified by the life of Peiresc, who represented an idea because of his willingness to share, his vast erudition and methods of research, and insistence on tolerance of disparate ideas at a time of conflict." This book "develops major themes such as the role of the antiquarian in society, religion and politics," with a "thorough examination of classical and early modern works that clearly influenced Peiresc and other antiquarians." Extensive use of primary sources. Extensive endnotes in the original. Clear and articulate.
MINEL, EMMANUEL, éd. Longepierre. Médée. Parallèle de Monsieur Corneille et de Monsieur Racine. Dissertation sur la tragédie de Médée par l'abbé Pellegrin. Paris: Champion, 2000.
Review: P. Gethner in PFSCL XXVIII, 55 (2001), 544–546: "This new critical edition makes available an eminently readable play that has been out of print for several decades. . . The extensive introduction is superb. Following a brief biography of the playwright, Emmanuel Minel analyzes in depth the dramaturgical problems posed by the story. . ., the three previous dramatic versions in France. . ., a balanced discussion of both Longepierre's dramaturgy. and his style. . . The discussion of the four main characters, and how Longepierre's depiction of them differs from previous versions, is detailed and perceptive." Gethner calls the inclusion of supplemental texts "an extra bonus." The appendix is deemed "useful." "The bibliography is unusually complete."
Review: B. Papàsogli in SFr 133 (2001), 148: Minel's edition of these texts includes an ample historical-philological apparatus focusing especially on Médée, a biographical notice on Longepierre and a study of the tragedy in relation to its preceding French versions, considering the dynamics of action, psychology of the characters, style and variants. Impressive bibliography and catalogue of editions of Médée.
Review: R. Tobin in E Cr 41 (2001), 101: "Eminently readable and welcome edition of Longepierre's three texts for the "larger literate public." Finds the Dissertation by Pellegrin "insightful" for "early eighteenth-century perspectives on classical tragedy," but indicates certain oversights and inaccuracies.
NIDERST, ALAIN. "Madeleine de Scudéry, Ménage et Pellisson, éditeurs de Sarasin." TL 14 (2001), 233–242.
Close commentary and analysis of the Sarasin edition reveals that it demonstrates "que les temps ont changé et qu'un nouveau monde commence" (242). By what is included and omitted and by the paratexts, the reader can also arrive at "une définition de la véritable préciosité" (241). Including a number of inédits and omitting several early obtainable texts, the edition's guiding principle seems to have been "plaire aux habitués des Samedis et à leur temps" (238).
SAUPE, YVETTE, ed. Les Frères Perrault et Beaurain. Les Murs de Troye ou l'origine du burlesque, livre I. Tübingen: Gunter Narr Verlag, 2001.
Review: C. Nédélec in PFSCL XXIX, 56 (2002), 278–280: This re-edition of the first song of the Murs de Troye "a le mérite de rendre accessible un texte rare." Saupé demonstrates that Scarron is not the only 17th-c. author to have produced noteworthy "travestissements." Saupé's edition is "soigneusement édité et annoté." Reviewer regrets "les traces d'une vision un peu trop doxique dans les choses" and hopes the next edition of the work will be based on the Arsenal manuscript.
VILLARD, ANDREE, ed. Louis de Pontis. Mémoires (1676). Edition critique par Andrée Villard. Avec la totalité des modifications de 1678. Paris: Champion, 2000.
Review: E. Lesne-Jaffro in PFSCL XXIX, 56 (2002), 285–288: "[U]ne œuvre remarquable à plusieurs égards. . . Andrée Villard met admirablement en lumière l'aventure des Mémoires de Pontis et l'analyse avec pertinence, restituant toute l'importance de ces Mémoires dans un contexte beaucoup plus vaste que celui d'une vie récitée par un humble particulier retiré du monde." According to the reviewer, "les Mémoires de Pontis sont un moment et un instrument capital de la mémoire de Port-Royal." Based on the first version of the text, "la plus proche de l'impétuosité du récit original." Includes all the additions of 1678, either in footnotes or in appendices, thus resulting in two texts rather than just one. Moreover, "A travers l'étude systématique des variants Andrée Villard éclaire la norme linguistique imposée par Port-Royal." Reviewer also praises the final glossary and the final index of names and places." An "edition critique admirable."
FUMAROLI, MARC. Nicolas Poussin : Sainte Françoise Romaine. Paris: Service culturel du musée du Louvre, 2001.
Review: C. Dempsey in Burlington 1186 (2002), 31–32. A monograph published by the Louvre's Collection Solo series to accompany "a small didactic exhibition" on the rediscovery and recent acquisition of Poussin's Sainte Françoise Romaine. Dempsey: "No more appropriate an author could have been found, and Fumaroli has responded with an invaluable analysis of this painting and its full artistic, cultural, religious, and historical context." Although reviewer finds some of the author's conclusions speculative, he does not dispute them, as "[Fumaroli's] marshalling of the complex historical, literary, and cult evidence in support of his argument is nothing short of brilliant."
PEUREUX, GUILLAUME. "Lire le tableau, voir le poème: Poussin et Saint-Amant." SFr 133 (2001), 18–29.
Peureux's objective is to demonstrate Poussin's presence in Saint-Amant's life and work as well as to consider the latter's poétique and the "statut du paragone implicite qui la sous-tend" (19). Close analysis of texts such as "La chambre du desbauche" as well as historical facts (the Italian text of de Vinci's notebook circulated in Saint-Amant's milieu) would suggest "que son mode d'invention s'apparente à celui des peintres contemporains" (23). Similarly "le Moyse sauve" is tied to Poussin by its esthetics and convincing historical hypotheses.
BABY, HELENE & JEAN EMILINA, Eds. Racine et la Méditerranée: Soleil et mer, Neptune et Apollon. Actes du colloque de Nice, 19–20 mai 1999. Nice: Publications de la faculté des lettres, arts, et sciences humaines de Nice, 1999.
Review: J.-M. Civardi in IL 54.2 (2002), 52–54: Studies centering around the mythic presence of sea and sun in Racine's tragedies; also includes some genetic criticism, an account of translations of Racine in Greece, and a round-table on teaching Racine today.
Review: S. Hartwig in RF 113 (2001), 540–541: This wide-ranging volume, as part of the international commemoration of the 300th anniversary of Racine's death, testifies to the unbroken interest in the "großem Klassiker" (540). Eight essays treat pedagogical subjects, four zero in on the theme announced in the title of the volume; the remaining eleven provide analyses of particular plays or rhetorical concepts, treat the place of the colloque (Nice) or compare relevant literature and paintings. Taken as a whole, the volume opens new perspectives on Racine's corpus.
Review: E. Minel in RHL 102.2 (2002), 341–42. 15 articles devoted to plays or characters, to other artists, to dramaturgical notions, or to topoi. Also includes 50 pages on the round-table on how to teach Racine at the start of the 21st century, which seems to agree that the "mise en expérience" of the text is of primordial importance.
Review: L. Senna in SFr 134 (2001), 389–390: The Actes of an important moment of the Commemoration of the Tricentenary of Racine's death. Wide-ranging and perceptive studies, some of which illustrate the subtitle, focusing on the sea or sun or nature. Other essays treat historical ramifications of Racine's theatre, his poetics, pedagogical possibilities, as well as an opening essay on the Comté de Nice in Racine's time by M.-F. Hilgar.
Review: M.-O. Sweetser in FR 75, 4 (2002), 781–82: A collection of fifteen papers by specialists and pedagogues that treats the question: "comment enseigner Racine aujourd'hui à des jeunes, souvent mal préparés à aborder le style d'un écrivain classique et les mentalités du dix-septième siècle [?]." Examines issues of mythology and geography in the context of the theme of the sea, rhetoric, religion, and astrology in Racine.
BARNETT, RICHARD-LAURENT, ed. Les Epreuves du labyrinthe: essais de poétique et d'herméneutique raciniennes. Hommage tricentenaire. Dalhousie French Studies 49 (winter 1999).
Review: V. Schröder in PFSCL XXVIII, 55 (2001), 515–519: This special number of Dalhousie French Studies represents a "[r]iche collection" of 15 articles on diverse topics of Racinian criticism. The first five articles treat the whole of Racine's theater, including J. Gaines on translatio imperii, R. Goodkin on viril women and feminine men in Racine's theater, A. Niderst on the esthetic harmony of Racine's work, L. Riggs on the subversive nature of Racine's theater, and C. Venesoen on adultery by women in the plays. The next five articles treat individual plays: R. Racevskis on temporality in Andromaque, T. Reiss on tyranny in Britannicus, H. T. Barnwell on elegiac passages in Bérénice, J. Campbell on the flaws of Bajazet, and W. D. Howard on the nature of tragedy in Iphigénie. Three articles deal specifically with Phèdre: L. K. Horowitz on political and judicial issues in the play, A. Soare on Racine's predecessors' treatment of the myth; and B. Woshinsky on Phèdre and Ourika. The final articles talk of Racine's posterity, A. Mazaoui making explicit reference to Proust and J. Baetens to contemporary poetry.
BERGER, FRANCINE. "Quatre regards sur Bérénice; Avec Roger Planchon: Bérénice à Versailles ou Le reflet des amours de Louis XIV et Marie-Mancini." Revue d'histoire du théâtre (oct.–déc. 1999), 377–390.
Review: M. Lagier in SFr 134 (2001), 401: F. Berger focuses on violence in Planchon's Bérénice.
BEZU, ALAIN et JOSEPH DANAN. "Britannicus chez Corneille" Revue d'histoire du théâtre (oct.–déc. 1999), 347–376.
Review: M. Lagier in SFr 134 (2001), 400–401: Bézu and Danon search "le juste point d'équilibre" so that the spectator does not consider the play too strange.
BLANC, ANDRE. "Britannicus à la scène." Revue d'histoire du théâtre (oct.–déc. 1999), 347–376.
Review: M. Lagier in SFr 134 (2001), 400–401: Passing in review the highly varied productions of the last 50 plus years, Blanc concludes that this variety is due to the vigor of Racine's characters, his violence and dramatic efficacy.
BLANC, ANDRE. "Un effort de résurrection: La Thébaïde et Alexandre." Revue d'histoire du théâtre (oct.–déc. 1999), 299–306.
Review: M. Lagier in SFr 134 (2001), 399: Blanc traces La Thébaïde's representations since the mid-20th c. and notes the spectators' evolution of taste. Blanc willingly admits the creativity of the modern metteur en scène, opposing the play to what he considers the too sentimental analyses of Alexandre.
BOQUET, GUY. "Une Phèdre japonaise à Chaillot." Revue d'histoire du théâtre (oct.–déc. 1999), 391–404.
Review: M. Lagier in SFr 134 (2001), 401: Wantanabé found parallels with Japanese theatre in the characters and insisted on dramatic tension.
BOQUET, GUY. "Racine vivant 1945–1999." Revue d'histoire du théâtre (oct.–déc. 1999), 297–298.
Review: M. Lagier in SFr 134 (2001), 399: Boquet presents the objectives of this issue of the RHT in which are evoked diverse representations since the end of World War II.
BOURDET, GILDAS. "Britannicus à Versailles ou la prise de pouvoir par Néron." Revue d'histoire du théâtre (oct.–déc. 1999), 347–376.
Review: Bourdet analyzes his own production, its décor from three centuries and the emphasis on power which suggested the "gaullo-pompidolisme" and the "giscardisme" (401).
BRANTLEY, BEN. Performance review of To You, the Birdie! (Phèdre), directed by Elizabeth Le Compte (The Wooster Group), St. Ann's Warehouse, winter 2002. NYT 2-19-2002, Section E, Column 1, Page 1.
"An inspired diagnostic portrait of Racine's most miserable heroine. At the same time, the very form of Racine's play and the culture from which it emerged undergo serious exploratory surgery."
CALDICOTT, EDRIC & DERVAL CONROY, eds. Racine: The Power and the Pleasure. Acts from the International Conference, Dublin, 1999. Dublin: University College Dublin Press, 2001.
Review: R. Parish in FS 56.3 (2002), 396–397: "In this Franco-Irish celebration of the Racine tercentenary, a team of distinguished contributors delivers loosely-woven variations on the themes of power and pleasure over the full range of the corpus." The reviewer praises "ambitious pieces" by Louis van Delft (on modern productions of Racine) and Alain Viala (on the libidinous in Racine's theater) as well as contributions by D. Conroy, Chr. Biet, M.S. Rivière, G. Forestier, J. Conroy, E. Caldicott, R. McBride and J.-L. Backès. He also commends two "ground-breaking studies" on the music composed by Jean-Baptiste Moreau for Esther (G. Gormley; S. Hartwig and B. Warnecke). His only objection to the collection is the editors' decision to translate all the French articles into English: "However worthy the intention, learned articles on Racine are likely to remain the privileged domain of those who can read French."
Review: S. Toczyski in PFSCL XXIX, 57 (2002): 523–526: Volume containing "the finely edited proceedings of the Dublin tercentenary conference" is "thematically powerful and coherent," focused around the themes of power and pleasure. Includes articles on audience reception of Racine by G. Forestier (on Racine's characterization), J.-L. Backès (on Bajazet), and Chr. Biet (on the semiology of tears in Britannicus and Bérénice); articles on the role of women in Racine's theater by D. Conroy (on power and authority in Alexandre le Grand and Athalie) and J. Conroy (on female "otherness"); E. Caldicott on Racine's biblical sources, R. McBride on Jansenism and "la querelle du théâtre," M. S. Rivière on the reception of Racine's work in the 18th c., L. Van Delft on modern representations of Racine's plays, and J.-M. Delacomptée's focus on the political elements of Bérénice. Other articles examine Racine and music: S. Hartwig and B. Warnecke on the relationship between Jean-Baptiste Moreau and Racine, and G. Gormley on Moreau as teacher; the latter includes a musical appendix of 7 examples. The final article by A. Viala studies the topos of vanitas in Racine's work. Volume is promising for future exploration of Racine.
DALLA VALLE, DANIELA, éd. Racine. Fedra e Ippolito. Venezia: Marsilio, 2000.
Review: B. Papàsogli in SFr 135 (2001), 641: Based, as the Forestier edition, on the first edition during Racine's life and accompanied by an introduction focusing on the relation of the play and its predecessors, famous or obscure. Dalla Valle's edition and faithful translation is highly welcome. Her study makes evident Racine's originality on several fronts.
DELBEE, ANNE. "Métamorphoses de Phèdre." Revue d'histoire du théâtre (oct.–déc. 1999), 391–404.
Review: M. Lagier in SFr 134 (2001), 401: Delbée's several representations of Phèdre were at first filled with oppositions (burning passion and the décor's snow) later devoting more importance to text and song.
DE LORENZIS, ANGELA. "La Phèdre de Ronconi ou 'la longue vue à rebours'." Revue d'histoire du théâtre (oct.–déc. 1999), 391–404.
Review: M. Lagier in SFr 134 (2001), 401: Ronconi's interpretation is based on reticence.
DONNELLAN, DECLAN. "L'Andromaque du Cheek-By-Jowl." NOEL PEACOCK, "Perspectives d'Outre-Manche." Revue d'histoire du théâtre (oct.–déc. 1999), 307–321.
Review: M. Lagier in SFr 134 (2001), 399–400: Peacock and Donnellan pass in review numerous English adaptations of Racine's theatre since 1945. Problems of translation, décor and taste are discussed. This new reception of Racine is characterized by vitality if it lacks the original poetic quality of the plays.
EICHELBURG, JESSICA REGAN. "Racine's Definition of the Heroine and the Use of Euripides." DAI 62/10 (2002), 3379.
Dissertation "considers what constituted the determinants of heroism in French neoclassical tragedy, and whether the female protagonist is heroic in the same ways as her ancient forbear[er]s."
FORESTIER, GEORGES, ed. Racine. Œuvres complètes, I, Théâtre-Poésie. Paris: Gallimard, coll. "Bibliothèque de la Pléiade," 1999.
Review: G. Declercq in DSS 213 (2001), 731–734: Published in honor of the tricentenary of Racine's death, this lengthy tome adopts a chronological (as opposed to generic) organization. Forestier breaks with traditional Racinian editorial practice using primarily texts of the original edition, rather than the 1697 edition. Readers thus confront the text "performed by actors, heard by spectators, and read by critics" which, according to the reviewer, confers upon this edition "theatrical and historical authenticity" and renders it an invaluable tool for studying French tragic déclamation. Forestier's critical apparatus is extensive (approximately 700 pages of the 1800 page book are devoted to the introduction, notes and notices): Forestier situates the Racinian œuvre within "l'histoire de longue durée qui a permis l'élaboration de la tragédie française." The reviewer concludes, "loin de prétendre couvrir tout le champ des études raciniennes, Georges Forestier nous offre, fil directeur de son édition, une lecture dramaturgique du théâtre racinien, minutieuse, rigoureuse et probante."
GARCIA FOGEL, CECILE. "Trézène-Mélodies." Revue d'histoire du théâtre (oct.–déc. 1999), 391–404.
Review: M. Lagier in SFr 134 (2001), 401: Garcia Fogel's production emphasized the connection with Greek tragedy: a choir of villagers tells the story, singing portions of the play (401).
GIRARD, YVES. "Lire Racine, vraiment?" Revue d'histoire littéraire de la France (mars–avril 2001), 303–309.
Review: M. Lagier in SFr 135 (2001), 641–642: This article in which Girard asks: "à qui incombe la responsabilité réelle de la ponctuation originale: l'auteur ou le typographe?", is in reaction to Forestier's Pléiade edition. Girard points out aberrant cases of punctuation which, in pages 310–311 following the article, Forestier contests.
KOUKOUI, TOLA. "Un Britannicus d'Afrique noire." Revue d'histoire du théâtre (oct.–déc. 1999), 347–376.
Review: M. Lagier in SFr 134 (2001), 400–401: Koukoui focuses on Racine's profound correspondences with African culture.
KRAEMER, JACQUES. "Extrémiste dans la nuance. . . Bérénice." Revue d'histoire du théâtre (oct.–déc. 1999), 377–390.
Review: Kraemer's mise en scène brought him the satisfaction of experimentation and working with Racine's language.
LAGARDE, FRANÇOIS. "La valeur et l'effet de nature: Réceptions de Racine après la Révolution." PFSCL XXIX, 56 (2002), 117–134.
After the Revolution, "Racine importe pour les personnes cultivées et souvent engagées dans un pouvoir politique, académique, médiatique, culturel. Racine est alors lié à des enjeux idéologiques." Studies two kinds of reception of Racine: "idéologique" and "sensible," with reference to Stendhal, Sainte-Beuve, Schiller, Constant, Napoléon, Bernardin de Saint-Pierre, Chénier. Balzac.
LASSALLE, JACQUES. "Monstres innocents." Revue d'histoire du théâtre (oct.–déc. 1999), 377–390.
Review: M. Lagier in SFr 134 (2001), 401: For Lassalle "la thématique dominante est celle du masque et du secret."
LEGROS, PHILIPPE. "Aman et Mardochée ou les deux visages de Janus (Esther II, 1, vers 409–444)." PFSCL XXIX, 56 (2002), 103–115.
Examines Racine's "modifications" which are "très significatives en ce qu'elles révèlent un imaginaire qui s'exprime par le travail qu'il opère sur le texte biblique." With particular attention to the parallel roles of Mardochée (reduced over the course of the play) and Aman, who together make up "les deux visages de Janus, dieu ambivalent."
LEINER, WOLFGANG, éd. Présences de Racine. (Oeuvres et Critiques XXIV,1). Tübingen: Gunter Narr, 1999.
Review: D. Shaw in MLR 96.4 (2001), 1075–76: "Celebrating the three-hundredth anniversary of Racine's death, this volume sets out to give a comprehensive review of the status of Racine at the end of the twentieth century. It offers new perspectives on old problems of Racine criticism, articles relating to performance, some thoughts on the problem of teaching Racine and critical assessments of Italian, German, and English translations of the tragedies."
LOEHR, JOEL. "Le spectacle spéculaire (Racine à la lumière d'une mise en scène de Mesguich)." Revue d'histoire du théâtre (oct.–déc. 1999), 329–346.
Review: M. Lagier in SFr 134 (2001), 400: Loehr's approach to Racine's work is the reflect or "le principe spéculaire"; he makes important reference to Daniel Mesguich's mise en scène of Andromaque. A special feature of Mesguich's interpretation is numerous mises en abyme.
LOUVAT, BÉNÉDICTE & DOMINIQUE MONCOND'HUY, eds. Racine Poète. Poitiers: La Licorne, 1999.
Review: E. Minel in RHL 102.2 (2002), 341. Collection of articles approaching Racine from the dual angle of theater and music. Reviewer regrets that the editors avoid addressing the question of what they mean by "poetry"; but says there is much here, including 3 interviews (G. Forestier, E. Green, C. Rist) and articles on declamation, choruses, Port-Royal, the sublime, and more.
MAURER, KARL. "Iphigénie et La Jeune Parque: musicalité et prise de conscience tragique." PFSCL XXIX, 57 (2002): 323–332.
Comparative study of the musicality of Phèdre and Paul Valéry's La Jeune Parque, with consideration of Racine's other protagonists as well, concluding that, "La 《 Jeune Parque 》 de Racine, si l'on veut, ce n'est pas Phèdre, c'est Iphigénie."
MICHELE MARQUAIS. "Athalie chez Roger Planchon ou Le pouvoir et la religion." Revue d'histoire du théâtre (oct.–déc. 1999), 405–411.
Review: M. Lagier in SFr 134 (2001), 410–402: Planchon's Athalie shared double billing with Dom Juan, emphasizing the relation between power and religion in the two plays.
MESGUICH, DANIEL. "A propos de Racine." Revue d'histoire du théâtre (oct.–déc. 1999), 322–328.
Review: M. Lagier in SFr 134 (2001), 400. Mesguich outlines the effort and risks involved in producing Racine. His reserve can be a problem; the spectator must discover himself/herself in the legendary and mythic figures, as Mesguich's notes on his mise en scène indicate.
MIKAëL, LUDMILA. "Avec Karl-Michaël Grüber: une Bérénice egyptienne." Revue d'histoire du théâtre (oct.–déc. 1999), 377–390.
Review: M. Lagier in SFr 134 (2001), 401: Mikaël played Grüber's Bérénice (his version underscored the shock of oriental and Roman cultures) and offers an actress's observations.
MINEL, EMMANUEL, éd. Longepierre. Médée. Parallèle de Monsieur Corneille et de Monsieur Racine. Dissertation sur la tragédie de Médée par l'abbé Pellegrin. Paris: Champion, 2000.
Review: P. Gethner in PFSCL XXVIII, 55 (2001), 544–546: "This new critical edition makes available an eminently readable play that has been out of print for several decades. . . The extensive introduction is superb. Following a brief biography of the playwright, Emmanuel Minel analyzes in depth the dramaturgical problems posed by the story. . ., the three previous dramatic versions in France. . ., a balanced discussion of both Longepierre's dramaturgy. and his style. . . The discussion of the four main characters, and how Longepierre's depiction of them differs from previous versions, is detailed and perceptive." Gethner calls the inclusion of supplemental texts "an extra bonus." The appendix is deemed "useful." "The bibliography is unusually complete."
Review: B. Papàsogli in SFr 133 (2001), 148: Minel's edition of these texts includes an ample historical-philological apparatus focusing especially on Médée, a biographical notice on Longepierre and a study of the tragedy in relation to its preceding French versions, considering the dynamics of action, psychology of the characters, style and variants. Impressive bibliography and catalogue of editions of Médée.
Review: R. Tobin in E Cr 41 (2001), 101: "Eminently readable and welcome edition of Longepierre's three texts for the "larger literate public." Finds the Dissertation by Pellegrin "insightful" for "early eighteenth-century perspectives on classical tragedy," but indicates certain oversights and inaccuracies.
NIDERST, ALAIN. Corneille et Racine. PFSCL, 27.52 (2000), 9–292.
Review: C. Berrone in SFr 133 (2001), 141–142: These essays are the outgrowth of the 1998 colloque organized by the "Mouvement Corneille" in conjunction with l'URLF of the U de Rouen and the Société d'étude du XVIIe siècle. The volume is characterized by scrupulous examination of texts, a rejection of generalizations. As Niderst states, these guiding principles result in "comparaisons. . . audacieuses et. . . fécondes" (12). Wide-ranging, includes essays by renowned specialists on topics which include, among others: the political and the sentimental spheres, parallels between the two authors and their relation or debt to lesser known authors and their influence on other works such as l'Astrée.
PEACOCK, NOEL. "Perspectives d'Outre-Manche." Revue d'histoire du théâtre (oct.–déc. 1999), 307–321.
Review: M. Lagier in SFr 134 (2001), 399–400: Peacock and Donnellan pass in review numerous English adaptations of Racine's theaatre since 1945. Problems of translation, décor and taste are discussed. This new reception of Racine is characterized by vitality if it lacks the original poetic quality of the plays.
ROHOU, JEAN, éd. Album Racine. Paris: Librairie Générale Française, 1998.
Review: J. Grimm in RF 113 (2001), 538–540: Highly useful volume by renowned Racine specialist treats in five chapters the important stages of Racine's biography (539). A source of important material documentation on both Racine and the 17th c. theatre as well as reflections on certain modern mises en scène.
ROHOU, JEAN, ed. Jean Racine. Andromaque. Paris: PUF, 2000.
Review: V. Desnain in MLR 97.1 (2002), 187: Useful critical edition for undergraduates "offers some historical and biographical background, textual analysis and a critical survey." Rohou's critical approach "insists on the dramatic impetus of the play and warns against privileging psychological motives in the characters at the expense of recognising the dramatist's need to surprise and captivate his audience. . ." Very good chapter on modern criticism.
Review: H. Phillips in FS 56.3 (2002), 396: An overall favorable review: Within the limitations of the short-format, "total coverage" book, "Jean Rohou produces an often sparkling account of a play he considers to be of transitional form in Racine's career...." The work contains "an excellent definition of the function of structure in terms of 'relations actantielles,' and quite brilliant presentations of character." The reviewer objects, however, to "[Rohou's] failure to reconcile adequately an approach to the characters as 'acteurs' and not as real people, and an approach according to psychology."
Review: P. Ronzeaud in RHL 101.6 (2001), 1670–71: "Un remarquable outil de travail" with information on context, biography, classical poetics, sources ancient and modern, philology, reception, and mise-en-scène up to 2000. Singles out for praise the author's insistence on the "axiological" structure of the play (each "actant" considered as the representation of a moral value); and an analysis of the passions based on "une connaissance des moralistes du temps" that allows us to "écarter les lectures psychologisantes anachroniques." A work for all audiences.
Review: R. Tobin in PFSCL XXIX, 56 (2002), 274–276: Rohou "takes pains to explain the different levels [of the play] - psychological, poetic, philosophical, and especially dramaturgical. . ., and their interaction." Another strength of the edition lies in the fact that Rohou is also "a participant in the current debate about critical methodology." Tobin lauds Rohou for taking into consideration "the elements in the play that one typically finds in comedy." However, Tobin criticizes Rohou's negligence in citing others' work, especially as this is potentially a text to be used by amateurs of Racine. However, Tobin concludes by saying, "I can recommend this clear and concise study."
ROHOU, JEAN, ed. Avez-vous lu Racine? Mise au point polémique. Paris: L'Harmattan, 2000.
Review: M. Bouvier in RHL 101.6 (2001), 1671–73. This "somme" or "bilan" of a lifetime's reflection on Racine aims ultimately at a "reconstitution de la vision de l'homme qui s'exprime dans la structure signifiante de l'oeuvre" (JR)—an anthropological reading, then. Reviewer takes issue with the author's idea of the anthropology of the 17th century, however: the conception of Augustinianism is too pessimistically drawn, and based on an idealism that reduces Racine's characters to mere incarnations of moral values. Reviewer adduces his own research so as to suggest that "la morale classique" is in fact a realism, and produces characters capable of giving "l'illusion d'exister réellement et de vivre."
Review: M. Jaspers in RF 113 (2001), 542–544: Praiseworthy as a highly worthwhile, animated mise au point by a renowned Racine scholar, commemorating the 300th anniversary of Racine's death. Clearly articulated and often a convincing questioning and refutation of approaches to Racine criticism, for example, regarding brilliant but subjective interpretations that stray far from the text and anachronistic interpretations. Demonstrates the centrality of an "anthropologie augustinienne" for Racine and distinguishes five forms of love in Racine's tragedies.
Review: M.-O. Sweetser in FR 75, 3 (2002), 598–99: An impassioned study that resituates Racine's theater "dans le contexte des vues sur la nature humaine exprimées par théologiens et moralistes." Defends the thesis that Racine reveals "le tourment de la passion face à l'idéal inaccessible et à la réprobation de la conscience—toutes choses qui ne sont généralement pas dans ses sources." Argues that this theater must be considered in the context of the ideological and cultural phenomena that sharpened Racine's tragic vision rather than simply that of ancient and contemporary sources.
Review: R. Tobin in ECr 41 (2001), 115–116: Highly praiseworthy and welcome volume in which "Jean Rohou has decided to inaugurate the new millennium by charting an intellectual voyage that will avoid the Scyllas and Charybdes of approaches to the work of the master of French tragedy" (116). Rohou's work should appeal both to the general public and scholars; "high on historical context," it examines philosophical and theological fond as well as forme (115–116). Takes to task a number of commercial directors and scholars, including Barthes, whom Rohou handles delicately and with a certain appreciation. Tobin finds most useful Rohou's chapter on "Fonctions et significations de l'amour."
ROHOU, JEAN, éd. Jean Racine: Théâtre complet. Paris: Librairie Générale Française, 1998.
Review: J. Grimm in RF 113 (2001), 538–540: Complementing the various commemorations of the 300th anniversary of Racine's death, this superb edition of his theatre is particularly praiseworthy for its attention to philology and linguistics. An excellent glossary informs the reader of 17th c. meanings of key concepts; reflections on Racine's original punctuation encourage the reader to experience not only the beauty of the language but also the "changements dans le jeu de l'acteur" (xxv) by declaiming aloud one of the tirades. Notices, a substantial introduction and a bibliography complete the volume.
RONSE, HENRI. "Les trois tragédies orientales." Revue d'histoire du théâtre (oct.–déc. 1999), 405–411.
Review: M. Lagier in SFr 134 (2001), 410–402: Ronse's Athalie was a collaborative work with J. Magliore for the baroque music; women made up the entire cast of his Esther while he set Bajazet in a very cold Orient in ruin.
SCHOLAR, RICHARD. "'Je ne sais quelle grâce': Esther before Assuerus." FS 56.3 (2002), 317–327.
Was it divine or human grace that moved Assuerus to save the Jewish people? Scholar demonstrates that Racine's Esther is not a "simple narrative of divine intervention," but rather a complex interweaving of the Hebrew and Greek treatments of the story, both of which figure in Lemaître de Sacy's contemporary French translation of the Book of Esther. The Hebrew, "secular" version, stresses the power of Esther's beauty; in the Greek version it is clearly God's intervention that inspires Assuerus's decision. "The achievement of Esther is that it places the two versions... in direct interaction with one another."
SCHRÖDER, VOLKER. La tragédie du sang d'Auguste: Politique et intertextualité dans Britannicus. Tübingen: Gunter Narr Verlag (Biblio 17 #119), 1998.
Review: M. Jaspers in RF 113 (2001), 544–546: Praised highly for its new knowledge and perceptions brought to Britannicus, the illumination it brings to the association of Racine's text and his source material, and profound insights into 17th c. creative imagination (544–545). Schröder achieves his goal of a "mise au jour archéologique d'un monde passé" through a "véritable renouvellement interprétatif" (34). A surprising last chapter replaces the conventional conclusion, developping instead a comparison of Britannicus with Molière's Dom Juan.
Review: B. Papàsogli in SFr 133 (2001), 143–144: Highly praiseworthy, Schröder's study reconstructs "un panorama singolarmente vivace" as it examines external as well as internal and intertextual evidence, political dimensions and classical sources. Schröder offers "nuove ragioni a chi scommette sulla grande complessità della drammaturgia di Racine" (144).
Review: P. Ronzeaud in RHL 101.6 (2001), 1669–70: "Une étude vraiment novatrice" based on an exhaustive inventory of classical sources and their contemporary re-writing, which "réinscrivent l'expérience impériale dans l'imagination contemporaine." Contains a number of "convincing" demonstrations that underline the political motivations of characters too often discussed in terms of psychology. An "elegantly" written work that will make its mark on Racine studies and dix-septiémistes more generally.
SEIGNER, FRANÇOISE. "Le Retour d'Esther." Revue d'histoire du théâtre (oct.–déc. 1999), 405–411.
Review: M. Lagier in SFr 134 (2001), 410–402: Seigner's Esther was at once biblical, classical and modern.
TOBIN, RONALD, ed. Racine et/ou le classicisme. Actes du colloque conjointement organize par la North American Society for Seventeenth-Century French Literature et la Société, University of California, Santa Barbara, 1999. Tübingen: Gunter Narr Verlag, 2001.
Review: E. M. McClure in PFSCL XXIX, 56 (2002), 282–285: "What distinguishes this collection from others like it. . . is the attention given to the difficulty inherent in transmitting [Racine's] critically complex and rich future to today's students in Europe and America, at the high school and university levels. The volume is organized thematically, following the subjects of the panels presented at the conference: La dramaturgie racinienne, Racine et l'histoire, Racine et Corneille, Enseigner Racine, Tragédie et pensée morale, Théâtre et musique, Mythe et religion, and Baroque et classicisme." Conférences magistrales by G. Forestier, G. Declercq, and C. Kintzler. One fundamental question posed by the volume: "is such a lack of resolution [in tragedy], such tension, conducive to the teaching of Racine today?" "The other papers in this volume each evoke a compelling aspect of Racinian text and context" and "the larger context of Racine's work." "The final two papers of the volume [by John D. Lyons and J.-C. Vuillemin] reflect upon baroque and classicism as aesthetic categories." Overall, the volume "remind[s] us of the continuing importance of analyzing, and teaching, Racine."
Review: A. Wygant in FS 56.3 (2002), 397–398: The "splendid scholarship" in this collection includes plenary papers by Catherine Kintzler, Georges Forestier and Gilles Declercq, "as well as state-of-the-art work by no fewer than twenty-nine other mid-career and senior professionals." The reviewer distinguishes articles by B. Bolduc, S.M. Guénon, J.-C. Vuillemin and J.D. Lyons, as well as the group of papers that deal with the teaching of Racine: ". . .although 'Racine' the international research project is alive and well, 'Racine' the pedagogical object is languishing, and the papers which address this ominous paradox make for riveting reading."
VIALA, ALAIN. Racine. Phèdre. Paris: Librairie Générale Française, 1999.
Review: R. Parish in PFSCL XXVIII, 55 (2001), 561–562: "Cette édition de poche très bon marché reproduit le texte de Phèdre de 1697, avec modernisation de graphies et de ponctuation. La préface examine la pièce comme tragédie exemplaire, œuvre d'un dramaturge 《 reconnu et consacré 》, et tient compte des innovations dont elle fait preuve, des rivalités et des querelles qui ont accompagné sa parution, de sa valeur morale, et du silence qui l'a suivie. L'originalité de l'interprétation de Viala réside surtout dans son étude de la question des humeurs, cernant dans Phèdre une tragédie de la démesure, et dans l'analyse de la modernité de la pièce, notamment par rapport à son traitement de la condition féminine. Le dossier, qui sert à amplifier les notes explicatives, comporte des renseignements d'ordre chronologique, bibliographique, lexical et onomastique. L'édition est ornée de quatre illustrations."
VITEZ, ANTOINE. "Phèdre aux Quartiers d'Ivry." Revue d'histoire du théâtre (oct.–déc. 1999), 391–404.
Review: M. Lagier in SFr 134 (2001), 401: Vitez's Ivry production would "préserver le patrimoine culturel."
ZIMMERMANN, ELEONORE M. La Liberté et le destin dans le théâtre de Jean Racine. Suivi de deux essais sur le théâtre de Jean Racine. Genève: Slatkine, 1999.
Review: M.-O. Sweetser in PFSCL XXIX, 57 (2002): 576–577: A reissuing by Slatkine of Zimmermann's 1982 book, Sweetser calls it "un ouvrage concis et précis, suivi de deux études, l'une portant sur Britannicus, l'autre sur Bérénice," and which offers "des vues bien informées et équilibrées, basées sur une analyse intelligente des textes. Il s'agit d'une lecture personnelle qui tient compte de celles proposées par d'autres exégètes mais qui n'embrasse aucune des théories ou méthodologies critiques à la mode à l'époque de la rédaction. Ceci veut dire que le livre n'a pas vieilli comme tant d'autres." Zimmermann's work focuses on the "aspect psychologique et moral" of Racine's theater: "Ces dilemmes touchent à des concepts philosophiques fondamentaux: d'où le choix comme pôles d'explorations des notions de liberté et de destin sur ces points essentiels. . . Du côté liberté, l'auteur présente des personnages raciniens qui se croient ou se veulent libres, agissent [sic] dans le sens de leur choix, avec des conséquences diverses. . .; [l]es diverses manifestations du destin sont examinées et analysées avec perspicacité."
BANDERIER, GILLES. "Une Lettre inédite du Cardinal de Retz." XVIIe siècle. no. 208 (juillet–sept. 2000), 515–518.
Review: S. Poli in SFr 134 (2001), 392–393: This autographed and signed letter is dated 1674 and may be found in the library of Bâle. Banderier demonstrates the interest of the letter and advances a hypothesis concerning its destinataire.
BERTIERE, SIMONE. Bibliographie des écrivains français: Le Cardinal de Retz. Paris: Memini, 2000.
Review: U. Schulz-Buschhaus in ZRP 117 (2001), 659–660: Although the reviewer finds various corrections to make, he is appreciative of this bibliography of scholarly works on Retz by Bertière who is well known for previous editions of the Mémoires and the Conjuration du comte de Fiesque as well as an excellent biography of Retz.
LE BOZEC, YVES. "La mise en place du vraisemblable dans les Mémoires du Cardinal de Retz." PFSCL 28.54 (2001), 61–79.
Review: S. Costa in SFr 135 (2001), 636: Focusing on Retz's great ability for the structuring of the vraisemblable, Le Bozec's study demonstrates the crucial quality of the Mémoires for its troublesome historical period.
VIGNAL, MARIE-CATHERINE. "Des papiers d'Etat d'un ministre aux archives diplomatiques du Ministère des Affaires Etrangères: la destinée des dossiers politiques de Richelieu." XVIIe siècle no. 208 (juillet–sept. 2000), 371–386.
Review: S. Poli in SFr 134 (2001), 389. Of particular historical interest, documenting the complexities of transmission of important documents of historical memory of the period.
RICHEOME
BOURQUI, CLAUDE, éd. Jean Rotrou. Théâtre complet. Vol. III. La Soeur, Célie ou le vice-roi de Naples. Paris: Klincksieck, 2000.
Review: C. Bernazzoli in SFr 135 (2001), 634: A helpful glossary accompanies this edition which demonstrates Rotrou's debt to and remodeling of his Italian sources.
FORESTIER, GEORGES, éd. Jean Rotrou. Théâtre complet. Vols. I et II. Paris: Klincksieck, 1998 et 1999.
Review: C. Bernazzoli in SFr 134 (2001), 389–390: First two volumes of the first integral edition since Viollet-le Duc's 1820 one is welcomed. A team of researchers has programmed the complete edition over a period of 15 years. The plays are (or will be) presented by an ample and accurate apparatus and examined in their diverse aspects—historical/ social context, sources, originality, characters, themes, style, reception, etc. (389). A glossary and bibliography round out the editions. These publications encourage the reader to hear the plays (vol. I, p. 12) as well as appreciate their dramatic qualities.
HÉNIN, EMMANUELLE & FRANÇOIS BONFILS, eds. Rotrou. Le Véritable Saint Genest. Paris: Flammarion/GF, 1999.
Review: E. Minel in RHL 102.2 (2002), 342: Pro forma review of a pocket edition which includes the modernized text of the 1648 edition, and a 60-page dossier illuminating problems such as the play-within-the-play, Christian tragedy, and the theatrum mundi.
RIFFAUD, A. "Le réseau des images chez Rotrou: l'exemple d'Iphigénie." PFSCL XXVII, 53 (2000), 509–525.
Review: C. Bernazzoli in SFr 133 (2001), 140: Close analytical study of images founded on the contrast of light and dark, calm and tempest reveals the "for intérieur" of the characters. Rotrou's most significant modification of sources is the emblematic figure of a strong woman capable of renouncing earthly love to fulfill the divine will.
NEGRONI, NATHALIE. "Le Passage de Gibraltar de Saint-Amant: Entre navigation 《 capricieuse 》 et voyage spirituel." Les Méditerranées du XVIIe siècle. Actes du VIe colloque du Centre International de Rencontres sur le XVIIe siècle. Ed. G. Dotoli. Tübingen: Gunter Narr Verlag (Biblio 17), 2002: 195–208.
Négroni examines first "l'utilisation sylleptique du terme 《 passage 》 [chez Saint-Amant], en mettant en lumière la 《 bigarrure 》 à l'œuvre au sein du texte entre la topographie du passage et son utilisation navale, et le topos de 《 la navigation littéraire capricieuse 》 en 《 Dyonisie 》." She then revisits the notion of text as 《 caprice 》 in order to examine "la nature des représentations mentales, des visions du narrateur et, enfin,. . . le fonctionnement de son imagination, au sens de 《 production d'images 》."
PEUREUX, GUILLAUME. "Lire le tableau, voir le poème: Poussin et Saint-Amant." SFr 133 (2001), 18–29.
Peureux's objective is to demonstrate Poussin's presence in Saint-Amant's life and work as well as to consider the latter's poétique and the "statut du paragone implicite qui la sous-tend" (19). Close analysis of texts such as "La chambre du desbauche" as well as historical facts (the Italian text of de Vinci's notebook circulated in Saint-Amant's milieu) would suggest "que son mode d'invention s'apparente à celui des peintres contemporains" (23). Similarly "le Moyse sauve" is tied to Poussin by its esthetics and convincing historical hypotheses.
ROBERTS, WILLIAM. "Saint-Amant's and Boisrobert's Pont-Neuf Poems," PFSCL XXIX, 56 (2000), 135–152.
Saint-Amant's "Gazette du Pont-Neuf" and "Poète crotté" are compared in considerable detail, and shown to be part of a complex poetic evolution deriving from Théophile. "The scenes of early 17th century Parisian cityscape so deftly and colorfully evoked by Saint-Amant in his well-known poems 'la Gazette du Pont-Neuf' and 'le Poète crotté' can be seen, upon close examination, as constituting stages in a complex poetic progression that includes Théophile de Viau and Boisrobert." Boisrobert's "Hyver de Paris" is envisioned as a ballet scene, and in well-known passages Saint-Amant targets poetaster Marc de Maillet and also Marie de Gournay for picturesque ridicule. In Saint-Amant's poems, many topographical references to the Paris of 1620–1630 are seen to be systematically organized. Concludes that Saint-Amant "did work from specific texts. . . which were either directly before him or else very close at hand."
DONETZKOFF, DENIS. "Défense et illustration d'une orthodoxie spirituelle: Robert Arnauld d'Andilly, éditeur des lettres de Jean Duvergier de Hauranne, abbé de Saint-Cyran." TL 14 (2001), 215–232.
Highly informative exploration allows us insight into the conditions and stages of letter writing in the 17th c. and in particular that of Saint-Cyran. Reflections on the choice of letters shows the part Nicole played. Demonstrates the editor's work on content, colorful images, counsel and theology. Donetzkoff concludes that not only did the Port-Royal circle choose, polish and adapt Saint-Cyran's correspondence, but the resultant text does not convey Saint-Cyran's thought "dans son immédiateté."
COIRAULT, YVES. Les Siècles et les jours, Lettres (1693–1754) et Note "Saint-Simon" des "Duchés-prairies," etc. Paris: Champion, 2000.
Review: F. Raviez in RSH 264.4 (2001), 235–237: "Avec ce volume, Yves Coirault publie en plus de mille pages la correspondance de Saint-Simon, ainsi qu'une série de textes rares qui n'avaient pu trouver place dans les Traités politiques et autres écrits, en Pléiade comme les Mémoires. Il signe là, quelques mois avant sa disparition, la première édition complète, annotée et fiable des lettres de l'auteur auquel il a consacré la vie."
HARRISON, DAVID. "Saint-Simon's Dîner de cons." PFSCL XXIX, 57 (2002): 443–450.
Studies the Saint-Simon's account of the Duc d'Orléans' "terrible mot" as an example of "the role of obscenity in early modern political history" in that it "demonstrates the connection between the obscenity of the word 《 con 》 and the (male) writer's imagination," for the mot is "a veritable trope for female power—particularly that of Madame de Maintenon—and the way that such power is construed as upsetting hierarchy and displacing authority."
HARRISON, DAVID RICHARD. "Satire and the Ambiguous Comic: The Verbal Portrait and Saint-Simon's 'Mémoires'." DAI 62/07 (2002), 2445.
Proposes an in-depth analysis of the comic elements in Saint-Simon; argues that they "destabilize satire by creating an ambiguous view of the individuals depicted."
LE ROY LADURIE, EMMANUEL. Saint-Simon and the Court of Louis XIV. Trans.Arthur Goldhammer. Chicago: U of Chicago P, 2001.
Review: D.C. Baxter in CHOICE 39, 7 (2002), 1314: Conversational in tone and extremely erudite, this "truly welcome" English translation of Le Roy Ladurie's work explores Saint-Simon in the context of his environment at the court of Louis XIV. Confronts "Saint-Simon's idealized image of status hierarchy with reality — the hierarchy of power as it actually existed amid generational cabals and court intrigue."
STEFANOVSKA, MALINA. Saint-Simon, un historien dans les marges. Paris: Champion, 1998.
Review: Chr. Biet in PFSCL XXVIII, 55 (2001), 560–561: "Pourquoi, s'interroge Malina Stefanovska, écrit-on des mémoires au Grand Siècle et durant le début du siècle suivant? Pourquoi ressasser, exposer, lever le voile de l'Etat et corriger la vérité absolutiste au nom de la vérité aristocratique?. . . [S]elon ce brillant ouvrage, on peut. . . écrire dans les marges de l'histoire comme on se met en marge du temps, en fonction d'un monde certainement révolu, et d'un univers entier, capable de figurer un imaginaire nobiliaire, avec ses emblèmes, ses symboles, et bien évidemment son écriture propre." In this work, "Malina Stefanovska développe. . . en tout premier lieu, 《 l'idéal saint-simonien de l'histoire 》 en rappelant le principe de la galerie historique et en l'adaptant au concept. . ." The work then "s'appuie sur une solide étude de l'écriture saint-simonienne, et développe une réflexion sur la 《 cosmologie nobiliaire d'ancien régime 》 qui lie le sacré, le politique et la morale, et ne peut donner d'autres fondements à l'Etat que des fondements sacrés et intangibles où l'aristocratie et le sang ont une place majeure." Biet concludes: "Ce beau travail sur l'imaginaire nobiliaire et aristocratique, mis en action et traduit dans les analyses politiques et littéraires de Malina Stefanovska, laisse penser qu'une étude sérieuse permet de déboucher sur un champ plus large, celui des rapports entre la littérature, l'anthropologie et l'histoire des idées et des mentalités."
NIDERST, ALAIN. "Madeleine de Scudéry, Ménage et Pellisson, éditeurs de Sarasin." TL 14 (2001), 233–242.
Close commentary and analysis of the Sarasin edition reveals that it demonstrates "que les temps ont changé et qu'un nouveau monde commence" (242). By what is included and omitted and by the paratexts, the reader can also arrive at "une définition de la véritable préciosité" (241). Including a number of inédits and omitting several early obtainable texts, the edition's guiding principle seems to have been "plaire aux habitués des Samedis et à leur temps" (238).
BERTRAND, DOMINIQUE. "Travestissement d'un haut lieu virgilien: l'Etna revisité par Scarron." Les Méditerranées du XVIIe siècle. Actes du VIe colloque du Centre International de Rencontres sur le XVIIe siècle. Ed. G. Dotoli. Tübingen: Gunter Narr Verlag (Biblio 17), 2002: 49–62.
Bertrand studies "les procédés à l'œuvre dans la traduction bouffone du motif etnéen," then examines "la validité de la clef de lecture que Scarron exhibe dans une longue digression métapoétique où il fait état de l'usure de la veine sublime et épique appliquée à une poétique des éléments en ce milieu du XVVIe siècle."
CARSON, JONATHAN, ed. Paul Scarron. Le Jodelet duelliste. Genève: Droz, 2000.
Review: C. Bourqui in RHL 101.6 (2001), 1661: Editor presents the second version of a comedy that had two different contemporary editions, in 1647 and 1652. Introduction dissects the differences between them, argues that its plot is a combination of three different Spanish comedies, and emphasizes the political implications of the duel motif. Main text respects original spelling while modernizing punctuation. Reviewer regrets that the notes pay little attention to linguistic questions, and are mainly taken up by details on variant editions, of which the editor missed a certain number.
Review: R. Parish in MLR 97.1 (2002), 186–87: Welcome critical edition based on the 1652 text. Reviewer praises scrupulous editing but regrets lack of attention "to the comic or dramatic aspects of language, rhyme, metre or didascalies, for example, let alone to the potential for any more daring readings of Dom Felix as narcissist, liar, esprit fort and fourbe."
Review: P. Ronzeaud in PFSCL XXVIII, 55 (2001), 522: Reviewer notes the "nature philologique du travail de Jonathan Carson qui donne à lire un véritable état historique du texte, tant dans son établissement, orthographique, graphique et dramaturgique, que dans les éclairages génétiques, intertextuels et contextuels qui l'accompagnent. Qu'il soit remercié pour ce travail érudit impeccable." With details as to Scarron's sources (Tirso de Molina, Francisco de Rojas), the multiple revisions of the play, Scarron's comic techniques, contemporary debates on le duel, Scarron's use of the burlesque, etc. "Une édition critique qui mérite vraiment ce titre par la précision et la qualité du savoir qui s'y déploie."
LECA, ANGE-PIERRE. Scarron, le malade de la Reine. Paris: Editions Kimé, 1999.
Review: E. Minel in RHL 102.2 (2002), 342: A biography of Scarron by a specialist of the history of medicine. "C'est un honnête ouvrage, dans le style du XIXe siècle, et sans autre véritable problématique que de dire la difficulté de vivre du poète romancier, et de bien faire miroiter l'oeuvre par le truchement des citations ou le fourmillement des anecdotes."
PARISH, RICHARD. Scarron: Le Roman comique. Valencia: Grant & Cutler, Ltd., 1998.
Review: n.a. in FMLS 37 (2001), 108: Includes some "thoughtful and thought-provoking analyses of Scarron's novel" and suggests that "there is a real unity in Scarron's writing" (97). Reviewer particularly appreciates chapters 4–7 which present a classical "tripartite unifying analysis."
DUTERTRE, EVELINE, ed. Georges de Scudéry. Ibrahim ou l'Illustre Bassa. Paris: STFM, 1998.
Review: C. Bourqui in RHL 101.6 (2001), 1659–61: An edition motivated by the singularities of the work: a play adapted by the author of the novel, a tragicomedy in the orientalist vein, and a text containing an unusual number of monologues. The editors "voluminous" introduction stresses the influence of the Corneillian model and analyzes the play as incarnating a tension between baroque and classicism; argues for the play's status as psychological, "révélatrice d'une mentalité classique avant l'heure" (CB). Reviewer does not take issue with these interpretations, but does criticize some editorial choices and notes a number of errors.
SABA, GUIDO. "Georges de Scudéry et Jean Mairet, éditeurs de Théophile de Viau." TL 14 (2001), 189–203.
Analysis, by today's preeminent editor and critic of Théophile, of the latter's two 17th c. editors, Scudéry for Théophile's oeuvres and Mairet for Théophile's correspondence. Saba carefully examines pertinent paratexts, provides complete descriptions of 17th c. editions, refers the reader to critics of Scudéry and Mairet for studies on the influence of Théophile on them, and declares that if Saba's efforts "sont d'un intérêt certain. . . la part qui revient à Jean Mairet est. . . plus importante" (201). Convincingly demonstrates that instead of being a recueil "monstrueux de désordre" (Antoine Adam), Mairet's edition was representative of 17th c. norms; thanks to Mairet, 72 letters in French and 23 in Latin as well as the heroic L'Epistre d'Actéon à Diane were preserved, texts which "se révèlent comme des documents précieux sur sa biographie morale et intellectuelle" (203).
BAADER, RENATE, éd. and trans. Molière: Les Précieuses ridicules. Comédie. Die lächerlichen Preziösen. Komödie. Französisch/Deutsch. Mit einer Anthologie preziöser Texte von Mlle de Scudéry. Stuttgart: Philipp Reclam jun., 1997.
Review: B. Oetjen in Archiv 237 (2000), 445–447: Richly informative, Baader's volume includes her new distinguished translation of Molière's play as well as a translation of important précieux texts of Mlle de Scudéry. Baader's insightful inclusion of the latter and her commentary correctly differentiates Molière's characterization from "la véritable préciosité" of Scudéry which incorporates the ideal of honnêteté.
GRANDE, NATHALIE. "Du long au court: réduction de la longueur et invention des formes narratives, l'exemple de Madeleine de Scudéry." DSS 215 (2002), 263– 271.
Grande revisits the traditional explanations offered for the forme brève of the novel and claims that the shift resulted from a change in reading habits during the second half of the century: solitary and silent reading replaced the collective and communal reading that characterized earlier periods.
LALLEMAND, MARIE-GABRIELLE. La Lettre dans le récit: étude de l'oeuvre de Mlle de Scudéry. Tübingen: Gunter Narr, 2000.
Review: M. Bannister in FS 55.4 (2001), 540–541: A "valuable overview of Scudéry's concept of the letter," this study analyzes "the links between the use of letters and the narrative functions they fulfil." It includes a comparison of Scudéry's approach to the letter with that of contemporary fiction writers and the creators of secrétaire manuals.
Review: M.-C. Chatelain in DSS 215 (2002), 377–378: An illuminating study, notes the reviewer, of the generic complexity in littérature galante. Lallemand catalogues instances of imbedded letters or references to letters thereby allowing her to discern the quantity, importance and diversity of letters within the Scudéry's novels. Lallemand distinguishes the lettre d'amour and the tradition of female lament found in Ovid's Héroïdes and the Lettres portugaises, on the one hand, and on the other hand, the lettre galante and the roman galante et mondain practiced by Scudéry. More than ornamental, according to Lallemand, letters assume narrative functions: for example, interrupted communication ("les dysfonctionnements de la communication épistolaire"), produces peripeteia similar to those effected by kidnappings or storms in the heroic novel. The reviewer notes minor stylistic infelicities but affirms the overall strength of the argument.
Review: L. Colombo in PFSCL XXIX, 57 (2002): 543–545: Studies "les lettres enchâssées dans les récits de Mademoiselle de Scudéry. . . constituant selon Lallemand un champ d'étude significatif, aussi bien du point de vue de l'esthétique épistolaire et romanesque que du point de vue historique, en tant qu'écho pour la société pour laquelle elles sont écrites." Study classifies the letters first as "lettres, billets, cartels," and later as "lettres de circonstance, de nouvelles, de compliments galants," proposing sources and influences in each case. In the third part, Lallemand highlights the function of letters "à l'intérieur de la diégèse: la lettre fait avancer l'action, contribue à la structurer, sert à la présentation du personnage, par le biais de lettres de recommandation, devient 《 source d'innombrables péripéties romanesques 》." The letter, in Scudéry's work, "renonce à l'effet de réel. . . elle s'assujettit aux exigences de la fiction, renonçant à la fonction de communication." Reviewer praises the volume as "une étude articulée, pointue et très intéressante, accompagnée de précieuses annexes reproduisant entre autres les différentes modalités typographiques d'insertion des lettres dans le roman, et qui met l'érudition au service de l'analyse d'un domaine encore peu étudié, sans négliger quelques nécessaires allusions à la problématique de l'écriture féminine."
Review: N. Grande in RHL 102.1 (2002), 157: Attempts to understand the diversity and evolution of Scudéry's use of the letter within her novels. Contains an inventory, an examination of the context of the practice, and an analysis of Scudéry's various uses of the process. "La rigueur méthodologique de M.-G. Lallemand met en évidence la cohérence de son projet."
Review: C. Morlet-Chantalat in IL 54.2 (2002), 51–52: "[U]ne étude complète et minutieuse" of embedded letters in Scudéry's novels, and the metadiscourse around them. First part contains exhaustive inventory and classification; second part looks at the practice of fictional epistolarity from Heliodorus to the seventeenth century; third part examines the functions of the letter in the narration, concluding that it has nothing to do with the eighteenth-century success of the epistolary novel, which acts as the expression of a private individual.
Review: B. Piqué in SFr 134 (2001), 395–396: Following in the line of Delphine Denis's magisterial study La Muse galante, Lallemand's volume analyzes another important internal genre in the novel and novella—the letter. An impressive bibliography and series of appendices complement Lallemand's detailed and wide-ranging analyses: included are elements guiding her inventory and a typology. The use and significance of the epistolary form in the romance tradition, the taste of the gallant society. The letter may be ornamental or function as a veritable fount of péripétie or an expression of intimacy (396). Competent, rich and innovative study.
Review: n.a. in BCLF 634 (2002), 86: "Se fondant sur un inventaire raisonné des lettres (regroupement, répartition, présentation et typologie formelle), elle étudie ses modèles historiques (Ovide et Héliodore) et contemporains (Honoré d'Urfé et Martin Fumée) avant de prendre en compte ses fonctions dans le système romanesque. L'auteur se livre alors à une analyse narratologique, énonciative, typographique et morale des lettres incluses qui a le mérite d'offrir une base très sûre sur le plan scientifique, mais qui aurait peut-être gagné à une confrontation plus large avec les formes historiques, philosophiques, polémiques et esthétiques de la correspondance à la même époque."
MORLET-CHANTALAT, CHANTAL, ed. Madeleine de Scudéry. Clélie, histoire romaine. Première partie 1654. Paris: Champion, 2001.
Review: N. Boursier in PFSCL XXIX, 57 (2002): 553–555: Part of a new series of editions that has the merit of offering "la dignité un peu austère des éditions académiques dans sa présentation matérielle, et une documentation qui soutient le lecteur sans pour autant étouffer les œuvres," in short, an accessible yet erudite edition. Volume contains two introductions, one to Clélie in general, and the other to the first part of this text only. These include details on the "paysage politique, social et littéraire," including La Fronde, Fouquet, Louix XIV, and the end of the heroic novel and the birth of the classical or psychological novel, as well as commentary on Le Tendre. Morlet-Chantalat reproduces the text of the first edition (1654), with modernized spelling, punctuation, etc. "Les notes ont éliminé le lourd apparat critique du passé. . . Les annexes se limitent à des repères chronologiques. . . et à un sommaire de la première partie." The final volume of the series, when published, will contain a glossary of recurring terms, and a bibliography. "Edition fraîche, moderne, et longtemps attendue."
NIDERST, ALAIN. "Madeleine de Scudéry, Ménage et Pellisson, éditeurs de Sarasin." TL 14 (2001), 233–242.
Close commentary and analysis of the Sarasin edition reveals that it demonstrates "que les temps ont changé et qu'un nouveau monde commence" (242). By what is included and omitted and by the paratexts, the reader can also arrive at "une définition de la véritable préciosité" (241). Including a number of inédits and omitting several early obtainable texts, the edition's guiding principle seems to have been "plaire aux habitués des Samedis et à leur temps" (238).
PENZKOFER, GERHARD. "L'art du mensonge dans les romans de Mlle de Scudéry." DSS 215 (2002), 273–286.
Penzkofer delineates three features of Scudéry's art du mensonge: the intertextual construction of characters, critical analysis of novelistic discourse, and the questioning of the concept of truth. However, Scudéry's uncritical mirroring of "un monde courtois mourant" contributed to the oubli of her œuvre despite her innovative poetics, according to the author.
TOCZYSKI, SUZANNE. "Performing Secrets in Madeleine de Scudéry's Celinte. PFSCL XXIX, 56 (2002), 177–195.
"Scudéry's text explores the power of curiosity, and of secrets in particular, to give structure to social reality, and demonstrates how each subsequently revealed secret operates as a new frame for interpreting that social reality." Studies both l'interdit and "l'entredit, that is, the welcome sharing of secrets between members of an affective community." Finally, Scudéry "also suggests that, in the absence of an ideal recipient, individual secrets can initiate a shift toward subjective interiority."
TROTZKE, MARGARET ANNE. "Préciosité and 'La Promenade de Versailles': From myth to praxis." DAI 62/12 (2002), 4193.
Argues that Scudéry's work "demonstrates a dramatic shift from the exteriority of the heroic novel ... to the interiority of the modern novel," providing "both a feminist and a political focus" and offering critique of Louis XIV.
MORGANTE, JOLE. "La Méditerranée dans les Nouvelles françaises de Segrais." Les Méditerranées du XVIIe siècle. Actes du VIe colloque du Centre International de Rencontres sur le XVIIe siècle. Ed. G. Dotoli. Tübingen: Gunter Narr Verlag (Biblio 17), 2002: 137–155.
Studying Adélayde and Floridon, Morgante examines the way in which the choice of scene "contribue à diversifier le recueil," and the role of Segrais's nouvelles in the "renouvellement esthétique et formel" of the 1660s, particularly with reference to La Fayette's Zaïde.
RACEVSKIS, ROLAND. "Time, Postal Practices, and Daily Life in Mme de Sévigné's Letters" EMF 7 (2001), 29–47.
Analyzes Sévigné's letters as a chronicle of the material conditions of their own production; pays special attention to the way they were made possible by advances in the French postal system, and to changes in the perception of time.
ALET, MARTINE. "Etude psychophysiologique du Berger extravagant de Charles Sorel: la mélancolie de Louys." PFSCL XXIX, 56 (2002), 153–175.
Examines "le cas de Louys au regard du concept de mélancolie dans le savoir médical et moral du temps" afin de "verifier si une lecture psychophysiologique, établie sur les critères de l'époque, peut expliquer l'extravagance avant tout réjouissante et expansive du personage, comme cas représentatif d'un accès de mélancolie" et "d'en determiner la ou les cause(s) premières."
DANDREY, PATRICK. Le Premier Francion de Charles Sorel; ou, le jeu du roman. Paris: Klincksieck, 2001.
Review: R. Parish in FS 56.2 (2002), 235–236: "Dandrey's elegant, densely written and unfailingly persuasive study... affords a major addition to the relatively limited corpus of writing on this multi-layered text." Dandrey performs "a kind of vertical reading of the first seven books as they appear in the 1633 rewriting," draws "enlightening... parallels with Montaigne," and "looks critically at Francion's... problematic features," such as the dream sequence and the status of Naïs.
JOUHAUD, CHRISTIAN. "Roman historié et histoire romancée: Jean-Pierre Camus et Charles Sorel." DSS 215 (2002), 307–316.
Jouhaud argues that Camus and Sorel were both proponents of the socio-political utility of the novelistic form (as opposed to those who proclaimed literature's autonomy), the one deploying it as an instrument of evangelization, the other as a political tool.
STENZEL, HARTMUT. "Discours romanesque, discours utile et carrière littéraire. Roman et 'anti-roman' chez Charles Sorel." DSS 215 (2002), 235–250.
Le Berger extravagant and its later incarnation as L'Anti-Roman ou l'histoire de Berger Lysis form the center of this analysis of a paradox that underlies the novel's modernity: "l'espace discursif ouvert par le genre envahissant du roman se refuse à toute intention de contrôle et de domination."
BARBICHE, BERNARD. "La première édition des Oeconomies royales de Sully (1638–1640)." TL 14 (2001), 205–214.
Detailed and fascinating analysis of a rich and useful document, Sully's contract with his clandestine publishers. Barbiche's analysis is accompanied by a reproduction of the title page and contract and a transcription of the latter.
LARCADE, VERONIQUE. "Les Vies parallèles de Maximilien de Béthune, duc de Sully et de Jean-Louis Nogaret de la Valette, duc d'Epernon, ou réussir en politique à l'aube du XVIIe siècle." XVIIe siècle no. 204 (juillet–sept. 1999), 419–448.
Review: C. Rizza in SFr 133 (2001), 138: Demonstrates that the diversity of character rather than religious faith accounts for the rivalry between Sully and Epernon. While the former announced the triumph of the emerging class and birth of absolute monarchy, Epernon reaffirmed the ancient role of the nobility (138).
DALLA VALLE, DANIELA. "Edipe, tragédie de Tallemant des Réaux." PFSCL XXVIII, 55 (2001): 377–388.
Article studies Tallemant's Œdipus play, establishing a tentative chronology and situating the play with regard to Pierre Corneille's Œdipe. Also discusses the play's sources and the meaning of the innovations and changes Tallemant operates on the myth.
MAZAHERI, J.-H. "Autorité, transgression et conscience du mal dans Les Amours de Pyrame et Thisbe de Théophile de Viau." Revue d'histoire du théâtre no. 3 (2000), 240–255.
Review: C. Rizza in SFr 135 (2001), 633: Confrontation of texts of Ovid and an anonymous author with Théophile's demonstrates the originality of Théophile and permits a more complete assessment of his libertinage.
MEDING, TWYLA. "Thisbé's Veil: The Framed Tale into Tragedy." EMF 8 (2002), 74–103.
Examines the Théophile de Viau's use of the veil in Pyrame et Thisbé as a reflection on the thatricalization of narrative.
SABA, GUIDO. "Georges de Scudéry et Jean Mairet, éditeurs de Théophile de Viau." TL 14 (2001), 189–203.
Analysis, by today's preeminent editor and critic of Théophile, of the latter's two 17th c. editors, Scudéry for Théophile's oeuvres and Mairet for Théophile's correspondence. Saba carefully examines pertinent paratexts, provides complete descriptions of 17th c. editions, refers the reader to critics of Scudéry and Mairet for studies on the influence of Théophile on them, and declares that if Saba's efforts "sont d'un intérêt certain. . . la part qui revient à Jean Mairet est. . . plus importante" (201). Convincingly demonstrates that instead of being a recueil "monstrueux de désordre" (Antoine Adam), Mairet's edition was representative of 17th c. norms; thanks to Mairet, 72 letters in French and 23 in Latin as well as the heroic L'Epistre d'Actéon à Diane were preserved, texts which "se révèlent comme des documents précieux sur sa biographie morale et intellectuelle" (203).
CAHIERS TRISTAN L'HERMITE 22 (2000).
Review: F. Robello in SFr 133 (2001), 139: Four articles examine Tristan's tragic vision, the didactic function of a frontispiece, the linguistic and scenic vitality of Tristan and the importance of "le songe" chez Tristan Following the articles is a reimpression of Tristan's Songes tragiques, presented by Daniela Dalla Valle and an appendice by Boris Donné on the prelude of the Page disgracié.
SERROY, JEAN, B. BRAY, M. FUMAROLI, & A. CARRIAT, eds. Tristan L'Hermite, Oeuvres complètes, tome 1-Prose. Paris: Champion, 1999.
Review: N. Grande in RHL 101.5 (2001), 1469. First edition ever of Tristan's Oeuvres complètes, containing a biography by Serroy, as well as articles by Fumaroli and Carriat.
SHEPARD, JAMES C. Mannerism and Baroque in Seventeenth-Century French Poetry: The Example of Tristan l'Hermite. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2001.
Review: J. Conroy in FS 56.3 (2002), 394–395: "Shepard provides a very clear survey of the emergence and refinement of each term [mannerism and baroque], revealing the contradictions and overlaps in their use... He ultimately judges Tristan to be mannerist in his love poetry and baroque in his more serious verse." The reviewer concludes that Shepard "deftly relates Tristan's singularity to the poetic practices of his time."
MATZAT, WOLFGANG. "Tradition et invention dans L'Astrée d'Honoré d'Urfé." DSS 215 (2002), 199–207.
Starting with Genette's appraisal of l'Astrée as at once an ending and an origin, Matzat argues that the novel's modernity derives from formal as well as thematic elements. The fictional world is paradoxical: it is at once familiar to readers and radically other.
ROSSETTO, PAULE. "La Méditerranée dans l'Astrée." Les Méditerranées du XVIIe siècle. Actes du VIe colloque du Centre International de Rencontres sur le XVIIe siècle. Ed. G. Dotoli. Tübingen: Gunter Narr Verlag (Biblio 17), 2002: 121–136.
Rossetto posits that, "La Méditerranée, ou du moins une certaine Méditerranée, réelle ou imaginaire, est donc bien présente dans le roman avec ses espaces, son rôle historique et politique, sa fonction romanesque, sa mythologie, et cette rêverie très particulière à laquelle elle incite le romancier." With reference to a selection of Mediterranean spaces described in the novel, Rossetto studies "la façon dont le romancier les traite," seeking to "dégager l'ambiguïté fondamentale de sa perception du monde méditerranéen représenté ici en particulier par Rome (et Byzance)."
VAN ELSLANDE, JEAN-PIERRE. "Roman pastoral et crise des valeurs dans la France du premier XVIIe siècle." DSS 215 (2002), 209– 219.
Author demonstrates the thesis that "l'Astrée est un roman expérimental du geste théâtral et des ses implications morales."
WINE, KATHLEEN. Forgotten Virgo. Humanism and Absolutism in Honoré d'Urfé's l'Astrée. Genève: Droz, 2000.
Review: A. Arrigoni in SFr 135 (2001), 632: Praiseworthy for its wide-ranging reflections on d'Urfé's relation to Virgilian epic and pastoral and its ramifications: cultural, literary and political. Wine's study also includes pertinent analyses on bucolic love, national identity and the episode with Celadon entering Astrée's room.
Review: E. Henein in PFSCL XXIX, 56 (2002), 288–289: Begins with the traditions of the pastoral and the epic and reviews all of Urfé's models. Wine then uses the goddess Astrée as a "lien entre l'art et le règne d'Henri IV," then amply illustrates the relationship between humanism and absolutism as she presents l'Astrée as "un 《 lieu d'oubli 》." Particularly impressive treatment of part III of l'Astrée. The final chapter returns to the notion of pastoral in its analysis of the adventures of Astrée and Céladon. Includes an analysis of Desmarets de Saint-Sorlin's Clovis, with the epilogue devoted to Boileau, Du Bos and Voltaire. The book is clearly "le fruit de longues et patientes recherches."
Review: E. Woodrough in FS 56.3 (2002), 392–393: Wine argues that "[i]n a bid to create an autonomous space for literature, [d'Urfé] has deliberately obscured the connections between his Arcadian text and the Virgilian virgin goddess of justice, Astraea, who abhorred the violence of men.[...] She serves here as a fitting symbol of the debt which d'Urfé owes to classical and Renaissance authors, even as he rejects, or forgets, their contribution to this [sic] own work and his pays.[...] Wine frames her compelling study of genre and influence... within the thesis that l'Astrée is an epic in reverse which demands that history pay tribute to the world of the pastoral novel, with its noble shepherds and shepherdesses."
COMBAZ, ANDRÉ. Claude Favre de Vaugelas, mousquetaire de la langue française. Paris: Klincksieck, 2000.
Review: G. Mombello in SFr 134 (2001), 388: Two-part study is preceded by a concise presentation by Louis Terreaux. Vaugelas's life occupies Part I; minute details help the reader appreciate the make-up of the future author of the Remarques. Part II focuses on Vaugelas's writings; letters and authentic documents are analyzed, a detailed chronology is presented as well as an ample bibliography. Reviewer notes that the index of names only includes Part I.
MARTIN, CAROLE. Imposture utopique et procès colonial: Denis de Veiras-Robert Challe. Charlotteville: Rockwood Press, 2000.
Review: A. de Sola in FS 56.3 (2002), 398–399: "En somme, cette étude comparée de Veiras et de Challe, souligne que la spéculation utopique du premier dérive dans le romanesque, tandis que la fiction romanesque du second débouche sur une vision utopique." The reviewer concludes that Martin's examination of utopia and utopianism in Veiras's Histoire des Sévarambes and Challe's Journal de voyages aux Indes, Mémoires and Les Illustres Françaises is "méticuleuse, méthodiquement fouillée et riche de références."
HARNEIT, RUDOLF. "Le Portefeuille de Madame de Villedieu: Edition originale et réimpressions des Oeuvres meslées au XVIIe siècle," RHL 101.5 (2001), 1455–62.
Rectifies information given about the publication history of Villedieu's story given by M. Homand and M. Cuénin in Nouvelles du XVIIe siècle (Pléiade), concluding that the work was much more widely distributed that previously thought.
LALANDE, ROXANNE DECKER, ed. A Labor of Love: Critical Reflections on the Writings of Marie-Catherine Desjardins (Madame de Villedieu). Cranbury, NJ: Associated UP, 2000.
Review: A. Wallis in PFSCL XXVIII, 55 (2001), 535–536: "A Labor of Love brings together critical essays covering Madame de Villedieu's writings across the genres—the novel, theater, short stories and letters." Includes articles by P. Gethner, C. Hogg and H. Goldwyn on Villedieu's theater (particularly in the context of her politics); articles by N. D. Klein and E. Goldsmith on short stories, annals and letters; and articles by D. Kuizenga, M. Wise, Lalande, and F. Beasley on her novels. All quotes translated into English for non-French-speaking readers. Index is thorough. "From beginning to end, an ample and well-written introduction, the analysis is close, skillful and highly readable."
AATF. Future conventions: 2003 (July) Martinique; 2004 Atlanta (July 19–23) [Joint meeting with the International Federation of French Teachers/ FIPF]; 2005 (July) Quebec City. Contact Jayne Abrate, Executive Director (Southern Illinois U.) Tel. 618-453-5731 <abrate@siu.edu>, http://aatf.utsa.edu.
ASSAF, FRANCIS (Georgia). In Print: Arts., "Henriette-Sylvie, agent et objet du désir," FR 74.3 (2001), 518–526. "Voyageurs français dans le Levant au XVIIe siècle: regards sur/de l'Autre," in Biblio 17 (CIR-17/2000 conference proceedings). In Press: Arts., "L'Irréel dans le réel: le cas des histoires comiques." Forthcoming in 2000 conference proceedings. Le réalisme en question(s), Dijon, 2000. "Le réalisme en question(s) au XVIIe siècle." General introduction to the volume of conference proceedings. See above. "L'impossible souveraineté ou le roi-prétexte dans les contes de Madame d'Aulnoy," in Biblio 17. In progress: Bk., 1715: Le soleil s'éteint (completed; to be submitted shortly to publisher). Dictionary Entry (completed), "Alain-René Lesage" 7500-word entry. Under editorial consideration by The Dictionary of Literary Biography. Columbia, S.C.: Bruccoli Clark Layman, Inc. Crit. ed., Antoine Houdar de La Motte's Discours sur Homère (1714). Droz has accepted the work (letter on file). Crit. ed. of the Anthoine brothers' Journal de la maladie et de la mort de Louis XIV. Research papers: "De l'observation en tant que l'un des beaux-arts: le Chevalier d'Arvieux en Afrique du nord," for 7th meeting of the CIR-17 in Tunis. "Sorel et l'écriture," for the international conference: 'Sorel dans tous ses Ètats.' U. Laval, Québec. <fassaf@arches.uga.edu>, <fassaf@charter.net> Ed., Cahiers du Dix-septième. (For all matters pertaining to CaDS. please use: <cahiers@arches.uga.edu>).
BEASLEY, FAITH E. (Dartmouth). Co-President, NASSCFL 2003. <Faith.E.Beasley@Dartmouth.edu>
BEUGNOT, BERNARD (Toronto). 20th C. authors: Ponge, Anouilh forthcoming in Pléiade).
BIBLIOTHEQUE NATIONALE DE FRANCE (BNF). "Le Cardinal, la Fronde et le bibliothécaire. Les trente plus beaux livres de Mazarin." Site Richelieu, 25 October 2002–12 January 2003, in the Galerie Mazarine. Exhibition commemorating the 400th anniversary of Mazarin's birth.
BNF. "Programme des manifestations culturelles." Handy vest pocket booklet (52 pp.) listing numerous events (concerts, lectures, tables rondes, colloquia, exhibits) at its four sites (Tolbiac/Mitterand, Richelieu, Arsenal, Opera Garnier). Covers a four-month period; gives locations, hours, names, fees, bus numbers, etc.
BOITANO, JOHN (Chapman C.). Bk., The Polemics of Conversion in Pascal's Pensées: A Dialectics of Occult and Rational Libertine Beliefs, Biblio 17.
BOURASSA, ANDRE G. Ed., Molière's Misantrope [sic], with Patrick O'Neill. Reproduces 1774 text as translated and staged by Paul Mascarène at Port-Royal, Nova Scotia. On facing pages will be the reedition of the 1741 Amsterdam ed., containing punctuation variants. These seem to reflect which problems of actors' delivery need resolution.
BURCHELL, EILEEN (Marymount C. of Fordham University). Contrib.Ed., French 17.
BURY, EMMANUEL (U. Versailles-St.Quentin-en-Yvelines). Organizing Seminar "Pour une Histoire de la philologie 2002–2003." Thursdays, 2–5 p.m., 14 Nov.'02 to 24 April '03, at ENS, 45 rue d'Ulm, salle de séminaire du CEA. <emmanuel.bury@poétiques.uvsq.fr>
CAHIERS DU DIX-SEPTIEME (C 17). Journal accessible exclusively on-line in HTML format, beginning with vol. VIII,1 . Contact: Francis Assaf at 706.542.3164; write <cahiers@arches.uga.edu>.
CAMPION, EDMUND (Tennessee). Research on Montaigne and Erasmus, but also developing an interest in the writings of Saint François de Sales. Now completing an essay on religious tolerance in 16th c. Switzerland.
CARLIN, CLAIRE (U. Victoria). In progress: Ed., special issue of Dalhousie French Studies, "Le mariage sous l'Ancien Régime," vol. 56 (fall 2001). Recent: Arts., "Misères et Èpines dans la forêt nuptiale au tournant du siècle," in D'un siècle à l'autre: Littérature et Société de 1590 à 1610. Fasano-Paris: Schena-PU Paris-Sorbonne, 2001: 93–115; "Imagining Marriage in the 1690's," PFSCL, XXVIII,54 (2001): 167–76. Canadian Treasurer, NASSCFL: send $30 CN dues c/o Dept. of French, U. Victoria, PO Box 3045 STN CSC, Victoria, BC V8W 3P4. See also: TOBIN FESTSCHRIFT.
CENTRE DE RECHERCHE SUR LA LITTERATURE DES VOYAGES (CRLV). Paris-Sorbonne IV, founded in 1984. Website: http://www.crlv.org/crlv/index.html.
CENTRE D'ETUDES DU ROMAN ET DU ROMANESQUE, Colloque: "Sottise et ineptie, de la Renaissance aux Lumières. Discours du savoir et représentions romanesques," March 2004, U.P.J.V. Amiens. Proposals to Nicole Jacques-Lefèvre, 146 Bd. Magenta, 75010 Paris. <njacqueslefevre@free.fr>
CIR 17. Colloque de Nantes (2003), organized by Jean Garapon. President Cecilia Rizza, Secretary Pierre Ronzeaud. Located in Aix-en-Provence. Annual 2002 Dues, for North America only: $25, payable to Marcelle Welch, Florida International U., French Dept., Miami, FL 343199 <welchm@fiu.edu> or Buford Norman.
CMR 17. Recent: Colloque Baro, Montpellier, France, 27–29 November. For other projects, list of available Actes, Mémoires and the Duchêne CD-ROM, see <cmr17.free.fr> or http://cmr17.free.fr/
CORNEILLE. See MOUVEMENT CORNEILLE.
DANDREY, PATRICK. Sorbonne Seminar "Genèse et génétique de la création littéraire (17e sc.). Salle des Actes de Paris-Sorbonne, le mardi 1800–1930h, 15 October–27 May, 2002–2003. Presentations on different authors by various scholar; dix-septiémistes are invited to attend. <Patrick.Dandrey@paris4.sorbonne.fr>
DENNIS-BAY, LAURA (Cumberland C.). Entries in the recently published Absolutism and the Scientific Revolution, 1600–1720, ed. Christopher Baker. Article in progress about the epigrams of François Maynard. Contrib. Ed., French 17.
DUCHENE, ROGER (U. de Provence). Just appeared: Mme de Sévigné ou la chance d'être femme (ed. revue, corrigée et très notablement augmentée, chez Fayard). Recent: Bk., Les Précieuses ou comment l'esprit vint aux femmes, suivies de Baudeau de Somaize, Les véritables Précieuses, Les Précieuses ridicules mises en vers, Le grand dictionnaire des Précieuses ou la clé de la langue des ruelles. (Paris: Fayard, 570 pages, 28 euros). CD-ROM, "Mon dix-septième siècle: de Mme de Sévigné à Marcel Proust", contenant 100 articles parus de 1962 à 2000, des extraits de ses livres, six cents lettres de femmes du dix-septième siècle, avec une bibliographie inédite, plus les Mémoires du CMR17". See also: WEB 17.
FABULA. "Un portail pour la communauté des chercheurs en littérature" presents information on new publications, meetings, queries, etc., several times per week. Free. Website: http://www.fabula.org/.
FINN, TOM (Northern Ohio U.). Recent: Bk., Molière's Spanish Connection: Seventeenth-Century Spanish Theatrical Influence on Imaginary Identity in Molière. New York: Peter Lang, 2001. Arts., "Reputation and Imaginary Identity in Le Menteur and La Verdad sospechosa." CdDS 8 (2001), 44–57. Rev., Quand Jean-Baptiste joue du Molière. Essai, by Constant Venesoen. CdDS: 8 (2001): 194–97; Rev.,Society of Pleasures: Interdisciplinary Readings in Pleasure and Power During the Reign of Louis XIV, by Kathryn Hoffmann. CdDS 8 (2001),178–81.
GAINES, JAMES (Martha Washington C.) Forthcoming: Molière Encyclopedia, from Greenwood Press, (summer '02); "The Violation of the Bumpkin: Satire, Wealth, and Class in Monsieur de Pourceaugnac," in Mélanges offerts à Ronald W. Tobin ; "Enlightenment Obfuscations: the Philosophes Misread Molière," for PFSCL; "Kapital de la douleur; Remystification of the Market Culture," in PFSCL 29, n. 56 (2002), 1–7; "Molière's Uncanonical Miser," in Biblio 17, 131 (2002) 201–211. In progress: reviews of new books by J. Pineau and R. Guichemerre; ms., Molière and Paradox.
GANIM, RUSSELL (Nebraska–Lincoln). Published in 2001: "Prévert Reads Shakespeare: Lacenaire as Iago in Les Enfants du Paradis," CLS 38.1 (2001), 46–67. "Anus as Oculus: Satire and Subversion in Eustorg de Beaulieu's Du Cul." Dalhousie French Studies 55, 12–25. "Views of Kingship: Britannicus and Louis XIV's Mémoires," Actes de Tulane, ed. Erec R. Koch, Biblio 17, vol. 131, 315–24. Forthcoming: Arts. on La Ceppède, and Anne de Marquets, in Rubin Festschrift ('02).
GETHNER, PERRY J. (Oklahoma SU). Just appeared: Vol. 2 of my collection "Femmes dramaturges en France, 1650–1750. Pièces choisies" Treasurer, NASSCFL: send annual U.S. Dues $20 to PG, Head, Dept. of Foreign Langs & Lit, Oklahoma SU, Stillwater, OK 74074 <pjg@okstate.edu>.
GOLDSTEIN, CLAIRE (Miami U. of Ohio). Bk., Building the Grand Siècle: National Style at Vaux-le-Vicomte and Versailles. Examines two competing versions of 17th c. style, comparing two very distinct societies and literary texts written by the same authors, for Fouquet and afterward. Analyzes gardens, architecture, interior decoration and material objects, to understand how different philosophies and systems of patronage colored the relationship of the two château cultures.
GOLDSMITH, ELIZABETH (Boston U.). Bk., Lettres de femmes du XVIe au XIXe siècle (anthology, with Colette Winn).
HARRISON, HELEN (Morgan State U.). Contrib. Ed., French 17.
HINDS, LEONARD (Indiana). Recent: Bk., Narrative Transformations from l'Astrée to Le berger extravagant. Purdue Studies in RLS, v.24, ISBN 1-55753-235-4, $45.95. Articles: "Paratext and Framing Narrative: Techniques of Skepticism in Le Parasite Mormon" French Literature Series: Beginnings in French Literature Volume XXIX (2002): 69–80; "Feast or Famine? Eloquence and the engraved image in Le Parasite Mormon" in Word and Image, vol.18, no.2 (April–June 2002):146–152. Contrib. Ed., French 17.
HOUDARD, SOPHIE (Paris III-Sorbonne Nouvelle). Seminar: "Figures du mysticisme au début de l'âge moderne: Vérité et feintes." Beginning 13 January 2003, 2nd & 4th Mondays, 6–8 p.m., in salle 4, 105 bd, Raspail. Interdisciplinary. <sophiehoudard@voila.fr>.
JONES, DAVID H. Editor, Current Research...in the U.K. (online version): 17th C. section. See Part I: CURRENT. <david.h.jones@st-johns.oxford.ac.uk>
JUDOVITZ, DALIA (Emory). Recent: bk., The Culture of the Body: Genealogies of Modernity [on representations of the body from late 16th through the 18th centuries]. Ann Arbor, Michigan UP, 2001. Currently: bk., Georges de la Tour: The Enigma of the Visible [on the interface of voice and vision in his pictorial works].
KOPPISCH, MICHAEL (Michigan State). Recent: "Le Dialogue de Molière et La Bruyère," in Le Métier du moraliste (proceedings of the La Bruyère conference at the Sorbonne 1996), Paris, Champion, 2001. Forthcoming: Bk., Rivalry and the Disruption of Order in Molière's Theater (for '02). Art. on Monsieur de Pourceaugnac in the Tobin Festschrift (for '03); art. from the Racine conference in Santa Barbara.
KRONEGGER, MARLIES (Michigan State). Recent: Esthétique baroque et imagination créatrice. Tübingen: W. Leiner & G. Narr, 1999. The Relation of Man to Nature in French-European Culture. Examination of ceramics, tapestries, poems, published in Canada, in Orientales (1999). Special ed. on the Baroque in Cahiers Classiques, ed. D. Soullier. See also: http.phenomenology for publications. A bibliographical sketch (135 articles, 4 bks.) forthcomimg in the encyclopedia publ. by Kluver in Dordrecht.
KUIZENGA, DONNA (U. Vermont). Recent: "Romancière à succès, succès de romancière. Mme de Villedieu et les topoi," in Homo narrativus: Recherches sur la topique romanesque dans les fictions de langue française avant 1800. eds. Nathalie Ferrand & Michèle Weil, Montpellier UP, Paul Valéry-Montpellier III, 2001, pp. 285–99. To appear: "Writing in Drag: Strategic Rewriting in the Early Epistolary Novel," in EMF (2002). "La Généricité dans les Mémoires de la vie de Henriette-Sylvie de Molière," for Féminités et masculinités dans le texte narratif, eds. Suzan van Dijk, et al., Louvain, Editions Peeters. "Ecriture à la mode/modes de récriture: Les Femmes illustres de Madeleine et Georges de Scudéry" for La Femme au XVIIe siècle, ed. Richard Hodgson, Tübingen, Biblio 17. "Espaces féminins? La topique des lieux dans les Nouvelles afriquaines et les Mémoires de la vie de Henriette-Sylvie de Molière de Mme de Villedieu," in Lucus in Fabula, ed. Nathalie Ferrand, Louvain: Peeters. In press: Villedieu entry, Dictionary of Literary Biography, ed. Françoise Jaouïn. In progress: English translation of Les Mémoires de la vie de Henriette-Sylvie de Molière de Mme de Villedieu, for Other Voices in Early Modern Literature, UP Chicago. Bk. on strategic re-writing by women writers, French and British of the latter 17th and early 18th centuries.
LAFAYETTE. Project: The Madame de Lafayette Book of Hours. Worldwide online project which accepts articles on Lafayette, her time and works. French encouraged. http://fdt.net/~christys/goldleaf.html
LEINER, WOLFGANG (U. Washington/ U. Tübingen). Editor, NASSCFL, Biblio 17, PFSCL, OeC. Président, CIR 17 (2001–2002). <wolfgang.leiner@uni-tuebingen.de>, <Wleiner@aol.com>. See also CMR 17.
LONGINO, MICHELE (Duke). Recent: Bk, Orientalism in French Classical Drama, Cambridge UP, 2002. Arts., "Creüse: Corneille's Material Girl," La femme au dix-septième siècle," Actes du colloque de Vancouver (U. of B.C., 2000), Biblio 17, 138 (2002), 115–123. "Pollux: Modèle cornélien du nouveau voyageur savant, ou la 'naissance' de l'anthropologue," Les Méditerranées au XVIIe siecle, Actes du CIR 17 (Bari, 2000), Biblio 17, 137 (2002), 271–283. "Médée and the Traveler Savant," EMF: Studies in Early Modern France, vol. 7 (Charlottesville: Rookwood Press, 2001), 73–114.
LYONS, JOHN D. (Virginia). President, NASSCFL 2002. Ed., Proceedings of the Charlottesville Meeting. Dept. of French, Box 400770, U. Virginia, Charlottesville, VA 22904-4770. <jdl2f@unix.mail.virginia.edu>, also <jdlyons@virginia.edu>.
MAITRE, MYRIAM (U. Rouen). See MOUVEMENT CORNEILLE.
McCLURE, ELLEN. Forthcoming: "Can Two Points Make a Line? Sovereign Love and Atomism in Racine's Bérénice" in Philosophy and Literature. In progress: "L'ete 1664: Le premier Tartuffe et la visite du Cardinal Chigi à Paris" (article). Book in progress: provisionally entitled Sunspots and the Sun King: Sovereignty and Mediation in Seventeenth-Century France. Conference paper: "Restoration, not Innovation: Absolutism and the Wars of Religion" at the RSA in Toronto and also "Utrecht and Louis XIV's Diplomacy" at a journee d'etudes at the Universite de Rouen, June 2003. (Illinois-Chicago). Contrib. Ed, French 17.
MLA CONVENTION 2002 (New York). Subjects for the 17th C. French sessions: I. Historic and imaginary places, II. Post-17th C. fictionalizations of the Grand Siècle, III. The Other Woman.
MOLIERE D'HIER A AUJOURD'HUI. Recent: Colloque international, U. Laval, Québec. Interdisciplinary, transhistorical persective: receptions across time, international "postérité." Contact: Thierry Belleguic, Département des Littératures, U. Laval, Pavillon Charles-De Koninck, Bureau 3310, Québec, QCG1K 7P4. <Thierry.Belleguic@lit.ulaval.ca>
MOUVEMENT CORNEILLE. CENTRE INTERNATIONAL PIERRE CORNEILLE, organized in 1982. Colloque "Corneille après Corneille, 1684–1791." Rouen, France, 2–3 December, 2002. Hôtel des Sociétés Savantes, 190 rue Beauvoisine, 7600 Rouen. Myriam Maître (U.Rouen), Présidente: <myriam.maitre@caramail.com>.
NASSCFL 2001. Actes du 33e congrès annuel (Arizona SU, Tempe) , ed. David Wetsel & Frédéric Canovas, 6 volumes.. Tomes I-III in Biblio 17, vols. 143–45; Tome IV forthcoming soon; Tome VI now available from Dr. Richard Kröger. Contact: Wdwetsel@aol.com<David.wetsel@asu.edu>
NASSCFL 2002. Recent: Annual Conference, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, March 14–16, 2002. Topic "Le Savoir en France au XVIIe siècle". Contact JOHN LYONS, ed. Actes <jdlyons@virginia.edu>.
NASSCFL 2003. 35th Annual Conference, Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH 03755, 8–10 May 2003. Theme: "Intersections". Co-presidents: <Faith.E.Beasley@dartmouth.edu> and <Kathleen.Wine@dartmouth.edu>, Dept.of French & Italian, 6087 Dartmouth Hall. Website: www.dartmouth.edu/~frandit/nasscfl03, for directions, transport, registration, lodging, and program. Membership necessary to participate, but not to attend. Dues: U.S.$20 to Perry Gethner; Canadian $30 to Claire Carlin (supra); Reductions for Students, Retirees, Part-Timers, Untenured]. NASSCFL Teaching Award: apply to Faith Beasley (Faith.E.Beasley@Dartmouth.edu) and Kathleen Wine (Kathleen.Wine@ Dartmouth.edu).
NORMAN, BUFORD (South Carolina). Recent: Touched by the Graces: The Libretti of Philippe Quinault in the Context of French Classicism. Birmingham, AL: Summa Publications. "Racine, 1674, and the 'Querelle d'Alceste,'" Classical Unities: Place, Time, Action. Biblio 17 131 (2001): 251–62. Forthcoming:"Tragédie païenne, tragédie chrétienne, tragédie moderne: Desmarest, Perrault, Quinault et Racine de 1674 à 1692," for Actes de Tempe, Biblio 17. In progress: Opera performances in Paris and at court, 1659–1715: an annotated chronology. Database managed by the Centre de Musique Baroque de Versailles. Arts. on Quinault's construction of scenes in Persée, for Journal of Seventeenth-Century Music; on "Hybrid Bodies and Rival Esthetics: Monsters in Seventeenth-Century French Ballet and Opera." Bk.on Racine and Music. Treasurer, CIR 17 <norman-buford@sc.edu>.
O'HARA, STEPHANIE (Duke). Art., "'Savante en poison': Médée and Mme de Brinvilliers," for Actes de Charlottesville , ed. John D. Lyons.
PAIGE, NICHOLAS (Calif.-Berkeley). Contrib. Ed., French 17.
PETERS, JEFFREY (Kentucky). Book: Mapping Discord: Allegorical Cartography in Early Modern French Writing. U of Delaware P (forthcoming, 2003); Recent articles: "Telling Time: Rewriting as Allegorical Violence in d'Aubignac's Histoire du temps," EMF: Studies in Early Modern France (Strategic Rewritings), ed. David Lee Rubin. Charlottesville: Rookwood, 2002. 119–33; "The Rhetoric of Adornment in Le Misanthrope," The French Review 75, no.4 (2002): 708–19; forthcoming article in L'Esprit createur on Boileau and masculinity. New projects on L'Astree; Moliere; rhetoric and masculinity.Contrib. Ed., French 17.
PREST, JULIA (Yale). Bk., Cross-casting in seventeenth-century French theatre: ballet, spoken drama, opera.
PROBES, CHRISTINE (U. South Florida). In press: Bk., La Femme à l'âge classique: le baroque, musique et littérature, co-ed. with Buford Norman and David Wetsel. Les Sonnets franc comtois de Jean Baptiste Chassignet: la représentation du 'premier lecteur' et persuasion du lecteur idéal", for vol. La Poésie religieuse et ses lecteurs aux XVIe et XVIIe siècles, ed. Alain Cuillière ('02). "Feminine Friendship at the End of the Century: Testimony from Madame Palatine's Lettres françaises", for SCFS, ed. Jan Carke. "Des Lectures au sein de la famille royale: la correspondance de Madame Palatine comme révélant des modes féminins de connaissance au XVIIe siècle", for vol. Lectures de Femmes, ed. Marianne Camus," PU de Franche-Comté, Besançon. "La Littérature et l'art au service de la théologie: le voyage terrestre et le voyage spirituel, la poésie de Jean Baptiste Chassignet mise en rapport avec les emblèmes de Pierre de Loysi," for 2002 vol., ed. David Wetsel, G. Narr, Tübingen. "Le Pouvoir des sens: une exploration des poésies de Mademoiselle de Scudéry", for 2002 vol., ed. Delphine Denis, France. Forthcoming: "Une exploration de la profusion des sens dans la poésie de Tristan L'Hermite," in final revision, to be publ. in 2002 vol., ed. Jean-Pierre Chauveau & Jacques Prévost, France. Papers: "A Cinema in the Service of the People? Women and the Marginalized in Recent Francophone African Films, MLA Convention, 12/01, New Orleans, LA. "International Perspectives on Women's Leadership and Learning: Mentoring and Collaborative Learning," FAWE conference "Living in Higher Education," Feb. 18–19, 2002, St. Petersburg, FL (Co-presenters: students Kalko Alio, Margie Thorpe). "Le Savoir historique à l'intersection de l'art et de la poésie emblématiques: Les gravures de Pierre de Loysi mises en rapport avec Les Sonnets franc-comtois,, NASSCFL 2002 conference, Charlottesville. In progress: "A la page et à l'écran: Voix et images féminines comme révélant de la transmission du savoir et de la culture," for session "Hybridity, Multiculturalism and Women's Voices," Kentucky Foreign Language Convention. Invited participation in the Table Ronde on literary criticism, organized by R. Ganim, at above convention. Secretary, NASSCFL. Contrib. Ed., French 17.
RACEVSKIS, ROLAND (Iowa). La Thébaïde de Racine, des seuils du pouvoir aux limites de l'existence" (under consideration). [Studies the esthetics of thresholds (e.g.thresholds to sovereignty, to the transcendent, to interrelation, to death) in Racine's first tragedy. The 1664 version and ulterior ones are compared, with a focus on the representation of indeterminate, in-between times and spaces]. "Subjective Dispersion in Iphigénie or the Unbearable Fullness of Being" (for FrF). [Looks at the thematics of confusion and instability of identity in the play. Full to overflowing with a vague but ominous sense of their destinies, the dramatis personae feel compelled to give voice to their pain and frustration, and when language fails them they willingly undergo a kind of desperate disintegration of identity].
REPERTOIRE CHRONOLOGIQUE DES SPECTACLES A PARIS, 1673–1715. Includes information on lyric theatre, Italian comedians, other theater, by Guy Spielmann. To be enriched with other visual documents. <http:www..georgetown.edu/spielmann/finderegne>
REPERTOIRE INTERNATIONAL DES DIX-SEPTIEMISTES. Edition 2000 published by CIR 17; copies still available. New ed. projected: send inquiries/ info./ corrections/ e-mail addresses to Treasurer Charles Mazouer, 8 rue de la Chênaie, F-33170, Gradignan.
RHETORIQUE EPISTOLAIRE SOUS L'ANCIEN REGIME FRANCAIS: DE LA THEORIE AUX PRATIQUES. Colloque, U.of Manitoba, 4–5 April 2003. Contact: Constance Cartmill <cartmll@cc.umanitoba.ca>
ROBERTS, WILLIAM (Northwestern). Recent: Arts., "The Tuileries Gardens of Le Nôtre, as seen by Perelle, Silvestre, and Others," in Classical Unities: Place, Time, Action (Actes de Tulane), ed. Erec Koch, Biblio 17, 131 (2002), 57–67. "Bibliography of North-American Theses (1999–2000)," PFSCL 54 (2001), 231–46. "Research in Progress 2001," as Part VI of French 17, no.49 (2001), 162–75. "Saint-Amant's and Boisrobert's Pont-Neuf Poems," in PFSCL 56 (2002), 35–52. Papers, "Saint-Amant in England: the Ode to Charles I and Henrietta Maria," at Durham U. 17th C. Conference, U.K. "Saint-Amant, Holland House, and the Queen of England," International Phenomenology Conference, Harvard (reworked and accepted for Analecta Husserliana); "Les Portes de Paris, du Moyen-Age à la Révolution," Fall '02 Conference, Illinois Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages, Springfield IL. Reports, "Dissertations/ Research in Progress," NASSCFL 2002 Meeting, Charlottesville. Forthcoming: "The 'Front de Seine' in 1630–60" and "Perelle's Veües des Plus Beaux Endroits de Versailles," for C17. "Bibliography of North American Theses (2001–2002)," for PFSCL 58. In progress: Saint-Amant, Maynard, Engravings of Perelle. Directeur, Cahiers Maynard; Bibliographer NASSCFL; Contrib. Ed., French 17.
RUBIN FESTSCHRIFT. The Shape of Change: Essays in Honor of David Lee Rubin, ed. Anne Birberick & Russell Ganim, Amsterdam: Rodopi, 2002. ISBN 90-420-1449-0, $33.50. Contains essays by 14 scholars, exploring how artistic endeavor shapes and is shaped by literary memory. Large section on La Fontaine. Contact: <rganiml@unl.edu>.
SALAZAR, PHILIPPE-JOSEPH (U. Cape Town). Recent: An African Athens. The Rhetorical Shaping of Democracy in Post-Apartheid South Africa, Erlbaum, 2002, $29.99 prix de lancement. See "p.salazar" <p.salazar@FREEMAIL.ABSA.CO.ZA>, <http://www.Amazon.com>www.Amazon.com> or <http://www.uct.ac.za/depts/rhetoricafrika>
SATOR (SOCIETE D'ANALYSE DE LA TOPIQUE ROMANESQUE). Recent: 16th annual Colloque, October 3–5, Queen's U., Kingston, Ont. Canada. Theme: "Topique de l'étranger (de l'étrange)." Contact: Max Vernet, Dépt. d'Etudes françaises, Queen's U., Kingston, Ont. K7L 3N6. <vernetm@qsilver.queensu.ca> tel. (613) 533 2090. SATOR website: http://www.satorbase.org.
SE17 (Society for Interdisciplinary French Studies) See Society for Seventeenth-Century French Studies (2003 Joint Meeting).
SOARE, ANTOINE (Montreal). Recent: "Il et elle: essai d'analyse stylistique de 'La Mort et le Bûcheron,' dans Inventaire, lecture, invention. Mélanges de critique et d'histoire littéraires offerts à Bernard Beugnot, Paragraphes, 1999, p. 263–273. "Subversion tragique et orthodoxie tragi-comique," Actes du colloque de Bristol, éd. Jan Clarke, SCFS 1999, no. 21, p. 43–55. "Phèdre et les métaphores du labyrinthe: les tracés et les formes", dans Les épreuves du labyrinthe. Essais de poétique et d'herméneutique raciniennes. Hommage tricentenaire, éd. Richard-Laurent Barnett, Dalhousie French Studies, 49 1999), 145–157. ´L'Intertexte cornélien d'Alexandre à Bajazet," dans Actes du colloque Corneille et Racine, éd. Alain Niderst, PFSCL 52, 2000, p. 85–113. "'La Grenouille qui se veut faire aussi grosse que le Boeuf,' ou le petit et le grand infini selon La Fontaine," dans Mélanges à la mémoire de Jean-Claude Morisot, eds. Mawy Bouchard et Maxime Prévost, Littératures, Nos 21–22 (2000), 119–158. "Sur un passage mal éclairé de L'Illusion comique": les métiers de Clindor dans le récit d'Alcandre," dans Les Arts du spectacle au théâtre (1550–1700), éds Marie-France Wagner et Claire Le Brun-Gouanavic, Paris, Champion, 2001, p. 109–141. Forthcoming: "Du Cid à Horace en passant par la tragi-comédie," for PFSCL.
SOCIETY FOR FRENCH STUDIES (UK). Annual Conference, U. of Sheffield, 30 June–2 July, 2003. Papers were due by 9/20/02. Contact Michael Sherringham (Royal Holloway C., U. London). FAX: (+44) 1784-470180. <chair@sfs.ac.uk>. http://french-studies.com/2003confcfp.php.
SOCIETY FOR INTERDISCIPLINARY FRENCH STUDIES (SE17). Recent: 21st Annual Conference: October 17–19, 2002, Minneapolis, Minnesota. Contact: Matthew Senior (U. Minnesota-Morris). <seniorm@mrs.umn.edu> Tel: 320-589-6298 Fax: 320-589-6253.
SOCIETY FOR SEVENTEENTH-CENTURY FRENCH STUDIES (U.K.). 24th Annual Conference (in conjunction with SE17)), U. of Durham, 18–21 September 2003 (to be held in Durham Castle). Theme: "Patterns of Learning in 17th c. France: from Theory to Practice/ Enseignement, éducation et érudition au XVIIe siècle: de la théorie à la pratique." Papers (20 min.) due by 1 April, to Dr. Nicholas Hammond, Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge CB2 1TA, UK NHammond@cai.cam.ac.uk Website: http://www.c17.org.uk.
SPIELMANN, GUY (Georgetown). Recent: Bk., Le jeu de l'ordre et du chaos. Comédie et pouvoirs à la fin du règne, 1673-1715. Paris: Honoré Champion, 2002 (Coll. "Lumière classique" no. 36. See REPERTOIRE.
STEINBERGER, DEBORAH (Delaware). Contrib. Ed., French 17.
SWEETSER, MARIE–ODILE (Ilinois–Chicago). Recent: "Avatars du couple chez Corneille," in L'Histoire littéraire, ses méthodes et ses résultats. Mélanges offerts à Madeleine Bertaud, ed. Luc Fraise, Genève, Droz, 2001, pp. 615-25. "Vaux et son goût. son exemplarité chez la Fontaine," in Vie des salons et activités littéraires de Marguerite de Valois à Mme de Staël, ed. Roger Marchal, PU de Nancy, 2001, pp. 173-88. "The Art of Praise from Malherbe to La Fontaine," in The Shape of Change: Essays in Honor of David Lee Rubin," ed. Anne Birberick Russell Ganim, Amsterdam, Rodopi, 2002, pp. 119-39. In Press: "Gardens, Parks, Landscapes as seen by Théophile de Viau and La Fontaine: mirrors of affectivity and aesthetics," in Analecta Husserliana, v.78 (2003),7-24. Voix féminines dans la littérature classique," in Actes de Tempe, ed. David Wetsel and Christine Probes, Biblio 17 (2003). "De l'idéalisme galant à l'héroïsme amoureux, " Actes du colloque international Madeleine de Scudéry, ed. Delphine Denis, PU de l'Artois, 2003. "Vénus et Adonis: le mythe et ses resurgences dans la tradition humaniste de la Renaissance européenne," in Le Fablier, no. 14, ed. Patrick Dandrey, 2003. "Paysages, jardins et parcs, miroirs de l'affectivité et des goûts de Tristan," in Littéral, Paris X–Nanterre, 2003.
TOBIN, RONALD W. (Calif.–Santa Barbara). Forthcoming: "La Fête gastronomique" in the acta of the Pezenas Conference on "Molière et la fête." "Qu'est–ce que la gastrocritique?", for the acta of La Journée Vatel, held at the Château de Chantilly. "Mythe et religion", in the acta of the Journées Raciniennes de l'Ile de France. Recent: "Le Théâtre de la convivialité" for conference celebrating the founding of l'Université Laval. Honorary Membership in AATF, bestowed in July. In progress: work on the "innocent stratagème" of Andromaque.
TOBIN FESTSCHRIFT. Theatrum mundi: mélanges en l'honneur de Ronald W. Tobin. Claire Carlin and Kathleen Wine, eds. This hardbound volume (EMF Critique), containing articles by well–known 17istes, will be presented at the 2003 NASSCFL Meeting. $38.95 to Rookwood Press, 520 Rookwood Place, Charlottesville, VA.22903-4734. For subscription information contact Claire Carlin, Dept.of French, U. Victoria <ccarlin@UVIC.CA>
TOCZYSKI, SUZANNE C. (Sonoma State). Recent: arts., "Performing Secrets in Célinte" in PFSCL; "(Im)possible Translations of The Waves," with C. Renaudin, in Virginia Woolf Bulletin; "Information Competence in the Freshman Seminar" in Academic Exchange Quarterly; Forthcoming: "Corps sacré, discours souverain" in the Acta for the Paris Scudéry conference. Conference paper: "Mégare, que dis-tu de cette violence?" (SE17 2002). Editor, French 17. (Dept. of ML&L, Sonoma SU, 1801 E. Cotati Ave., Rohnert Park, CA 94928) <suzanne.toczyski@sonoma.edu>).
TRINQUET, CHARLOTTE (North Carolina-Chapel Hill). Currently revising my dissertation "La petite histoire des contes de fees littéraires en France (1690–1705)" for publication. Second project: the first translation in French of Basile's Pentamerone (Naples, 1634). Basile is indeed an important and valuable source of French classic fairytales.)
VOS-CAMY, JOLENE (Calvin C.). Article in progress: "Theatrical Practice in Narrative: Scarron's Roman comique." Contrib. Ed., French 17.
VUILLEMIN, JEAN-CLAUDE (Penn State, Paris-8 and CNRS). Recent: "En finir avec Boileau...Quelques réflexions sur l'enseignement du théâtre 'classique'." RHT 3 (2001), 125–46. "Illusions comiques et dramaturgie baroque: Corneille, Rotrou et quelques autres," PFSCL (2001), 307–25. Forthcoming: "Vanitas: Herméneutique et paradoxes," in Vanités d'écrivains. Discours muets, ed. Christine Boucard. Paris: Salon du livre, 2002. In progress: Bks., Théories et perspectives: Baroque, pertinence d'une illusion. Jean Rotrou, L'Innocente Infidélité et La Belle Alphrède, in Théâtre complet de Jean Rotrou. ed. G. Forestier.
WATERSON, KAROLYN (Dalhousie U.). Women in Molière's comedies.
WEB 17. Ed. by Roger Duchêne, is a website for those interested in 17th C. Invites additions & corrections, information about correspondence, books, articles, and other items particularly interesting to the Web. Alphabetic index of site, at bottom left-hand book icon on welcome page.
WESTERN SOCIETY FOR EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY STUDIES (WSECS). Annual Conference "Renaissance III?: Continuities and Discontinuities from the Renaissance through the long Eighteenth Century." 15–16 February, at the Huntington Library, San Marino, CA. Interdisciplinary. Seeks papers in French which elucidate the carry-over of 17th to 18th C. Send proposals by 2 December, to Madeleine Marshall, WCSECS President, Calif. State U., San Marcos, CA 92096. <marshall@csusm.edu>
WETSEL, DAVID (Arizona State). President, NASSCFL 2001. Editor, Actes de Tempe, 6 vol. <wdwetsel@aol.com>
WINE, KATHLEEN (Dartmouth). Co-President, NASSCFL 2003 <Kathleen.Wine@Dartmouth.edu> See also TOBIN FESTSCHRIFT.
ZAISER, RAINER (U. Kôln), Co-Editor PFSCL/ Biblio 17. Recent: Paper "Le page disgracié de Tristan L'Hermite et la naissance du roman moderne en France", for international colloquium "Actualité(s) de Tristan" at the U. Paris X - Nanterrre, November 22–24, 2001 (will be published in the proceedings in 2003). Review: "Andrea Grewe, Vertu im Sprachgebrauch Corneilles: Ein Beitrag zur Geistes- und Sozialgeschichte des französischen 17. Jahrhunderts. Heidelberg: Winter, 1999", in RJ, 51 (2000), 255–256. (<rzaiser@gmx.de>).
ZUERNER, ADRIENNE (Skidmore). Contrib. Ed., French 17.
William Roberts