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2005 Number 53
LE GUERN, MICHEL. Pascal et Arnauld. Paris: Champion, coll. 《 Lumière classique 》, 2003.
Review: J. Dubray in RPFE 195.2 (avril-juin 2005), 219–220: "Ce livre veut combler une lacune, concernant les rapports d'Arnauld et de Pascal, dont tout donne à croire qu'ils furent étroits et complémentaires... Avec toute la prudence qu'impose le caractère lacunaire des documents et à l'aide des plus fragiles indices, Michel Le Guern parvient à établir que l'artisan de la rencontre entre les deux hommes fut, probablement, Jacqueline elle-même, promue maîtresse de novices de Port-Royal de Paris et bénéficiant de la direction spirituelle d'Arnauld... C'est peu de dire que cet ouvrage apporte, sur de nombreux points, des éclaircissements définitifs : il projette sur les deux personnalités emblématiques du mouvement janséniste une lumière irrécusable. 》
MOREAU, DENIS, ed. & trans. Antoine Arnauld. Textes philosophiques. Paris : PUF, coll. 《 Epiméthée 》, 2001.
Review : B. Benoît in RPFE 195.2 (avril–juin 2005): 218–219: "Cet ouvrage se propose de rendre justice à la pensée complexe d'Arnauld au moyen de traductions de textes inédits... Ouvrir à l'œuvre d'Antoine Arnauld, irréductible à la théologie, la logique ou la réflexion sur le langage, mais à comprendre comme une philosophie: tel est l'objectif de cette importante contribution."
CHILTON, PAUL A. "Jean Auvray (?–1626/33?)" in La poésie française du premier 17e siècle, eds. D. L. Rubin & R. Corum, Charlottesville, VA: Rookwood Press, 2004, pp. 99–101.
Introduction to a selection of Jean Auvray's poetry in the 2nd edition of this volume.
LOVE, RONALD S. "'A Passage to China': A French Jesuit's Perceptions of Siberia in the 1680s." FCS 4 (2003), 85–100.
Shows that Philippe Avril's detailed account of his effort to find a land route to China was of immense importance in that it expanded geographic knowledge of Asia, even though the mission itself ultimately failed.
MOMBELLO, GIANNI, and PAOLA CIFARELLI, eds. Alberi Bailly. La Correspondance. Vol. 5, années 1654–1655. Aoste: Académie de Saint-Anselme, 2003.
Review: O. Ranum at http://www.ranumspanat.com/bailly.html. "This edition of [Bailly's] correspondence. . . is superb, with a very effective system of cross references. There is a courtly air to some of the letters; there is mostly high intelligence and astute observation. No one should comment on Parisian politics in the 1640s without going through Bailly."
Review: C. Rolla in S Fr 144 (2004): 603: Useful not only for the letters collected and edited but also for the history of France and Savoie recounted and examined in the introduction. Bailly's letters provide "una testimonianza viva e penetrante della politica francese internazionale" (603). Rich critical apparatus includes ample notes, table and bibliography.
MONTOYA, ALICIA C. & VOLKER SCHRODER, eds. Marie-Anne Barbier. Cornélie, mère des Gracques. Toulouse: Société de Littératures Classiques, 2005.
(Collection de réédition de testes du XVIIe siècle, no.26).
GARDY, PHILIPPE. "Louis Baron (Pouyloubrin, 1612–1663) et le chant royal: modèles français et variations occitanes." RLR 108 no. 1 (2004): 115–134.
Examines the interplay between Occitan and French elements in Baron's poetry.
COUROUAU, JEAN-FRANÇOIS. "Deux mazarinades toulousaines pour une 'victoire' de l'occitan aux Jeux floraux: les chants royaux de Grégoire Barutel (1651)." RLR 108 no. 1 (2004): 89–114.
Barutel's victory in the poetic "Jeux floraux" of Toulouse in 1651 reinvigorates Occitan poetry and challenge's French's linguistic hegemony.
BRAHAMI, FREDERIC. "Le Dieu de Bayle est-il relativiste?" DSS 226 (2005), 135–144.
The author questions how Bayle, "relativiste dans le domaine de la philosophie naturelle, dans celui de la théologie ou dans celui des mathématiques, peut-il être 《 rationaliste 》 dans le domaine moral?" He concludes, "c'est en déployant les conséquences théologiques de la Chute que Bayle invente, loin du rationalisme, une conception de la morale qui pense les lois et les impératifs de la conscience par analogie avec les lois et les impératifs de la machinerie corporelle."
GROS, JEAN-MICHEL. "L'Art d'écrire dans les 'éclaircissements' du Dictionnaire historique critique de Pierre Bayle." RPFE 195.1 (jan.–mars 2005): 21–37.
Gros veut montrer que même si selon toute apparence dans la 2e édition de son dictionnaire en 1702 Bayle faisait 《 amende honorable 》 après les objections du Consistoire, 《 loin de se dédire, il enfonce au contraire le clou et, grâce à sa maîtrise de 《 l'art d'écrire 》, multiplie autant que faire se peut les occasions de détourner cet exercice de justification et de mortification en la réaffirmation souvent aggravée, des thèses mises en cause par le Consistoire."
LABROUSSE, ELISABETH, ANTONY MCKENNA, LAURENCE BERGON, HUBERT BOST, WIEP VAN BUNGE, and EDWARD JAMES, eds., with ERIC-OLIVIER LOCHARD, DOMINIQUE TAURISSON, ANNIE LEROUX, & CAROLINE VERDIER. Correspondance de Pierre Bayle, Vol. III: Janvier 1678–fin 1683. Lettres 147–241. Oxford: Voltaire Foundation, 2004.
Review: J. Charnley in MLR 100.3 (2005), 818: Meticulously edited third volume "of primary interest to those working specifically on Bayle, but it will also be fruitfully consulted by those interested both in learned correspondences and in the Huguenot diaspora of the late seventeenth century."
VAN LIESHOUT, H.H.M. The Making of Pierre Bayle's Dictionaire [sic] historique et critique. Amsterdam and Utrech: APA-Holland University Press, 2001.
Review: P. Rétat in RHL 104.3 (2004): 689–691: Very positive review of a work "qui nous fait pénétrer dans l'énorme machine textuelle et bibliographique du Dictionnaire, [et] nous permet, autant qu'il est possible, de la maîtriser et de la comprendre." Work offers a statistical breakdown of the Dictionnaire into many different categories; gives a complete analysis of all of Bayle's sources. Reviewer also lauds the author's history of the writing of the work, which, though not strictly innovative, is lively and perfectly pitched. Book also comes with an accompanying CD-ROM containing the author's databases.
HOUSTON, MONA TOBIN. "Charles-Timoléon de Beauxoncles (1560?–1611)" in La poésie française du premier 17e siècle, eds. D. L. Rubin & R. Corum, Charlottesville, VA: Rookwood Press, 2004, pp. 143–146.
Introduction to a selection of Beauxoncles' poetry in the 2nd edition of this volume.
MAURI, DANIELA. 《 Les Avantures de Floride, La Pucelle d'Orléans et L'Histoire d'Herodias de Béroalde de Verville. 》 OeC 30.1 (2005): 75–84.
《 Nous examinerons d'un côté les préfaces et, de l'autre, les personnages féminins les plus importants qui agissent dans ces romans. Cet examen. . . suffira. . . à donner une idée claire de la destination de ces textes et à révéler la cohérence existant entre les intentions exprimées par l'auteur dans ses préfaces et leurs illustrations fictionnelles dans ses ouvrages. 》
CORUM, ROBERT T., JR. Reading Boileau: An Integrative Study of the Early Satires. West Lafayette: Purdue UP, 1998.
Review: CdDS 9.1 (2004): 168–69. A study of Boileau's first nine satires and their accompanying Discours au Roy that aims to take Boileau seriously as a poet and to understand his satires as aesthetic wholes. Author provides "a much fuller account of Boileau's poetic persona than has been available before," one that is framed by "an extensive knowledge of the satirical tradition in ancient Greece and Rome." Reviewer feels that some of the close textual analyses blur "the distinction between scholarly monograph and study guide" and make for "disjunctive reading," but finds that on a whole this "is a highly informative and well-crafted scholarly book" that both "teaches us a great deal about Boileau's early poems and leaves us wanting more."
JOIN-LAMBERT, SOPHIE & MAXIME PREAUD, eds. Abraham Bosse: savant graveur, Tours, vers 1604–1676. Paris: Bibliothèque nationale de France, 2004.
Review: BCLF 666 (2005), 48–49: Catalogue de l'exposition présentée du 20 avril – 11 juillet 2004 à la Bibliothèque nationale de France et du 17 avril – 18 juillet 2004 au musée des Beaux-arts de Tours lors du quatrième centenaire de la naissance de l'artiste. L'ouvrage présente 《 un portrait à la fois complet, nuancé et surtout actualisé. 》
JOULIN, CECILE. La Mort dans les Oeuvres oratoires de Bossuet. Saint-Etienne: publications de l'Université de Saint-Etienne, 2002.
Review: B. Papasogli in S Fr 143 (2004): 360–61: Appreciated for its richness and its rigor, this exhaustive examination is organized in three parts: "L'événement de la mort," "Le sens de la mort," and "O mort, où est ta victoire?"
LOPEZ, DENIS. "Bossuet, autour de l'année 1700" in Aurélia Gaillard, ed. L'Année 1700. Actes du colloque du Centre de recherches sur le XVIIe siècle européen (1600–1700). Université Michel de Montaigne, Bordeaux III, 30–31 janvier 2003. Biblio 17 (154). Tübingen: Gunter Narr Verlag, 2004. 127–154.
The author looks at Bossuet's interpretation of the political, historical, and social events around 1700 in order to explain why his Politique saw the monarchy as part of an unbreakable continuum that assured political stability.
MINOIS, GEORGES. Bossuet. Entre Dieu et le soleil. Paris: Perrin, 2003.
Review: C. Martin in DSS 227 (2005), 366–367: This biography is reviewed as being somewhat uneven with certain sections of good quality and great interest ("le chapitre sur Bossuet évêque de Meaux). "La grande qualité de ce livre est précisément de se fonder sur les textes, d'analyser le contenu des écrits et de la correspondance de Bossuet avec minutie. Mais il faut regretter qu'une meilleure appréhension du XVIIe siècle ne permette pas une mise en perspective correcte."
PARISI, LUCIANO. Manzoni e Bossuet. Alessandria: Edizioni dell'Orso, 2003.
Review: G. P. Giudicetti in LR 58 (2004): 151–54: Praiseworthy for its clarity, readability and its convincing interpretations of Manzoni. Focuses on Manzoni's relation to religious literature and Bossuet The first five chapters treat Manzoni, the 17th c., Jansenism and Bossuet. Later chapters develop Manzoni's irony and religious vision.
TULOT, JEAN-LUC, ed. Correspondance de Henri de la Tour d'Auvergne, Duc de Bouillon, aux La Trémoille. Saint-Brieuc, 2000.
Review: O. Ranum at http://www.ranumspanat.com/tulot_bouillon.html. "[P]rivately printed edition of the letters exchanged by the Duke of Bouillon and the La Trémoilles" notably "preserve exchanges of information between men and women of very high rank, regarding realm-wide policies (the revolt led by Condé in 1615) and Huguenot church politics."
SANKO, HELENE N. "Le Traité du jardinage de Jacques Boyceau (1560–1635?) et l'esthétique du XVIIe siècle." PFSCL XXXII, 62 (2005), 33–49.
Through analysis of Boyceau's Traité examines the question: "Existe-t-il au XVIIe siècle un ensemble de principes à la base d'une expression artistique qui s'appliquerait au plan et à la réalisation des jardins connus aujourd'hui sous le nom de 《 jardins à la française 》?"
UTT, WALTER C. & BRIAN STRAYER. The Bellicose Dove: Claude Brousson and Protestant Resistance to Louis XIV, 1647–1698. Brighton: Sussex Academic Press, 2003.
Review: T. Worcester in SCN 62 (2004), 246–249: With his death in 1985, Utt "left an unfinished manuscript on the life and death of Huguenot Claude Brousson." Strayer undertook its completion and the result, according to the reviewer, is a serious history that "convincingly reveal[s] a human Brousson more complex than a faultless saint," but suffers from a narrow view in that the authors shy away from a comparative study with Puritan counterparts and even "oppressed religious minorities within France."
HAWCROFT, MICHAEL. "The Stagecraft of Campistron." PFSCL XXXII, 63 (2005), 419–440.
"This article explores the nature of Campistron's stagecraft and the extent to which he might have benefited not from Racine's poetry, which he undoubtedly attempts to echo in places, but from his predecessor's strong sense of theatrical performance as a physical phenomenon."
VENESOEN, CONSTANT, ed. Jean-Pierre Camus: Divertissement historique. Tübingen: Gunter Narr (Bilio 17), 2002.
Review: J. Harris in FS 58.1 (2002): 97–98. The reviewer finds the author's work is well-referenced but frustrating for too often pointing out Camus' influence on later writers while not making "any attempt to situate the Divertissement within the context of Camus' oeuvre more generally." Nonetheless, this edition is "pertinent," "engaging" and "welcome."
CLIN-LALANDE, ANNE-MARIE, ed. Jean Benech de Cantenac: Satyres nouvelles. Exeter: University of Exeter Press, 2001.
Review: Culpin, D. J. in FS 58.1 (2004): 106–107. The reviewer does not comment extensively on the value of edition but chooses to focus on the life and work of de Cantenac. The review does say, ambivalently, that this is "an interesting collection of poems" but that a "case still needs to be made" for de Cantenac's work.
PELLETIER, MONIQUE. Les cartes des Cassini : La science au service de l'Etat et des régions. Paris: Les Editions du Cths, 2002.
Review: J. B. Shank in FHS 28.4 (Fall 2005), 661–695: This book is "a reissue of the 1990 text published by the press of the Ecole Nationale des Ponts et Chausées. This new and wonderfully illustrated paperback adds some bibliographic material and other appendixes while offering the text in an affordable, pocket format. In substance, however, it is not changed from the text that appeared under the auspices of France's leading institution of cartography. Consonant with these institutional origins, the book offers little in the way of engagement with the larger questions shaping Old Regime history or history of science, yet precisely because its conceptual and empirical literalness it opens up fascinating perspectives on the institutional history of science in Old Regime France."
BAKER, SUSAN READ. "Nautical Fare in Robert Challe's Journal d'un voyage fait aux Indes Orientales (1690–1691)." CdDS 9.1 (2004): 21–32.
Using the differences between the draft of Challe's work and its published version, author examines the additions Challe made about food and drink; emphasizes that the work is not merely an inventory, but rather "an economics of consumption fraught with moral, political, ideological, even theological overtones."
FRANCALANZA, ERIC. "Challe, du vécu à la mise en scène des peurs." TL 17 (2004): 147–160.
Includes two foci: the autobiographical texts of Challe and his "oeuvres romanesques." From the first, the reader will gain a vision of Challe's "humanism" which includes a general discourse on the other and the accompanying fear as well as particular examples. The second emphasis studies the mises en scène of this fear, especially in Les Illustres Françaises, for their relevance to conceptions of heroism, the moi and gloire.
RANUM, PATRICIA. "Marc-Antoine Charpentier (1643–1704), composer for the Guises, the Jesuits, the Sainte-Chapelle of the Palais."
Website details Charpentier's family, compositional world, manuscripts, chronology of works, evidence for dating, and patrons & their activities. http://ranumspanat.com/charpentier_intro.html
RANUM, PATRICIA. "A Portrait of Marc-Antoine Charpentier." Article found at: http://www.ranumspanat.com/portrait_charpentier.htm.
Recounts the discovery of a previously unnoted portrait of the composer located in the Manskopf Collection at the University Library of Frankfurt am Main, with extensive discussion of the possibility that the portrait was faked or merely copied.
FERRER, VERONIQUE. "Les metamorphoses du bestiare biblique dans les Paraphrases sur les CL Pseaumes de David de Jean-Baptiste Chassignet." In Charles Mazouer, ed. L'animal au XVIIe siècle. Actes de la 1ère journée d'études (21 novembre 2001) du Centre de recherches sur le XVIIe siècle européen (1600–1700) (Université Michel de Montaigne-Bordeaux III). Biblio 17 Number 146. Tübingen: Gunter Narr Verlag, 2003. 27–38.
While Chassignet is constrained by the hypotextual authority of the Bible, he does innovate.
MICHEL, LISE. "Le Coriolan d'Urbain Chevreau: heurts et conciliations des contraintes dans l'écriture d'une tragédie en 1637." PFSCL XXXII, 63 (2005), 573–583.
"On se propose ici de lire la pièce de Chevreau sous l'angle d'une analyse des contraintes d'écriture du texte dramatique, et plus précisement sur les ambiguïtés ou étrangetés induites par la tentative de conciliation de ces contraintes."
VERGE-FRANCESCHI, MICHEL. Colbert. La Politique du bon sens. Paris: Payot, 2003.
Review: M. Lemoine in DSS 226 (2005), 175–176: Welcomed as a refreshing contribution to the history of this much-studied figure from the perspective of a "maritimiste." The reviewer points to the underlying original research drawn from newly discovered documents at the BN and describes the author's intentions: "Cet ouvrage se veut donc une véritable réhabilitation du Grand Colbert, non pas tant dans ses pratiques, somme toute assez similaires à celle d'un Mazarin ou d'un Fouquet, mais dans son éthique politique." The reviewer praises the primary contribution of the work as having "minutieusement mis à jour cette nébuleuse souterraine, véritable alternative sur la longue durée aux choix de Colbert et Louis XIV."
BERREGARD, SANDRINE. "Les didascalies dans le théâtre de Corneille." DSS 227 (2005), 227–241.
Citing the particular importance and proliferation of stage directions from 1630–1650, the author selects Corneille's works for particular study because he used them for a wide selection of genres and over a lengthy period of time. Through many pertinent examples, she makes the case that "le discours didascalique permet d'instaurer entre l'auteur et son lecteur un rapport privilégié. Détenteur d'informations inaccessibles au spectateur, le lecteur aura le pouvoir d'anticiper et, ainsi, la capacité de mieux interpréter les propos des personnages." Thus, as Corneille wished, "le plaisir du lecteur sera d'une qualité presque égale à celui du spectateur."
FERNEY, FREDERIC. Performance review of Le Menteur, mise-en-scène, Jean-Louis Benoit, Comédie Française, fall-winter 2004–2005. Le Point 1678 (2004), 139:
Sees in Dorante, "qui ne cesse d'inventer sa vie," a figure for the author: "tous ces gens prêts à le croire ou à l'admirer à cause de son talent, nous inclus, c'est le public." The actors are "cornéliens: époustouflants de fougue et de vérité," and "grâce à Jean-Louis Benoit, Corneille redevient ce qu'il a toujours été: l'auteur le plus jeune et le plus fou du théâtre français."
GEORGES, ANDRE. "Corneille et la grâce." LR 58 (2004): 17–25.
As Georges explains in his first note, he has in several previous studies treated the question of grace from the standpoint of textual exegesis. Here, the plan is "synthétique" and historical, as Georges demonstrates Corneille's debt not to Molina as others have claimed but to Augustine. Well-documented and detailed study examines Corneille's formation at the collège de Rouen and convincingly shows the Augustinian character of Corneille's Polyeucte, Cinna and Horace.
KOCH, ERIC R. "Horace/Cinna and the End of War." PFSCL XXXII, 62 (2005), 69–78.
Examines what distinguishes Horace from Cinna in their respective treatments of the founding of the state.
VUILLEUMIER-LAURENS, FLORENCE, ed. Charles Cotin. Les énigmes de ce temps. Paris: Société des Belles Lettres, Textes Français, 231, 2003.
Review: C. Bernanzzoli in S Fr 143 (2004): 359–60: Vuilleumier-Laurens's edition of Cotin with useful introduction on the history of the enigma's poetics, an ample bibliography and 5 "interessanti" annexes.
TUNLEY, DAVID. François Couperin and "The Perfection of Music." Burlington, VT: Ashgate, 2004.
Review: J. Rubin in Choice 42.6 (2005), 1032. Tunley's study of this 17th- and 18th-century French composer considers Couperin's role in his culture's assimilation of Italian compositional style. Tunley balances his consideration of Couperin's sacred and secular music, and contextualizes both with regard to the composer's biography. The reviewer expresses praise for Tunley's appendixes and his quotation of score excerpts.
ALCOVER, MADELEINE. "Cyrano de Bergerac (1619–1654)" in La poésie française du premier 17e siècle, eds. D. L. Rubin & R. Corum, Charlottesville, VA: Rookwood Press, 2004, pp. 394–396.
Introduction to a selection of Cyrano's letters in the 2nd edition of this volume.
ARCURI, CARLO, ed. Études romanesques 8: au creux du temps, parole prophétique, parole romanesque. Paris-Caen: Lettres Modernes Minard, 2003.
Review: O. Odaert in LR 58 (2004): 135–37: This number of ER is organized according to two "grands axes, selon qu'ils traitent du potentiel prophétique de la parole romanesque ou qu'ils évoquent son 'caractère proprement 《 cartographique 》' (Arcuri 4) dans l'organisation spatio-temporelle du roman" (135). 17th c. scholars will appreciate articles on the question of the future in Cyrano's L'autre monde, by Claudine Nédélec as well as editor Arcuri's own "parcours savoureux" on the debate concerning rhetoric, fiction and truth between "les fidèles d'Aristote" and "les successeurs de Platon" (137).
BLANC, ANDRE. Oeuvres complètes. Tome III. Théatre. Paris: Champion, 2001.
Review: R. Parish in FS 58.1 (2004): 100–101. In a positive review of volumes II and III of Cyrano's works (see ERBA & CARRIER, below, for Vol.III), the reviewer praises Erba's and Carrier's erudition, and the necessary but "very heavy" historical annotation. Overall, the scholarly work and bibliographies give good analysis of Cyrano's current status and provide the reader with a "multi-faceted literary history of the period."
DARMON, JEAN-CHARLES. Le Songe libertin: Cyrano de Bergerac, d'un monde à l'autre. Paris: Klincksieck, 2004.
Review: n.a. in BCLF 666 (2004), 67–68: Darmon 《 se propose d'examiner l'œuvre de Cyrano à part entière, loin des légendes et des raccourcis encombrants. Ses écrits, fort divers (roman, apologue, théâtre), sont analysés sur cet arrière-plan fécond, proposé par René Pintard en 1943, le 'libertinage érudit'. 》
DARMON, JEAN-CHARLES, ed. Les Etats et Empires de la Lune et du Soleil. 》 Paris: Champion, 2004.
Review: n.a. in BCLF 671 (2004), 61: Volume 《 du but purement scolaire de l'agrégation 》 qui comprend une quinzaine d'articles. . . 《 organisés autour de trois grands thèmes, . . .: l'insertion de cette œuvre au sein du mouvement libertin et de ses polémiques ; la place de la science dans ces deux romans de l'exploration cosmologique, et son articulation avec la création littéraire ainsi qu'avec les produits d'une imagination puissante ; enfin la création littéraire proprement dite, et en particulier le rôle du langage, que Cyrano manie avec habileté et audace. 》
ERBA, LUCIANO & HUBERT CARRIER, eds. Oeuvres Complètes. Tome II. Lettres. Entretiens pointus. Mazarinades. Paris: Champion, 2001.
Review: R. Parish in FS 58.1 (2004): 100–101. In a positive review of volumes II and III of Cyrano's works (see BLANC, above, for vol. II), the reviewer praises Erba's and Carrier's erudition, and the necessary but "very heavy" historical annotation. Overall, the scholarly work and bibliographies give good analysis of Cyrano's current status and provide the reader with a "multi-faceted literary history of the period."
NEDELEC, CLAUDINE. "Cyrano de Bergerac, entre science et fiction." IL 57.1 (2005): 20–27.
Can one call Cyrano's work a "roman de science-fiction"? To what extent is it an encyclopedic novel? Concludes that Cyrano always mixes fiction with any discourse of authority: "il y a, dans toutes les paroles qui se veulent de vérité, un peu de fiction."
FISHMAN, LAURA. "Crossing Gender Boundaries: Tupi and European Women in the Eyes of Claude d'Abbeville." FCS 4 (2003), 81–98.
Discusses the role of gender in Capuchin missionary Claude d'Abbeville's work with the Tupinamba of early 17th- century Brazil. Explores d'Abbeville's assessment in light of his own notions of gender, and questions whether his conclusions concerning the Tupinamba were accurate.
HAMON-PORTER, BRIGITTE. "Les Aventures de Dassoucy: défense et nouvelle illustration de la langue burlesque." PFSCL XXXII, 62 (2005), 165–179.
"Cet essai se propose d'examiner la défense offerte par Dassoucy au service du burlesque, de voir ensuite comment l'auteur, qui s'entête à utiliser le mot 'burlesque' comme un blason, utilise ce style déprécié dans un texte en prose et enfin à quelles fins le burlesque, présent dans Les Aventures, est utilisé."
BANDERIER, GILLES, ed. François Hédelin, abbé d'Aubignac. Des Satyres brutes, monstres et démons. Grenoble: Jérome Millon, 2003.
Review: S. Houdard in DSS 226 (2005), 166–168: This new and welcomed publication of d'Aubignac's little-read treatise is drawn from the original 1627 edition (Paris, chez Nicolas Buon). The author's "courte introduction et ses notes éclairent un ouvrage qui se démarque des lourds traités érudits de son temps en citant rarement ses sources autrement que par allusion, cette édition donne enfin un glossaire court mais suffisant."
Review: B. Papasogli in S Fr 142 (2004): 184–85: Welcome edition of D'Aubignac's "operetta giovanile" which had only one 17th c. and one 18th c. edition. The "Atopia" collection focuses less on scholarly presentation of texts than on their originality—therefore the critical apparatus is scant. It does however provide sufficient material (introduction, notes, bibliography) as to permit "una buona lettura del testo" (185).
FERRER, VERONIQUE, ed. Agrippa d'Aubigné. Œuvres complètes. I, Petites Œuvres meslees; suivi du Recueil des vers de Monsieur d'Ayre. Paris: Champion, 2004.
Review: n.a. in BCLF 668 (2005), 82: Cet 《 ensemble assez hétéroclite,. . . qui va de 1572 à 1628 environ 》 constitue une 《 grande réussite éditoriale 》 et 《 réunit en deux grands ensembles, méditations en prose et paraphrases en vers sur le texte des psaumes d'une part et poésie spirituelle, politique et morale de l'autre. 》
SHINABARGAR, SCOTT. "L'esthétique du mal: la violence des œuvres de d'Aubigné et de Baudelaire." PFSCL XXXII, 62 (2005), 125–142.
Examines the aesthetics of evil which underlies the two poets' work. "Ce qui contribue à justifier l'aspect comparatif de l'étude actuelle, c'est le point de départ particulier que partagent les deux œuvres: chaque poète énonce ou effectue sa propre esthétique du mal à travers une réaction aux conventions littéraires." Suggests that this esthétique du mal "dans ces deux œuvres reflète un réorientation graduelle de la poésie; ou plus précisément, une revalorisation intérieure du discours poétique."
STEDMAN, ALLISON. "D'Aulnoy's Histoire d'Hypolite, comte de Duglas (1690): A Fairy-Tale Manifesto." M&T 19 (2005), 32–53.
Contrary to the trend of analyzing French fairy-tales as "independent narratives [. . .], this paper explores the motivations behind the popular late-seventeenth-century trend of fairy-tale interpolation by examining how the movement's founder—Marie-Catherine Le Jumel de Barneville, comtesse d'Aulnoy—may have inspired her salon contemporaries to receive, interpret, and eventually reproduce the fairy tale as the latest mondain generic innovation." Particular attention is paid to the interpolated tale "L'île de la félicité" in d'Aulnoy's "Histoire d'Hypolite" in order to show how this tale, far from being subordinate, has an immediate effect on the milieu in which it is told.
THIRARD, MARIE-AGNES. "Prévisible et imprévisible dans l'œuvre de Mme d'Aulnoy ou une nouvelle esthétique du conte." PFSCL XXXII, 62 (2005), 181–196.
Argues that "le passage d'une esthétique du prévisible caractéristique du conte populaire originel à une esthétique de l'imprévisible plutôt héritée du romanesque baroque serait [. . .] au cœur du nouvel art du conte inauguré par Madame d'Aulnoy."
O'CONNOR, NANCY M. De sa propre main: Recueils de choses morales de Dauphine de Sartre, marquise de Robiac (1634–1685). Birmingham, AL: Summa Publications, Inc., 2005.
BAVAREL-CROISSANT, MARIE FRANÇOISE. La vie et les œuvres complètes de Jacques Vallée Des Barreaux (1599–1673). Paris: Honoré Champion, 2001.
Review: L. Godard de Donville in DSS 226 (2005), 168–169: A very welcome and comprehensive study of this "Prince des libertines." First part is biography and second part provides introduced and annotated complete works including 10 poems that are possibly to be attributed to the author, "ainsi les dix-septiémistes disposeront-ils d'une précieuse édition de textes, mise à jour et établie sans idée préconçue à l'égard du poète."
ALQUIE, FERDINAND. Leçons sur Descartes: science et métaphysique chez Descartes. Paris: La Table ronde, 2005.
Review: BCLF 672 (2005), 7–8: Les cours d'Alquié prononcés à la Sorbonne en 1955.
BOS, HENK J. M. Redefining Geometrical Exactness: Descartes' Transformation of the Early Modern Concept of Construction. New York: Springer Verlag, 2001.
Review: E. Knobloch in Isis 96.3 (2005), 431–432. Bos's two-part book first reviews the early modern tradition of geometrical problem solving before demonstrating how Descartes' "Geometry," guided by the two philosophical concerns of method and exactness, provided a solution to problems facing earlier mathematicians. "Presents an overwhelming richness of new historical insights, making a similar book on the 'fluid concept' of rigor in mathematics highly desirable."
BOUCHILLOUX, HELENE. La question de la liberté chez Descartes: libre arbitre, liberté et indifférence. Paris: Champion, 2003.
Review: J.-M. Gabaude in RPFE 195.2 (avril–juin 2005), 221–222: "Que la question de la liberté soit fondamentale et centrale dans la métaphysique de Descartes et que son traitement y soit cohérent dans sa progression, ce point de départ et cette conclusion établie nous paraissent justes... La difficulté est de définir et d'articuler malgré leur complexité les trois notions du sous-titre. Hélène Bouchilloux explique avec souci pédagogique, en suivi, les textes clés qu'elle intègre in extenso et chronologiquement."
Review: Mentioned in Choice 42.4 (2004), 606 as a "significant European scholarly title" for 2003. The work is described as a "study of the relationship of Descartes' metaphysics to concepts of liberty" (606).
BOURIAU, CHRISTOPHE. "Descartes est-il relativiste en morale?" DSS 226 (2005), 69–83.
In proving that "la morale cartésienne, sous ses divers aspects, reste relative," the author compares this brand of moral relativism with the opposite, absolute views posited by "un Malebranche ou d'un Kant. Je voudrais montrer par cette confrontation que la doctrine cartésienne de la création des vérités éternelles est au cœur de la séparation entre une morale relative (aux hommes) et une morale absolue (prétendant valoir pour tous les êtres rationnels.)"
GAUKROGER, STEPHEN. Descartes' System of Natural Philosophy. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2002.
Review: D. Des Chene in Isis 96.3 (2002), 436–437. Not a lot of new material, although Gaukroger does try to reconstruct the missing parts (4 and 5) of Descartes' Principles of Philosophy, an attempt that Des Chene deems "suggestive but thin." That said, "for anyone who wants a comprehensive overview of Descartes' natural philosophy, together with some sense of the place of Descartes's project in its period, Gaukroger's wok is an excellent starting point."
KAPOSI, DOROTTYA. "Indifférence et liberté humaine chez Descartes." RMM no. 1 (Jan.–Mar. 2004): 73–99.
The author examines Descartes' work between 1641–1645 "to clarify the connections between indifference and freedom in Descartes' thought and to compare his position to the major theological trends of his time."
LAUTH, REINHARD. La conception cartésienne du système de la philosophie. Trad. Christophe Bouriau. Paris: Champion, 2004.
Review: M.-F. Pellegrin in RPFE 195.2 (avril–juin 2005), 222: "C'est une tâche ambitieuse que s'assigne Reinhard Lauth dans cet ouvrage: restituer son caractère transcendantal à la philosophie cartésienne, engoncée, selon lui, dans des lectures trop réalistes. Il faut pour cela une méthode anachronique au sens strict, c'est-à-dire qui cherche chez un auteur des concepts qui lui sont postérieurs." La critique trouve que la méthode "n'est pas toujours non plus très juste à l'égard de cette postérité variée, également ballottée entre jugements négatifs ou positifs selon les nécessités de l'argumentation." Cependant, elle dit que "ce projet ambitieux donne en définitive une profondeur temporelle et donc philosophique intéressante à Descartes, si on en accepte la méthode."
WILSON, CATHERINE. Descartes's Meditations: An Introduction. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 2003.
Review: R. Lee in Choice 42.1 (2004), 117. Recommended for beginning readers of the Meditations in conjunction with coursework on Descartes. Readers are encouraged to read Wilson's book in its entirety. However, reviewer notes that "the larger Cartesian picture, which is not easily accessible to a modern philosopher writing in the analytic mode, is difficult to detect" (117).
BANDERIER, GILLES, ed. Jean Desmarets de Saint-Sorlin. Marie-Madeleine ou le triomphe de la grâce. Grenoble: Millon, 2001.
Review: C. Rolla in S Fr 142 (2004): 180: Banderier's welcome edition contains material on the author's life and on the figure of the Madeleine. Helpful glossary and useful selective bibliography on the Madeleine.
POLSKY, ZACHARY. "The Bloodless Coup: Taming Armies and Emotions in the pièce à machines." PFSCL XXXII, 62 (2005), 79–85.
Analyses the role Desmarets' Mirame plays in "a new tradition of glorification of the throne by the theatre." Argues that "bloodshed, death, sacrifice, suicide, and war, already traditionally dramatically important themes, found in the machine an acceptable vehicle for physical representation and a useful means for portraying events which shaped the history and the literature of seventeenth-century France."
BALSAMO, J., ed. Philippe Desportes (1546–1606) un poète presque parfait entre Renaissance et classicisme. Paris: Klinsieck, 2000.
Review: J. Parkin in FS 58.1 (2004): 91–92. This is a very positive review of a collection of 23 articles. An "indispensable volume" whose "individual treatments. . . are as painstaking in their detail as they are measure in their evaluations."
STIKER-METRAL, CHARLES-OLIVIER, ed. François Desrues. Les Marguerites françoises ou thresor des fleurs du bien dire, fac-similé de l'édition de T. Reinsart, Rouen, 1609. Reims: Presses Universitaires de Reims, 2003.
Review: A. Arrigoni in S Fr 143 (2004): 356–57: Stiker-Métral is responsible for the preface and bibliography of this work which had a remarkable reception in the 17th c. but is difficult to classify, embracing the letter-writing and conversation manual, a collection of maxims, and love discourse.
GARDY, PHILIPPE. "Du Bartas et la poésie occitane (XVIe-XVIIe siècle): un modèle sociolinguistique, une source esthétique. 》 OeC 29.2 (2004): 65–77.
《 . . . ce rôle d'initiateur et de modèle peut être aujourd'hui répertorié de façon plus systématique, en fonction des différentes images du poète qui ont été invoquées par ceux qui se sont placés sous son patronage. Nous distinguerons ainsi les influences proprement linguistiques (et plus largement sociolinguistiques) d'un côté, et, d'un autre celles qui touchent à l'esthétique de l'œuvre dans son ensemble, occitane bien sûr, mais plus encore française. 》
GETHNER, PERRY. "Jacques du Lorens (1580–1655)" in La poésie française du premier 17e siècle, eds. D. L. Rubin & R. Corum, Charlottesville, VA: Rookwood Press, 2004, pp. 170–171.
Introduction to a selection of Du Lorens' poetry in the 2nd edition of this volume.
BLUM-CUNY, PASCALE, ed. Méditations sur les Psaumes. Paris: Champion, 2004.
Review: n.a. in BCLF 672 (2005), 95: Edition critique dont l'introduction est 《 strictement philologique, et qui néglige par conséquent de mettre en rapport les Méditations de Duplessis-Mornay avec celles composées par Agrippa d'Aubigné et Jean de Sponde, qui semblent supérieures au strict point de vue littéraire. 》
DAUSSY, HUGUES. Les huguenots et le roi: Le combat politique de Philippe Duplessis-Mornay (1572–1600). Geneva: Droz, 2002.
Review: J. R. Smither in Ren Q 57 (2004): 637–38: Judged "the definitive account of Mornay's political career," Daussy's "thoroughly researched and tightly argued study. . . provid[es] a coherent interpretation of three decades of political activity." Daussy's sources are mainly Mornay's letters, pamphlets and biographies by his wife and secretary. Advances Mornay's authorship of the Vindiciae contra tyrannos. When Henri IV converted to Catholicism, Mornay still hoped to advance Calvinism, mediating between Henri IV and the Huguenots, eventually becoming a target for Catholic counterattack. Though Smither would have advised a more biographical approach, he does not find Daussy's work diminished.
EUSTIS, ALVIN. "Etienne Durand (1585–1618)" in La poésie française du premier 17e siècle, eds. D. L. Rubin & R. Corum, Charlottesville, VA: Rookwood Press, 2004, p. 191.
Introduction to a selection of Durand's poetry in the 2nd edition of this volume.
PETEY-GIRARD, BRUNO. Les Méditations chrétiennes d'un parlementaire. Etude sur les premières oeuvres de piété de Guillaume Du Vair. Paris: Champion, 2003.
Review: E. Ahmed in Ren Q 57 (2004): 1021–1022: Judged "engaging," "eloquent," and "profound," Petey-Girard's "close rhetorical analyses" interrogates Du Vair's "moral voice during the difficult years of the French Wars of Religion" and provides a "significant reassessment of the later Renaissance moral thinker" (1021). Du Vair (1556–1621) is depicted "not only as a meditator but also a mediator" (1022). Petey-Girard has also recently edited a number of Du Vair's works (Champion, 2002).
Review: M. Houllemare in DSS 226 (2005), 165–166: This work significantly expands upon du Vair's image as, "orateur et stoïcien." "Cet ouvrage montre ainsi comment la vision politique des officiers royaux des XVIe et XVIIe siècles trouve son fondement éthique dans cette piété intime et méditative." Reviewer also points to this work as important to the general study of religious texts of the day.
Review: L. Petris in BHR 66.3 (2004), 782–86: 《 . . .l'auteur s'attache à recréer le cadre de pensée qui préside aux œuvres méditatives du parlementaire, qui fait de la méditation spirituelle le creuset de son écriture. Plus largement, il étudie et situe le rôle des œuvres de spiritualité dans le projet rhétorique et civique de Du Vair. . .
GREINER, FRANK, ed. François Dorval, Langlois Sieur de Fancan. Le Tombeau des romans. Reims: Presses Universitaires de Reims, 2003.
Review: C. Rolla in S Fr 143 (2004): 357: Welcome edition of a rare document of 17th c. literary criticism focusing on a genre in formation—the novel. Reproduces the text of the 1626 edition and contains an intelligent introduction focusing on sources as well as on stylistic and linguistic qualities of Fancan's theory. Reviewer would have appreciated a more detailed discussion of 17th c. debates on the subject but finds the volume useful.
FRAIGNEAU, COLIN. "Les enjeux éthiques de l'imitation dans le Télémaque: le paradoxe de l'inspiration virgilienne." DSS 227 (2005), 315ff.
In discussing Fénelon's complicated inspiration for Télémaque, the author concludes that, "pour concilier humanisme et spiritualité, Fénelon a placé son œuvre dans la continuité de l'Odyssée; en effet, Homère, auteur païen néanmoins proche de l'Ecriture par son style naturel, aurait été le modèle idéal du Télémaque. Cependant, le poète grec joue surtout un rôle d'intermédiaire entre inspirations biblique et virgilienne, tandis que Virgile demeure la principale source païenne du Télémaque."
LECOQ, ANNE-MARIE. La leçon de peinture du duc de Bourgogne. Fénelon, Poussin et l'enfance perdue. Paris: Le Passage, 2003.
Review: P. Touboul in RPFE 195.2 (avril–juin 2005), 223: "Cette étude se propose d'analyser les motifs qui ont conduit Fénelon à mettre en scène, dans les Dialogues des morts rédigés à l'intention du duc de Bourgogne, le personnage du peintre Poussin. Il s'agit donc de montrer, tout d'abord, l'intérêt que revêt la peinture aux yeux d'un pédagogue dont la mission consiste à préparer à sa charge le futur roi de France." Malgré quelques critiques, Touboul trouve que "la conclusion de l'ouvrage souligne, en revanche, d'une façon très suggestive le sens et la valeur dont bénéficie la peinture de Poussin dans ce "crépuscule des mystiques," et que la pensée des Lumières dédaignera en la condamnant à un relatif oubli."
HEPP, NOEMI & VOLKER KAPP, eds. Claude Fleury. Écrits de jeunesse: tradition humaniste et liberté d'esprit. Sources Classiques 45. Paris: Honoré Champion, 2003.
Review: J.-P. Collinet in S Fr 142 (2004): 181–82: Praiseworthy edition which has "tiré de l'ombre ce joyau si longtemps resté méconnu" (181). Hepp and Kapp's introduction is considered a model, precise, highly informative, and inviting to the reader. The "conversations" real and fictitious treat various subjects from the "appareil judiciaire" to literature—of Antiquity as well as of their own era. The intent of the speakers or "jeunes contestataires" is to "s'émanciper d'un humanisme en passe de se scléroser" and move forward to an "assouplissement" of that rigid humanism (182). Impeccable edition which fills "une regrettable lacune" and provides precious documents (182).
Review: M.-O. Sweetser in FR 78.5 (2005): 1002: A new edition of the youthful works of Fleury, who was most known for his writing on religion and on the history of French law. These écrits de jeunesse include two sets of entretiens, as well as commentary on the work of Homer and Fénelon's Télémaque. Hepp and Kapp, thanks to their extensive knowledge of the two latter authors, show themselves able editors of this volume. The work includes a general introduction as well as short introductions to the individual pieces it contains. Recommended for academic libraries.
MARTIN, CHRISTOPHE. "Fontenelle autour de 1700, ou les 'estranges productions de l'esprit humain'" in Aurélia Gaillard, ed. L'Année 1700. Actes du colloque du Centre de recherches sur le XVIIe siècle européen (1600–1700). Université Michel de Montaigne, Bordeaux III, 30–31 janvier 2003. Biblio 17 (154). Tübingen: Gunter Narr Verlag, 2004. 110–126.
By examing works from before and after 1700, the author examines Fontenelle's oscillation between fantasy and reason as typical of the "moment 1700" where "les diverses formes de la déraison. . . sont objet d'élection d'une raison qui. . . perçoit clairement et sans inquietude une presence de la déraison à l'intérieur d'elle-même."
LES PHILOSOPHIES DE FONTENELLE. Revue de philosophie Corpus. Paris: Université de Paris X-Nanterre, 2003.
Review: J. Boch in DSS 227 (2005), 373–374: "Publication annuelle émanant de la Société Fontenelle créée en 2000 sous l'égide de Jean Dagen et de Claudine Poulouin, la Revue Fontenelle accompagne l'édition critique des œuvres complètes de l'écrivain rouennais et de son amie Catherine Bernard, entreprise dans le cadre du CEREDI de l'Université de Rouen et publiée chez Honoré Champion. Sa vocation est de stimuler la recherche relative aux deux écrivains, d'en renouveler l'approche et de donner aux chercheurs un outil de travail actualisé."
REVUE FONTENELLE. Rouen: Publications de l'Université de Rouen, 2003.
Review: J. Boch in DSS 227 (2005), 372–373: "Le pluriel du titre dit d'emblée l'ambition de cette livraison consacrée à Fontenelle: mettre en évidence l'《 opportunisme supérieur 》 — selon la formule d'Alain Niderst, maître d'œuvre de ce numéro — d'un polygraphe qui a toujours refusé la systématisation. Les articles réunis dans ce volume excluent volontairement le dramaturge et le poète, et se consacrent à l'étude du philosophe et du vulgarisateur. Ils dessinent le visage d'un écrivain à la fois anticonformiste et prudemment conservateur, pyrrhonien et malebranchiste [...]"
MERLIN-KAJMAN, HELENE. "Sens contraire, ironie et négation dans le Dictionnaire universel de Furetière." LF 143 (2004), 111–126.
Compares and contrasts two forms of negation in Furetière's dictionary, one which causes the object or interlocutor to become invisible while the other allows each party to retain their distinct identity.
TAUSSIG, SYLVIE. "Gassendi, lecteur d'Evhémère." PFSCL XXXII, 63 (2005), 353–371.
Examines the influence of Euhemerus on Gassendi, and outlines how one could define "l'évhémérisme gassendiste."
TONKOVICH, JENNIFER. "Claude Gillot's Costume Designs for the Paris Opéra: Some New Sources." Burlington 1225 (2005), 248–252.
Examines some costume designs Gillot did for the Paris Opéra in the late 17th and early 18th centuries.
ESCUDE, PIERRE. "Les trois chants royaux de Pèire Godolin: une poétique toulousaine de la marge et du centre, 1604–1648." RLR 108 no. 1 (2004): 57–88.
Godolin's work challenges the poetic standards upheld by the Collège de Rhétorique of Toulouse.
PLAZENET, LAURENCE. "Gomberville et le genre romanesque." CAEIF 56 (2004), 359–378.
The author looks at the manifestly complicated relationship that Marin Le Roy de Gomberville had with "le genre romanesque" over the course of his life.
FOGEL, MICHELE. Marie de Gournay. Itinéraires d'une femme savante. Paris: Fayard, 2004.
Review: J.C. Arnould in DSS 227 (2005), 374–376: The reviewer points out that a definitive biography of Mme de Gournay has been long anticipated: "Marie de Gournay attendait un véritable historien qui prît en compte toutes les ressources (notamment archivistiques), qui disposât du savoir permettant de mettre en perspective ce destin exceptionnel mais aussi symptomatique de quatre-vingts ans d'histoire politique, sociale et littéraire (1565–1645) [...] Ce biographe compétent et attentif est Michèle Fogel, qui a su mener à bien une enquête parfois ardue mais dont les fruits passionneront tout autant les historiens que les littéraires."
BOMBART, MATHILDE. "La Querelle des Lettres de Guez de Balzac (1624–30): Ecriture, polémique et critique." IL 56.1 (2004): 41–45.
Summary of author's thesis, which offers a chronological account of the controversy surrounding Balzac's first work. Author stresses the heterogeneous types of questions the work raised—questions regarding the rhetorical tradition, the public function of eloquence, and forms of authority; argues that Balzac's subversion lay in the way the Lettres affirmed an aesthetic liberty in the face of religious or moral control.
TRONC, DOMINIQUE, ed. Jeanne-Marie Guyon: La Vie par elle-même et autres écrits biographiques. Paris: Champion, 2001.
Review: V. Worth-Stylianou in FS 59.2 (2005), 244–45: Tronc "has provided a great service" with this edition, according to this very positive review, which praises the excellent index and cross-referencing. This edition is also the first time Guyon's autobiography has been republished in its entirety since the eighteenth century and is useful to serious scholars of Guyon or early feminist mystics.
BIET, CHRISTIAN. "Le Spectacle du sang, l'incapacité des rois et l'impuissance du public: Représentation de la souveraineté et spectacle violent dans les tragédies du tout premier XVIIe siècle. Scédase d'Alexandre Hardy" in J.-V. Blanchard & H. Visentin, eds., L'Invraisemblance du pouvoir, Fasano / Paris: Schena editore / Presses de l'Université de Paris-Sorbonne, 2005, pp. 31–51.
As Blanchard and Visentin explain in their introductory essay, Biet demonstrates how "La tragédie montre la complexité de l'image du roi dont le role se définit ici dans 《 l'excès 》. La distance entre la scène et la salle qu'instaure le spectacle tragique permet justement de questionner la vraisemblance du pouvoir et de mettre en scène la question de la légitimité du souverain" (21). For Biet, "ce théâtre de l'âge baroque, qui reflète un monde de la Chute, met en doute la lisibilité par les hommes du dessein providential et eschatologique de Dieu" (21).
CAMERON, KEITH, ed. La Vie et faits notables de Henri de Valois. Paris: Champion (2003).
Review: M. Lazard in FS 59.2 (2005), 239–40: The reviewer details the contents of Cameron's edition of a vehemently pro-Catholic and anti-Henri IV work. The biography is well edited and well-chosen, as it is very interesting in its own right for the insights it gives to what amounts to a justification for regicide. In the the reviewer's words, this is "une excellente édition, utile à l'historien comme au littéraire."
ESMEIN, CAMILLE. "Le Traité de l'origine des romans de Huet, apologie du roman baroque ou poétique du roman classique?" CAEIF 56 (2004), 417–436.
In analysing Huet's text which was first published in 1670 in the form of "un simple exposé qui tient lieu de préface à Zayde de Mme de Lafayette," the author questions whether "le texte participerait alors de la 《 légende 》 du roman baroque comme sous-genre unifié [...] ou de la poétique implicite du roman classique telle qu'elle se dessine dans les années 1660."
VIAL-BERGON, LAURENCE, ed. Charles François de La Bonde d'Iberville. Correspondance: 1688–1690. 2 vol. Genève: Droz, 2004.
Review: BCLF 666 (2005), 109–110: Une édition 《 admirable 》 de la correspondance diplomatique de C. F. de La Bonde d'Iberville qui, en novembre 1688, 《 s'installa à Genève en qualité de résident de France et y demeura dix ans. 》
ESCOLA, MARC. La Bruyère I: Brèves questions d'herméneutique; La Bruyère II: Rhétorique du discontinu. Paris: Champion, 2001.
Review: M.S. Kappisch in IL 56.2 (2004): 59–60. Author argues that the stylistic diversity of the Caractères is linked to the type of moral interpretations readers bring to bear on the text. La Bruyère's work constantly foregrounds the reader's interpretive process. Author analyzes, from this perspective, the constant movement La Bruyère imposed on his work throughout many additions, arguing that this discontinuity "amène le lecteur à produire des effets de contextes et à construire pour lui-même des lignes de cohérence" (Escola)-and also ensures our continued interest in the text. Very positive review lauding the author's "érudition,... analyses méticuleuses, et... aperçus souvent pénétrants."
PARKER, THOMAS. "La Bruyère Gives His Two Cents: Financial Language and Ethical Ideals." SCFS 27 (2005), 163–173.
Examines "the paradoxical love-hate relationship that La Bruyère entertains with money and material goods on three levels." Firstly, focuses on "Du Souverain ou de la République and the language of exchange that La Bruyère submits to the king." Secondly, examines La Bruyère's rhetorical techniques and the "language of finance [used] to take to task all of those who are too obsessed by money and materialism." Finally, looks at the "question of aesthetics, comparing the black and white style and bivalent nature of traditional moralist literature to what I refer to as the grey tones of exchange."
WATERSON, KAROLYN. "De la guerre et de le gloire dans Les Caractères de La Bruyère." PFSCL XXXII, 62 (2005), 87–95.
Analyzes the treatment of war in Les Caractères, highlighting La Bruyère's "magistrale dénonciation du carnage absurde, vain et inéluctable qu'occasionne toute guerre."
BANNISTER, MARK. "La Calprenède et la politique des années Mazarin." CAEIF 56 (2004), 379–395.
Noting that the professional careers of both men coincide almost exactly, and cover "une des périodes les plus importantes pour l'évolution politique de la France, une période qui a vu la transition de ce qu'on a appelé l'Etat baroque à l'Etat classique, la Fronde marquant un moment de rupture décisif pour la mentalité des Français[,]" the author finds great interest in mining La Calprenède's novels for "des traces des enjeux politiques de cette période cruciale."
CHILTON, PAUL A. "Jean de la Ceppède (1550?–1629)" in La poésie française du premier 17e siècle, eds. D. L. Rubin & R. Corum, Charlottesville, VA: Rookwood Press, 2004, pp. 51–62.
Introduction to a selection of La Ceppède's poetry in the 2nd edition of this volume.
GOEURY, JULIEN. "L'Autopsie et le théorème: poétique des Théorèmes spirituals (1613–1622) de Jean de la Ceppède." Paris: Champion, 2001.
Review: E. Campion in FR 78.1 (2004): 367–68. An admirable work on a little-studied Counter-Reformation poet. Though Goeury's main interest lies in stylistic and structural analysis, he nonetheless provides a good historical and theological context for la Ceppède's two volumes of sonnets, the Théorèmes spirituels. Goeury also situates la Ceppède vis-à-vis other religious poets such as Marot and Desportes, and considers the difficulty such writers faced in attempting to articulate religious insights that were nonetheless compatible with the church. While the reviewer notes orthographic and bibliographic laxity in the book, it still receives his recommendation.
GAY, JEAN-PASCAL. "Voués à quel royaume? Les Jésuites entre vœux de religion et fidélité monarchique. A propos d'un mémoire inédit du P. de La Chaize." DSS 227 (2005), 285–314.
The author analyses a text (Le Mémoire sur l'état présent de la Compagnie en France) "jusqu'ici inconnu du plus éminent des confesseurs de Louis XIV, le P. François de La Chaize, rédigé à l'occasion du conflit, trop mal connu, qui oppose le roi au général de 1688 à 1691." In so doing, he hopes to open a new line of inquiry into "la nature et les contradictions du gallicanisme jésuite."
GREGORIO, LAURENCE A. "Ideals and Ideas: Platonism in La Princesse de Clèves." Neophil 88 (2004): 43–60.
Particularly comprehensive analysis of two opposing ideologies which undergird the Princesse's moral choices and Nemours's actions. This well-documented examination finds that both Platonism (of the Jansenists and St. Augustine) and baroque, secular Neoplatonism are pertinent to the Princesse's thought and decisions while Neoclassical Aristotelian thought is "at the center" of Nemours's position and argument. Useful, clear and extensive examination of the "ethical foundation" of La Fayette's novel.
LETTS, JANET. Legendary Lives in La Princesse de Clèves. Charlottesville, VA: Rookwood Press, 1998.
Review: S. Toczyski in CdDS 9.1 (2004): 170–72. This "solidly traditional" study answers a question posed since the novel's appearance—why did Lafayette include a number of embedded narratives—by demonstrating the importance of such digressions to Clèves' "classical integrity." Author suggests that Lafayette's readers would have been quite familiar with the figures alluded to, and that this familiarity would have informed their interpretation of the characters. Impressed by the author's "extensive knowledge of the historical texts of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries," reviewer nonetheless feels that this treatment of the place of history in the novel may be "less challenging" than others on similar subjects, and that the sheer number typographical errors detracts from "the reader's attention to the argument of the text."
LYONS, JOHN D. "Mlle de Chartres at the Jeweller's Shop: Knowledge and Commerce in La Princesse de Clèves." SCFS 27 (2005), 117–126.
Examines the five economies of "marriage, material objects, money, desire and information" as they appear in the incident of the jeweller's shop. Concludes that "the passage on the jeweller's shop suggests that the unhappy marriage of the Prince and Princesse de Clèves results from a confusion in two economies: the economy of marriage and the economy of desire."
ABREU, GRAÇA. "Poétique du regard, voies de l'imagination: l'art et la vie chez La Fontaine." Le Fablier 15 (2004): 15–20.
La Fontaine's visual poetics shows how vision and the gaze offer an access to the imagination and a higher plane of thought.
ALBANESE, RALPH JR. La Fontaine à l'école républicaine: du poète universel au classique scolaire. Charlottesville: Rookwood Press, 2003.
Review: J.-P. Collinet in S Fr 143 (2004): 362–64: Quite appreciative and lengthy review of Albanese's second volume of this nature (see his earlier Molière and promised Corneille). Although the introduction has much to say about La Fontaine in the university, the focus of this study is really double: La Fontaine at the elementary and at the secondary levels from 1870–1940. Rich and varied, Albanese's examination treats pedagogy, the history of the book, the teaching of the French language, and political ideology, among other subjects. The reviewer is more optimistic than Albanese about La Fontaine's future in the French educational system. Collinet finds the volume highly useful; he appreciates its numerous reproductions from manuals, extracts and 50-page bibliography.
Review: S. Loucif in FR 78.4 (2005): 776–77: Through a meticulous reception study, Albanese traces the use of the Fables throughout the history of French education. Beginning with Rousseau's Émile and its reflections on whether the Fables should be used in the teaching of morality, Albanese moves on to consider the Fables' role in the Third Republic, and finally their diminished presence in the "multicultural" curriculum of today. Beautifully documented, the work also does an excellent job of historically situating particular uses of the poems. The reviewer recommends Albanese's book both for La Fontaine specialists and for more general readers-indeed, for anyone interested in the Fables' shaping of a culture.
ALBANESE, RALPH. "Les Fables de La Fontaine et la pédagogie républicaine de la 'francité.'" CdDS 9.1 (2004): 143–155.
Using textbooks from the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, shows how "l'Ecole républicaine a mis en valeur la finalité didactique" of the Fables, and how they were a "source des valeurs de consensus à une époque marquée par la menace du pluralisme culturel."
BALIQUE, FLORENCE. "Essai de lecture transversale: 《 que philosopher, c'est apprendre à vivre en dépit de la mort 》." IL 56.3 (2004): 3–14.
A reading of five of La Fontaine's Fables that stresses how the author places pleasure at the heart of his reflection on death.
BOHNERT, CECILE. "Un aspect de la decoration intérieure des demeures parisiennes au temps de La Fontaine." Le Fablier 15 (2004): 45–55.
The author compares and contrasts the treatment of the story of Venus and Adonis in interior decoration (focusing in particular on Simon Vouet's paintings for Jean Perrault and the Trianon de marbre) and La Fontaine.
BURY, EMMANUEL. "La Fontaine et Claude Lorrain." Le Fablier 15 (2004): 57–63.
La Fontaine and Lorrain's work prize allusiveness, evoke pleasurable contemplation, and share a similar decorative esthtetic. Both artists prefer serenity over dramatic movement and the pastoral over the tragic.
CHASE, DANA MARIE. "Deflowering the Garden: Le droit du seigneur and La Fontaine." CdDS 9.1 (2004): 75–82.
Speculates that the "Le jardin et son seigneur," which has no apparent classical intertext, may be inspired by contemporary practices—to wit, the droit du seigneur. Author maintains that whether or not this "right" ever existed, La Fontaine, like his Enlightenment descendants, use it "to encourage social reform."
COLLINET, JEAN-PIERRE. "La Fontaine artiste: ses coups de crayon et sa palette." Le Fablier 15 (2004): 9–14.
The author examines the use of painterly language and the creation of portraits in the first six books of the Fables in order to read La Fontaine's work as a musée imaginaire.
DANDREY, PATRICK. "La Fontaine et Félibien à Vaux: du songe à la réalité." Le Fablier 15 (2004): 67–77.
Fouquet engaged La Fontaine and Félibien to create a unified cultural project. His parallel commissions decisively contributed to "l'éclosion de cette poétique de l'enchantement qui prolongera ses échos chez le conteur et le fabuliste que deviendrait bientôt La Fontaine et à l'avènement de cette réflexion esthétique que Félibien accomplira dans les Entretiens et les Conférences pour l'Académie."
DANDREY, PATRICK. La Fontaine ou les métamorphoses d'Orphée. Paris: Gallimard, "Découvertes," 2000.
Review: G. Peureux in RHL 105.1 (2005): 233–34: An abundantly illustrated work aimed at a general audience. Author presents both La Fontaine and his work, from the Fables to texts such as Psyché and Adonis; underlines particularly the conditions of production at the time, including the importance of patrons and institutions. General thesis is that the idea of metamorphosis is omnipresent in La Fontaine's live and work.
DE BOISSIEU, JEAN-LOUIS. "'L'Elégie aux Nymphes de Vaux': essai d'étude générique et stylistique." Le Fablier 15 (2004): 81–87.
L'Élégie is both faithful to the elegiac tradition and innovative. The piece "triche superbement avec les usages" while at the same time it "assure une nostalgique continuité avec les chants de naguère."
ESCOLA, MARC. Lupus in Fabula. Six façons d'affabuler La Fontaine. Saint-Denis: Presses Universitaires de Vincennes, 2003.
Review: O. Leplatre in DSS 228 (2005), 569–570: "S'appuyant sur les propositions de Gérard Genette concernant les phénomènes de trans-textualité et sur celles de Michel Charles sur la production de l'écriture, Marc Escola s'adonne, avec délectation, à une enquête ludique à partir des textes (ou des prétextes) lafontainiens; il les regarde à la façon de monades découvrant en abyme leurs possibles."
Review: O. Odaert in LR 58 (2004): 148–51: According to Odaert, Escola "lit les fables dans leur passé, leur présent et leur futur, à la poursuite du Lupus in fabula, d'une trace des textes que la fable aura dévorés pour se construire" (149). Praiseworthy for its remarkable erudition and its creative yet prudent criticism (inspired by the work of Michel Charles). Escola's work includes 6 of these exercises or readings. He also shows that La Fontaine "peut servir d'hypotexte à La Fontaine" and asks "pourquoi pas à d'autres?" (151).
LE FABLIER. Numéro 16 (2005).
Contains articles by Alain Mérot ("Nicolas Poussin et la notion de la nature"), Paul J. Smith ("La Fontaine et Ogilby, Chauveau et Hollar: imitations poétiques et picturales"), Laurence Grove ("La Fontaine et les emblèmes"), Olivier Leplatre ("Les Fables et la peinture de vanité"), Paulette Choné ("'Le Renard et le buste': La Fontaine et le portrait sculpté"), Alain Niderst ("'Cela est peint. . .': les Fables et la peinture"), Marie-Claire Planche-Touron ("'L'homme et son image'. Miroirs et reflets dans la peinture au XVIIe siècle"), et Marie-Odile Sweetser ("Des dieux et des déesses dans l'imaginaire de La Fontaine: traditions et subversions"). To be summarized for vol. 54 of French 17.
GRIMM, JURGEN. "Colbert, Chapelain et le bonhomme Jean." Le Fablier 15 (2004): 39–44.
In spite of his limited efforts at praising Louis XIV in verse, La Fontaine was never a part of Colbert and Chapelain's project for celebrating the monarch in literature. He prized his own independence above all and could not celebrate a king who had no place in his heart.
HAMMOND, NICHOLAS. "Knowing Your Pumpkin from Your Elbow: La Fontaine's 'Le Gland et la Citrouille.'" SCFS 27 (2005), 127–132.
Examines the treatment of "questions surrounding both [. . .] the economy of knowledge and the knowledge of economy" in La Fontaine's fable.
MARINHO, CRISTINA A. M. DE, ed. La Fontaine, maître des eaux et des forêts. Porto: Faculdade de Letras da Universidade do Porto (secção de Estudos Franceses do D.E.P.E.R.).
Includes articles by Patrick Dandrey ("La Fontaine l'enchanteur, ou le génie de la metamorphose"), Graça Abreu ("Faire 'du miel de toute chose.' Sur les voies bigarrées de la creation et du bonheur dans l'œuvre de La Fontaine"), Ana Paiva Morais ("Rayonnements du récit bref du Moyen Age: les cours de la 'fable'"), Marta Anacleto ("Des 《 Bergeries 》 aux Amours de Psyché et de Cupidon: jeux de l'espace et espace du jeu"), Ana Clara Santos ("La tentation du théâtre chez La Fontaine"), Ana Ferreira ("De fibula confabulemus: la matrice classique des Fables de La Fontaine"), Rosa Bizarro ("Développer son autonomie, en lisant La Fontaine"), Helena de Lima Machado ("La Fontaine et Miguel Torga: une fable et sa réécriture parodique (?)" and Cristina A. M. de Marinho ("Bocage, traducteur de la Fontaine: L'exemple et le libertin").
MIGNOT, CLAUDE. "Le regard de La Fontaine sur l'architecture et le paysage dans la Relation d'un voyage de Paris en Limousin." Le Fablier 15 (2004): 31–36.
The Relation marks a new generation of descriptive writing: its epistolarity, as well as the constraints of both traveling in a group and La Fontaine's memory conspire to create a text that entertains rather than instructs.
LE MUSEE IMAGINAIRE DE JEAN DE LA FONTAINE. Colloque Pluridisciplinaire International organisé à la Sorbonne et au Palais du Luxembourg les 27, 28, 29 mai 2004 par Patrick DANDREY pour la Société des Amis de Jean de La Fontaine et le Centre d'étude de la langue et de la literature françaises des XVIIe et XVIIIe siècles de Paris-Sorbonne. Actes édités par Guillaume PEUREUX. Première Partie. Le Fablier 15 (2004).
Note: all articles in this volume are summarized in this issue of French 17.
PIQUE, BARBARA. "Les 'Beaux endormis' dans l'oeuvre de La Fontaine et la peinture de son temps." Le Fablier 15 (2004): 21–30.
The author analyses La Fontaine's use of ekphrasis in his oeuvre galante and develops the rhetorical, figurative, and symbolic aspects of representations of sleep.
SWEETSER, MARIE-ODILE. Parcours lafontanien: D'Adonis au livre XII des Fables. Tübingen: Gunter Narr, Biblio 17 no. 150, 2004.
Review: C. Rizza in S Fr 144 (2004): 606: Important collection embraces some 20 years "attività scientifica di un'autrice che si qualifica come uno dei massimi studiosi di La Fontaine" (606). Rigorous, highly informative, and original analyses of all aspects of La Fontaine's production. Rizza praises Sweetser's remarkable insights and intellectual honesty and finds the volume to be "un utilissimo strumento per ogni possibile ricerca futura" (606).
GROSPERRIN, JEAN-PHILIPPE. "Houdar de la Motte librettiste (1697–1703) ou comment faire époque autour de 1700" in Gaillard, Aurélia, ed. L'Année 1700. Actes du colloque du Centre de recherches sur le XVIIe siècle européen (1600–1700). Université Michel de Montaigne, Bordeaux III, 30–31 janvier 2003. Biblio 17 (154). Tübingen: Gunter Narr Verlag, 2004. 171–193.
While La Motte carried out an esthetic reorientation of operatic allegory, his work shows how French opera continued to constitute a "hyper-théâtre" dominated by an esthetic of "morcellement" and "miniaturisation" and punctuated by a rococo taste for self-reflective irony.
COUROUAU, JEAN-FRANÇOIS. "Les chants royaux en Occitan gascon de Bertrand Larade." RLR 108 no. 1 (2004): 25–56.
The work of the poet from Toulouse who wrote chants royaux not in French, but in the marginalized Toulousain dialect of Gascon.
DEMAIZIÈRE, COLETTE, ed. Pierre de La Ramée. Grammaire (1572). Textes de la Renaissance, 40. Paris: Champion, 2001.
Review: V. Mecking in Archiv 240 (2003): 439–43: This new edition of Pierre de La Ramée's second, expanded and reworked Grammaire is welcome, not only for its contribution to linguistics but also to pedagogy as dialogue between teacher and student (or disciple). Preface of some 15 pages treats La Ramée's life, work and reception. Mecking would have appreciated a fuller commentary on the text itself and fuller critical apparatus, such as a glossary. Review contains considerable attention to other useful linguistics matters, including references to 17th c. dictionaries and grammars (Cotgrave, Richelet, Furetière).
HODGSON, RICHARD. "La Rochefoucauld et Saint-Evremond: des 'detours' de l'amour-propre au 'traffic' de l'amitié," in Suzanne Guellouz, ed. Saint-Evremond: au miroir du temps. Actes du colloque du tricentenaire de sa mort. Caen-Saint-Lô (9–11 octobre 2003). Biblio 17 Number 157. Tübingen: Gunter Narr Verlag, 2005. 169–184.
The two moralists' challenge to prevailing orthodoxies (as Jansenist and libertin) as well as the similarity of their experiences explain the importance of amour-propre in their conception of friendship.
THEOBALD, CATHERINE J. LEWIS. "The Many Fictions of La Rochefoucauld: Searching for Sitter, Self and Society in 'Portrait de M.R.D.' and the Maximes." PFSCL XXXII, 63 (2005), 399–418.
Argues that "La Rochefoucauld's skill as an artist in juggling with aplomb the masks of gentleman, melancholy writer and moral deity [. . .] almost forges a convincingly human, individual self-portrait, but a detailed examination of the texts gives few hard facts about the subject of 'portrait de M.R.D.' and the subject-object of the Maximes: La Rochefoucauld the private sitter. On the other hand, these texts reveal much about his remarkable capacity as a writer, which, in itself, yields more information about his intelligence and creativity (hence, his true nature) than do the many caricatures that he draws of himself."
HOPE, QUENTIN. "Pierre Le Moyne (1602–1671)" in La poésie française du premier 17e siècle, eds. D. L. Rubin & R. Corum, Charlottesville, VA: Rookwood Press, 2004, pp. 350–352.
Introduction to a selection of Le Moyne's poetry in the 2nd edition of this volume.
THIERRY, ERIC. Marc Lescarbot (vers 1570–1641): un homme de plume au service de la Nouvelle-France. Paris: Champion, 2001.
Review: E. Benson in Ren Q 57 (2004): 234–235: Benson finds "much of use [in the volume]. . . particularly on Europeans' efforts to conceptualize their discoveries" (235). Benson supplies certain important bibliographic omissions, however, and questions whether Lescarbot's writing, notably the Histoire de la Nouvelle France (which had 3 editions from 1609–1620), "is interesting enough to warrant such a treatment" (235).
BALLON, HILARY. Louis Le Vau, Mazarin's Collège, Colbert's Revenge. Princeton: PUP, 1999.
Review: O. Ranum at http://www.ranumspanat.com/ballon.html. "[L]earnedly and brilliantly sets the history of architecture into general history. . . . By analyzing the sequence of Le Vau's drawing for the Collège des Quatre Nations, Ballon creates the portrait of a highly creative architect who is perhaps more interested in larger forms and lines than Mansart, and more preoccupied with volumes than with informed, intellectualized respect for and evolution of the classical orders. . . [Ballon] captures the obstructionism, the hesitation, the litigiousness, the backbiting, the counter-productive atmosphere that was seventeenth-century Parisian society and politics." Also includes the inventory of Le Vau's library. "A splendid book!"
JANCZUKIEWICZ, JEROME. "La prise du pouvoir par Louis XIV: la construction du mythe." DSS 227 (2005), 243–264.
The author re-examines this supposedly familiar moment in French history by comparing an earlier account of events as explained by Louis-Henri de Loménie de Brienne in the context of the principal well-known histories, most of which were composed long after the fact. In so doing, "il est possible de se faire une idée plus exacte et moins pompeuse de cette journée du 9 mars 1661. Surtout, cet examen des sources permet de dévoiler la réorganisation des conseils opérée à partir de cette date et de jeter un regard nouveau sur les institutions politiques mises en place par le jeune monarque[.]"
CONLEY, JOHN J., S.J., ed. and trans. Madame de Maintenon. Dialogues and Addresses. Chicago: U of Chicago P, 2004.
Review: M. Slayter in TLS 5340 (Aug 5 2005), 8: Consists of discourses delivered at St. Cyr. Much of the material was impromptu, but teachers wrote it down and published it. Material shows how Maintenon varied her register to suit her audience. Clever and articulate addresses.
BONET, PIERRETTE. De la Raison à l'Ordre. Genèse de la philosophie de Malebranche. Paris: L'Harmattan, 2004. Coll. "Ouverture philosophique."
Review: P. Desoche in RPFE 195.2 (avril–juin 2005), 225–226: Le livre de Bonet trouve sa structure dans un double rapport: 《 la première partie examine l'《 admiration puis la 《 déception 》 de Malebranche envers la philosophie cartésienne, tandis que la seconde analyse la 《 philosophie chrétienne 》 constituée par l'oratorien en rupture avec son premier 《 moniteur 》. Si cette étude, qui s'apparente souvent à une succession de notes et de citations plus ou moins clairement articulées, prétend finalement 《 choisir une thèse inverse 》 à celle que soutenait Ferdinand Alquié dans le cartésianisme de Malebranche, elle n'en retient cependant ni les nuances ni la complexité. 》
DE BUZON, FREDERIC. Malebranche. Les Conversations chrétiennes. Coll. "Philosophes." Paris: PUF, 2004.
Review: P. Desoche in RPFE 195.2 (avril–juin 2005), 225–226: "Ce commentaire... permet de passer du système, dans son imposante et toujours un peu raide architecture, au texte où il se construit et s'expose, selon un mouvement irréductible aux thèses qu'il conduit à établir. Le choix des Conversations chrétiennes est à cet égard des plus pertinents... Les Conversations montrent ainsi la pensée de Malebranche accédant à la maturité, et cela à la fois dans sa structure (la vision en Dieu et l'occasionalisme s'y affirment comme principes fondamentaux du système) et dans son style (il s'agit du premier-mais aussi du plus complexe et du plus fascinant-des dialogues écrits par l'oratorien)... Le commentaire dense et précis que [de Buzon] donne de cette œuvre charnière permet ainsi de voir comment s'y construit le double rapport, complexe et subtil, qui définit la philosophie de Malebranche : rapport entre lui-même et Descartes, d'une part, entre la raison et la religion chrétienne, d'autre part."
MOREAU, DENIS. Malebranche. Une philosophie de l'expérience. Paris: Vrin, 2004. Coll. "Bibliothèque des philosophes."
Review: P. Desoche in RPFE 195.2 (avril–juin 2005), 225–226: Selon le critique, l'ouvrage de Moreau qui est 《 aussi clair que précis... offre à 《 l'étudiant ou l'amateur éclairé 》 une présentation dense et complète d'une philosophie pourtant riche et difficile. Après un premier chapitre consacré à la Recherche de la vérité, qui fait judicieusement droit au statut particulier de cette première œuvre dans le corpus malebranchiste, l'auteur, de façon plus classique, examine successivement les thèmes et thèses majeurs de la pensée de l'oratorien. 》 Mais l'essentiel 《 réside plutôt dans le remarquable souci pédagogique dont fait preuve Denis Moreau, s'inspirant en cela des profondes réflexions de Malebranche lui-même sur la transmission de la vérité et le rôle délicat du 《 moniteur 》.
JOSEPH, GEORGE & MARIA GREEN. "François de Malherbe (1555–1628)" in La poésie française du premier 17e siècle, eds. D. L. Rubin & R. Corum, Charlottesville, VA: Rookwood Press, 2004, pp. 112–118.
Introduction to a selection of Malherbe's poetry in the 2nd edition of this volume.
TRUDEAU, DANIELLE. "Langue et économie du savoir au XVIIe siècle." SCFS 27 (2005), 1–11.
"L'invention du bon usage peut-elle se penser dans l'optique de l'économie du savoir? C'est ce que je voudrais examiner en me concentrant sur la 'réforme de Malherbe.'"
EDELSTEIN, BRUCE L. "Maria de' Medici." Burlington 1230 (2005): 640–641.
A review of the exhibition Maria de' Medici: una principessa fiorentina sul trono di Francia at the Museo degli Argenti, Palazzo Pitti in Florence. The exhibition contains four parts: the artistic context in which she was raised, the music and other details of her proxy wedding to Henry IV, her role as a patron of the arts in France, and a look at her life in a European context. Edelstein: "The exhibition admirably rises to the challenge of its stated purpose," of making us re-evaluate Marie de Medici's life and her role as a patroness of the arts.
FUMAROLI, M., ed. Le siècle de Marie de Médicis. Actes du séminaire de la Chaire "Rhétorique et société en Europe (XVIe-XVIIe siècle)." Alessandria: Ed. dall'Orso, 2003.
Review: S. Poli in S Fr 142 (2004): 177–78: This special number of the review Franco-Italica is divided into 3 sections focusing on the figure of the queen and intercultural influences. Wide-ranging, the volume treats: 1) Marie as Florentine Queen, her patrimony, etc., 2) Marie and artists, and 3) theatre, poetry, patronage, translations or "Le Dialogue des lettres italiennes et françaises." Reviewer notes with appreciation Fumaroli's introduction and C. Rizza's conclusion, both of which serve to unify the volume and place the scholarship in historical perspective.
SALVY, GERARD-JULIEN. "Marie de Médicis, le gouvernement par les arts." RDM (juin 2005): 179–81.
Salvy parle de la réhabilitation, bien méritée à son avis, de Marie de Médicis qui "ne fut pas cette 'grosse banquière' intrigante et castratrice trop longtemps caricaturée, mais au contraire une femme qui comprit que l'on pouvait gouverner par les arts. . ." [Exposition: "Marie de Médicis, une princesse florentine sur le trône de France," Florence, Palazzo Pitti, Museo degli Argenti, jusqu'au 4 septembre 2005. Catalogue: Sillabe Editore].
WILLIAMS, CHARLES G. S. "François de Maynard (1582–1646)" in La poésie française du premier 17e siècle, eds. D. L. Rubin & R. Corum, Charlottesville, VA: Rookwood Press, 2004, pp. 181–184.
Introduction to a selection of Maynard's poetry in the 2nd edition of this volume.
FORTUNATI, VITTORIO. "Due lettere inedite di Gilles Ménage" S Fr 142 (2004): 129–33.
Situates the two rediscovered letters within Menage's known correspondence and studies the dating of one. References to events and controversies (Jesuit vs. Jansenist) as well as allusions (to Fouquet's procès) lead Fortunati to posit the date of 1663. Further confirmation comes from a letter to P.-D. Huet. The two letters follow Fortunati's illuminating analysis.
BUCCOLINI, CLAUDIO. Marin Mersenne. Traité de l'harmonie universelle (1627). Coll. "Corpus des œuvres de philosophie en langue française." Paris: Fayard, 2003.
Review: J.-P. Cavaillé in RPFE 195.2 (avril–juin 2005), 226–229: Cet ouvrage 《 contient les deux premiers livres des seize que Mersenne projetait pour son Traité de la Musique, qui ne sera jamais complété. Il traite de la musique en philosophie, en métaphysicien et en théologien, à la recherche de cette partie 《 intellectuelle et relevée 》 de la musique des Anciens que nous avons perdue 《 qui n'avait d'autre but que d'élever nos âmes à l'union bienheureuse de l'archétype et principe des choses par la contemplation de leurs idées immortelles 》. L'autre partie était destinée à attirer nos sens [...] à la suite de la raison ainsi élevée et pour leur donner quelque part en sa félicité 》.
DESCOTES, DOMINIQUE, ed. Marin Mersenne. La vérité des sciences contre les Sceptiques ou Pyrrhoniens. Paris: Champion, 2003.
Review: J.-P. Cavaillé in RPFE 195.2 (avril–juin 2005), 226–229: 《 Il faut bien se demander si Mersenne lui-même est exempt de scepticisme, dès lors que l'on a parlé à son égard de 《 scepticisme constructif 》 ou 《 modéré (Lenoble, Popkin). La mise au point de D. Descotes est sans ambiguïté: si scepticisme il y a, d'une part c'est dans la mesure où il n'y pas d'autre fondement scientifique que la véracité de Dieu (mais, de ce point de vue, Mersenne n'est pas plus sceptique que Descartes), d'autre part c'est que Mersenne a la conviction que la 《 raison humaine n'atteint jamais l'essence des corps, mais seulement les apparences. 》 (...) La démarche générale et première de Mersenne relève de l'apologétique, de la théologie et même de la spiritualité, comme le note encore D. Descotes : 《 La vérité des sciences entre ainsi, comme la plupart des ses ouvrages, dans un vaste programme d'élévation des âmes à la contemplation de l'harmonie universelle, et à Dieu. 》
Review: C. Rolla in S Fr 144 (2004): 602–603: Welcome annotated edition of this third work of Mersenne pertaining to and debating the use of reason in the investigation of numerous avenues of scientific exploration such as mathematics, music, "la morale," theology, exegesis, spirituality and politics. Descotes is highly praised for his introduction as well as for making available this "opera chaive" for Mersenne's thought and for the interpretation of the entire 17th c.
ANDREWS, RICHARD. "Molière, Commedia Dell'arte, and the Question of Influence in Early Modern European theatre." MLR 100.2 (2005), 444–63.
Citing Claude Bourqui's Les Sources de Molière (SEDES, 1999), Andrews "claims to offer some further proposals, in respect of both material and methodology, which it is hoped will complement his approach rather than subvert it, and which may also suggest further lines of detailed enquiry. The proposals relate equally to the specific question of Italian influences on Molière, and to the wider question of what we can regard as a 'source' in early modern European theatre."
AUDRAN, MARIE. Performance review of Le malade imaginaire, mise-en-scène, Nicolas Briançon, Théâtre 14, fall 2005. Le Point 1724 (2005), 122.
"L'un des grands classiques de Molière revisté par l'esprit de la comédie musicale avec ballets de danseuses égyptiennes fumant le narguilé et soubrettes du Moulin-Rouge levant haut la jambe. . . . L'entreprise était risqué. . .elle est, en tout cas, réussie et fort amusante."
CALDICOTT, C.E.J. "Molière's Duodecimos: Phases of Publication and the Status of the 1682 Edition." PFSCL XXXII, 63 (2005), 519–537.
"In proposing an investigation of the material production of Molière's play texts, my subject [. . .] appears to swim against the prevailing current, but the known difficulties encountered by Molière in asserting himself in his own time, not only as actor-director in a theatre company [. . .] but also as a writer, amply justify this shift in focus. As a corollary to this, I shall explore the implications that these difficulties may have had for Molière criticism, the reliability of some of his texts, and also for the more diffuse issue of Molière's status as a writer within 'l'espace public'."
CANOVA-GREEN, MARIE-CLAUDE. "La comédie-ballet ou l'impossible fusion de la comédie et du ballet." PFSCL XXXII, 63 (2005), 539–551.
Examines "les rares textes liminaires aux comédies-ballets laissés par l'auteur [Molière] ou son éditeur, [. . .] les avant-propos des livrets publiés à l'intention des spectateurs de cour ou les remarques préliminaires des relations officielles, [et] les comptes rendus de la Gazette et des rimailleurs parisiens. Tous ces textes permettent en effet de se faire une idée assez précise de la pratique et de la conception de ce genre mixte, [. . .] qui disparut quasiment de la scène avec la mort de Molière."
FERNEY, FREDERIC. Performance review of Le Tartuffe ou l'imposteur, mise-en-scène, Marcel Bozonnet, Comédie Française, summer 2005. Le Point 1708 (2005), 130:
The director presents the play as "une oeuvre inaugurale: la religion n'est plus seule à pouvoir dire la vérité sur les hommes, le théâtre aussi." "Avec un Orgon noir. . .et des relents de fabliau, Bozonnet fait ressortir toutes les ambiguïtés, tous les abîmes de cette farce tragique. . . .Du Molière incarné, palpitant, sublime.
HONG, RAN-E. L'impossible social selon Molière. Tübingen: Biblio 17, 2002.
Review: J. de Guardia in DSS 227 (2005), 357–358: Originally the author's doctoral thesis, this study revolves around a central question deemed somewhat naive by the reviewer: "Peut-on changer d'identité sociale dans le cours d'une vie, notamment dans une société fortement hiérarchisée comme celle de l'Ancien Régime?" While the reviewer finds the analysis and conclusions somewhat predictable, he points to the author's third chapter on "Les voies de l'ascension sociale dans le théâtre de Molière" as being of particular interest in which she cites "un ensemble de textes juridiques d'époque et d'analyses d'historiens qui lui permettent de jeter un éclairage neuf sur tel ou tel personnage."
LEON, MECHELE. "The Poet and the Prince: Revising Molière and Tartuffe in the French Revolution." FHS 28.3 (Summer 2005), 447–465:
This article analyzes the legendary relationship between Molière and Louis XIV, as it was reinterpreted during the French Revolution, by studying revolutionary-era modifications to the text of Tartuffe.
LE ROUX, M. Performance review of Le Tartuffe ou l'imposteur. Mise en scène de Marcel Bozonnet. Salle Richelieu. Juillet 2005, reprise du 12 septembre à janvier 2006. QL 903 (du 1er au 15 juillet 2005), 26:
《 Le projet séduisant de Marcel Bozonnet achoppe au moins à deux de ses orientations 》: Le Roux critique la mise en scène et une conception stéréotypée de la commedia dell'arte.
PENSOM, ROGER. "L'erreur d'Orgon." Poétique 140 (2004): 409–28.
Considers Tartuffe as a play about the emotional and existential crisis of a middle-aged man. Orgon is said to take refuge in his flawed, aging state and to project a reassuring, spiritualized vitality onto Tartuffe. Pensom suggests that in the first three acts of the play, "[Orgon] s'est livré a la logique inconsciente du 《 processus primaire 》, là ou 《 être 》 《 vouloir 》 ne font qu'un" (413). Pensom then notes a sudden and implausible break with this behavior—Orgon's return to reason, self-justification, and an awareness of the unrealized state of his desires. Pensom concludes that "[n]ous sommes loin ici de la maîtrise qui assure l'évolution psychologique d'Arnolphe, de Dom Juan, et d'Alceste" (424) The author laments "cette faille dans la structure thématique du personnage d'Orgon" (424) and suggests that this rift in Orgon undermines Guicharnaud's suggestion that Molière in Act V abandons psychological portraiture so as to rescue the plot. Pensom suggests that this switch in fact happens much earlier, at the end of Act III.
PUCCI, SUZANNE. "Tartuffe in Text and Performance 2000: A Blueprint for Collaboration." FR 78.4 (2005): 696–716.
Pucci describes an interdisciplinary theater-literature collaboration in which students at the University of Kentucky studied and performed Molière's Tartuffe. Pucci offers a detailed account of the collaborative process, emphasizing the students' linguistic and cultural translation of the play, as well as their experience of the text as an oral and physical performance. The article includes a synopsis of Pucci's syllabus for the course.
RIGGS, LARRY. "The Formation and Exploitation of Cultural Capital in Molière'. SCFS 27 (2005), 81–90.
Argues "that early modern developments in epistemology and their social and cultural consequences are explored in Molière's major comedies." Focus is on Dom Juan and Les Femmes savantes.
RIGGS, LARRY. Molière and Modernity: Absent Mothers and Masculine Births. EMF Critiques. Charlottesville: Rookwood Press, 2005.
SCOTT, VIRGINIA. Performance review of The Miser. American Repertory Theatre. Cambridge, Mass: 13 July 2004. Adapted by David Ball; directed by Dominique Serrand.
Funny, but most of laughs due to adapter's introduction of scatology and gross vulgarity into Molière's play. Central idea that love of money dehumanizes. No one in Harpagon's household of grotesques appears as fully human here. An "egregious example" of productions that "exploit a play in order to make their own meaning."
SORMAN, RICHARD. "L'économie de l'incertitude chez Molière." SCFS 27 (2005), 91–102.
Examines the link between the economic and the uncertain in Molière. "Quand on cherche à dégager les principes selon lesquels fonctionne le monde fictif de Molière, on découvre que l'auteur accorde beaucoup d'importance au fait que la participation à n'importe quel type d'économie demande que l'on prenne certains risques contre lesquels on ne peut pas complètement s'assurer."
TAYLOR-WOODROUGH, ELIZABETH. "A Fascinating Case of Intertextuality: Tartuffe and the Legend of Don Juan." PFSCL XXXII, 63 (2005), 553–572.
"We argue here that when he rewrites Tartuffe, Molière uses, and reuses, topoï drawn from the Don Juan legend, as dramatised by a series of European playwrights between 1630 and 1660, as well as a number of others drawn directly from his own version. [. . .] We proceed to sketch a possible scenario for the first Tartuffe, based on the thesis that elements of the Don Juan legend, and Molière's version of it, were later additions."
TEBBEN, MARYANN. "Speaking of Women: Molière and Conversation at the Court of Louis XIV." MLS 29.2 (1999): 189–206.
Tebben looks at Les Précieuses ridicules (1659), Les Femmes savantes (1672) and La Critique de l'Ecole des femmes (1663). She argues that though Molière recognized the importance of female conversation, "he used conversation to return them to the subordinate role from which they had too shortly escaped," seeking only to solidify "the power of the absolute monarch by weakening men and women alike."
WOODROUGH, ELIZABETH. "Molière et la mise en scène des jardins de Versailles." CdDS 9.1 (2004): 61–73.
Offers a study of "l'emplacement des différentes pièces que Molière a jouées dans les jardins, et le rôle de la nature de l'artifice dans le décor de ses pièces jardinières."
ZOBERMAN, PIERRE. "Domestic Economy in Molière's Comedy." SCFS 27 (2005), 103–115.
Argues against an ironic reading of the Trissotin/Cotin sonnet in Les Femmes savantes, suggesting instead that "given the thematic density of Molière's plays, [the sonnet] takes on its full significance only when read in connection with the plot-line of this and other plays. It functions as a kind of mise-en-abyme, and it highlights some of the main characteristics of domestic economy in Molière's theatre."
HARRIS, JOE. "Montfleury's Metatheatre: Le Procès de la Femme juge et partie (1669)." PFSCL XXXII, 63 (2005), 585–595.
Examines "what light the discussions of literary and sexual bienséance in [Le Procès de la Femme juge et partie] shed on the equivocal situations and wordplay in La Femme juge et partie — and for that matter, vice versa."
DEJEAN, JOAN, ed. and trans. Anne-Marie-Louise D'Orléans, Duchesse de Montpensier. Against Marriage: The Correspondence of La Grande Mademoiselle by Anne-Marie-Louise D'Orléans, Duchesse de Montpensier. The Other Voice in Early Modern Europe. Chicago: U of Chicago P, 2002.
Review: A. Zanger in Ren Q 57 (2004): 1025–1027: Praiseworthy edition and translation which "presents a small slice of early modern 'feminist' discourse by reprinting a correspondence between two women who frequented the French court of Louis XIV" (1025). The exchange between Mme de Montpensier and Mme de Motteville highlights both pleasures and pains, notably concerning the former's marriage and project for a utopia. DeJean "adds four new letters to those previously known, which she brings to light from a recently acquired manuscript in the collection of the French National Library" (1026). Zanger would have preferred a somewhat more balanced appreciation of Motteville and notes that she voiced her "hesitations about Montpensier's utopian project," commented on "the nature of governance. . . [and] on current writings on marriage" (1026).
GARAPON, JEAN. La Culture d'une princesse. Ecriture et autoportrait dans l'oeuvre de la Grande Mademoiselle (1627–1693). Paris: Champion, "Lumière classique," 2003.
Review. E. Gilby in FS 59.2 (2005), 241–42: In this generally positive review, Garapon's work is considered interesting, "skillful and readable." It contains many interesting tidbits about Mlle de Montpensier's writings, as well as her life. Garapon cites critics such as Emile Magne and Antoine Adam, but, unfortunately, according to the reviewer, he neglects to bring the interpretations of Joan DeJean or Faith Beasley into his critical apparatus.
Review: B. Papasogli in S Fr 143 (2004): 362: Welcome "sequel" to his 1989 study La Grande Mademoiselle mémorialiste, this intellectual biography focuses on various key aspects of Anne-Marie Louise d'Orléans's writings and personality. Examines thoroughly her presence in the culture of her time, her important relationships and her ascent.
GARAPON, JEAN. "La Grande Mademoiselle en visite à Trévoux: souveraineté rêvé, rêve romanesque." DSS 228 (2005), 489–497.
Mlle de Montpensier spent only three days in Trévoux in 1658, yet the author detects the importance of her visit in her Mémoires and in a "pochade romanesque significative, La Relation de l'Ile imaginaire" both of which are shown here to reveal much about the author herself.
QUILLIET, BERNARD, ed. Anne-Marie-Louise d'Orléans. Mémoires de la Grande Mademoiselle. Paris: Mercure de France, 2005.
Review: J. Nicolas in QL 906 (du 1er au 15 septembre 2005), 20: "L'énorme manuscrit reste longtemps négligé. Une dizaine d'éditions au XVIIIe et au XIXe siècles, partielles et fautives, jusqu'au grand travail d'Adolphe Chéruel qui en 1858 s'empare de l'original, aujourd'hui conservé à la Bibliothèque nationale de France. Il corrige les erreurs de ses devanciers et livre un texte exhaustif en quatre volumes et 2400 pages, flanqué de tout l'appareil critique souhaitable. Les Mémoires sont aujourd'hui repris par le Mercure de France... Une édition intelligemment présentée en dépit de trop larges coupures et d'un découpage en chapitres qui ne reprend pas celui de Chéruel et nous prive des sommaires détaillés dont on peut regretter l'absence. Nulle mention non plus des ratures et repentirs significatifs que Chéruel avait souvent mentionnés dans ses notes. Mademoiselle n'en est pas moins là, avec tout son train de passions et d'aventures."
CAZAURAN, NICOLE. "Matière et manière dans un roman de Nervèze: 'Les Religieuses amours de Florigene et de Meleagre.'" S Fr 142 (2004): 19–32.
Close reading of Nervèze's story of a "vocation forcée" reveals that this heavily ornate prose and dramatic obstacles seem to be "prétexte à propos sur l'amour" (19–20). Cazauran examines Nervèze's narrative interventions, apostrophes to both characters and lectures, moral commentaries and so forth. Her analysis demonstrates an author attentive to his editions (he revises, corrects, augments) and a creator who does not forget the role of time, the youth of his heroes, or the appeal of his subject (Henri Coulet had termed it "prenant et vrai" qtd. at p. 29). Useful appendix, especially for its detail.
MENIEL, BRUNO. "Les Amours de Nervèze ou l'apprentissage de la grâce. 》 OeC 30.1 (2005): 85–98.
"La cohérence de l'oeuvre romanesque de Nervèze procède de l'adéquation entre une fonction et une forme. Imprégnée de l'esprit tridentin, la fiction sentimentale propose un parcours sotériologique. Sa spiritualité fondée sur la vocation et des devoirs d'état autorise les protagonistes à chercher le salut à la cour aussi bien qu'au couvent. Seul importe qu'ils rencontrent la grâce, et ce mot est à prendre dans un sens profane comme dans un sens religieux, perfectionnements esthétique et spirituel vont de pair. 》
CORUM, ROBERT. "César de Nostredame (1553–1629)" in La poésie française du premier 17e siècle, eds. D. L. Rubin & R. Corum, Charlottesville, VA: Rookwood Press, 2004, pp. 85–86.
Introduction to a selection of Nostredame's poetry in the 2nd edition of this volume.
BELIN, CHRISTIAN. "L'imaginaire contourné des Pensées." DSS 228 (2005), 443–452.
The author seeks to relate "l'imaginaire des Pensées avec un art d'agréer ou de persuader fondé sur une observation concrète du réel, et pratiquant comme par nécessité le détour digressif."
BOLD, STEPHEN. "Borges, Inventor of the Pensées; or La busca de Pascal." Romance Quarterly 52.2 (2005), 115–134.
Bold links Borges' treatment of invention to the Argentine writer's substantial, if ultimately limited, interest in Pascal. The article attempts to "examine the form that this interest takes in Borges's writing and consider. . . some critical biases that might explain Borges's reticence in regard to Pascal" (115). Bold concludes that "perhaps out of loyalty to Valéry, Borges could not fully believe in Pascal's pathetic solitude" (125).
BOUCHILLOUX, HELENE. Pascal. La force de la raison. Paris: Vrin, 2004.
Review: M.-F. Pellegrin RPFE 195.2 (avril–juin 2005), 229: 《 Le projet d'Hélène Bouchilloux est d'éclairer la cohérence fondamentale des différentes œuvres de Blaise Pascal, cohérence assurée par un principe énoncé dans la pensée L449: 《 Jésus-Christ est l'objet de tout, et le centre où tout tend. Qui le connaît connaît la raison de toutes choses. 》 (...) L'ouvrage s'organise en distinguant entre les principaux écrits de Pascal (De l'esprit, De l'art de persuader, Entretien avec M. de Sacy, Pensées, Ecrits sur la grâce, Provinciales) selon une composition ternaire (l'épistémologie, l'apologétique, la théologie), qui ne remet pas en cause l'unité de l'ensemble de son œuvre, bien au contraire... H. Bouchilloux parvient ainsi à penser et restituer la cohérence des Pensées (en suivant principalement les hypothèses de Lafuma concernant leur structure) et à penser et restituer la cohérence des œuvres de Pascal à partir du centre de perspective des Pensées. 》
CARENA, CAROL. Le "Pensées, testo da tradurre." S Fr 143 (2004): 321–28:
A veritable call for new Italian translations of the Pensées, given the pleasure and the utility of a text that continues to be admired for its style and content. Details numerous instances of "unhappy" translations from the four most often consulted Italian editions and demonstrates "le difficoltà della semplicità" (328).
GRASSET, BERNARD. Les Pensées de Pascal. Une interpretation de l'Ecriture. Paris: Kimé, 2003.
Review: T. M. Harrington in RPFE 195.2 (avril–juin 2005), 229–230: 《 Cet ouvrage minutieusement structuré se divise en trois parties principales, qui traitent respectivement de 《 Figure, prophétisme et miracles 》, de l'《 Eclat voilé, ce thème se rapportant, d'abord, au 《 Deus absconditus 》, puis aux relations entre 《 Judaïsme et christianisme 》, et, enfin, de 《 La Clef de la Lecture 》, cette clef étant double : 《 Ordre de la Charité 》 et 《 Christocentrisme 》. (. . .) Le lecteur est, tout compte fait, redevable à l'auteur d'une présentation magistrale d'un vaste et important sujet. Son ouvrage sera très utile tant aux étudiants qu'aux spécialistes, qui ne manqueront pas d'y trouver des réflexions éclairantes et une abondante documentation. 》
HAMMOND, NICHOLAS, dir. The Cambridge Companion to Pascal. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2003. Coll. "Cambridge Companions."
Review: T. M. Harrington in RPFE 195.2 (avril–juin 2005), 230–233: Cette collection "reunit, outré une introduction, quatorze articles sur les multiples aspects de la pensée de Pascal. (. . .) Si ce 《 Cambridge Companion 》 propose des analyses discutables de la pensée philosophique de Pascal et s'il réduit ainsi la place qui revient au travail de l'esprit dans l'apologétique de Pascal, il offre néanmoins une utile vue d'ensemble de l'œuvre d'un philosophe trop souvent méconnu."
LE GUERN, MICHEL. Pascal et Arnauld. Paris: Champion, coll. 《 Lumière classique 》, 2003.
Review: J. Dubray in RPFE 195.2 (avril–juin 2005), 219–220: "Ce livre veut combler une lacune, concernant les rapports d'Arnauld et de Pascal, dont tout donne à croire qu'ils furent étroits et complémentaires... Avec toute la prudence qu'impose le caractère lacunaire des documents et à l'aide des plus fragiles indices, Michel Le Guern parvient à établir que l'artisan de la rencontre entre les deux hommes fut, probablement, Jacqueline elle-même, promue maîtresse de novices de Port-Royal de Paris et bénéficiant de la direction spirituelle d'Arnauld... C'est peu de dire que cet ouvrage apporte, sur de nombreux points, des éclaircissements définitifs : il projette sur les deux personnalités emblématiques du mouvement janséniste une lumière irrécusable. 》
LUDWIN, DAWN M. Blaise Pascal's Quest for the Ineffable. New York: Peter Lang, 2001.
Review: C.M. Natoli in CdDS 9.1 (2004): 178–82. An "admirably clear and thought-provoking look at the Pascalian quest for God" that considers the work in the context of negative, or apophatic, theology. Author attempts particularly to put Pascal in dialogue with Pseudo-Dionysius, and "incorporates instructive asides on thematic resemblances to the thought of Foucault, Leibniz, Nietzsche, Heidegger and many others." The "freshness" of the book's approach, as well as "its lucidity of expression and arrangement" are praised, although the reviewer respectfully engages the author on a number of points. Reviewer feels, for example, that some of these resemblances may come about because "the need for some kind of apophatic speech is a theological lieu commun," and that ultimately Pascal's theology may not be quite as negative as the author makes out.
MESNARD, JEAN. "Achèvement et inachèvement dans les Pensées de Pascal." S Fr 143 (2004): 301–20:
Judicious and masterful examination of seemingly contradictory concepts or states; Mesnard's analyses benefit several aspects of the critic's work: reading, editing, interpreting (301). Mesnard argues persuasively for respecting a balance between the two terms; his investigation of "La perspective du fragment" and "La perspective de l'oeuvre" leads him to the conclusion that "les Pensées. . . sont, par leur mode de composition, une oeuvre unique en son genre" (320). Mesnard sollicits the "méditation inspirée du lecteur" even as he offers highly useful and detailed suggestions for editors (320).
NATHAN, STÉPHANE. "Les Pensées de Pascal et l'adverbe d'intensité." IL 57.1 (2005): 36–40.
Argues that the imperative of imposing assent on the reader means that the Pensées "vont employer une rhétorique du martèlement qui veut inculquer la vérité, qui veut la faire entrer dans l'esprit en agissant sur l'inconscient." It is adverbs of intensity, the author proposes, that have this function of leaving the reader without any freedom for action.
PAPASOGLI, BENEDETTA. "L'espace des Pensées et le fragment du Pari." S Fr 143 (2004): 273–80:
Compelling and highly suggestive essay on textual space; B. Papasogli proposes "des réflexions concernant plus directement, en amont et en aval—dans sa conception, dans sa forme materielle, dans sa dimension virtuelle—le texte de Pascal" (273). She would hope that the notion of "ordre" would be enriched by "une alliance stable avec d'autres notions comme 'lieu,' 'figure,' 'image'" (278).
PECHARMAN, MARTINE (dir.). Pascal. Qu'est-ce que la vérité? Coll. 《 Débats philosophiques 》. Paris: PUF, 2000.
Review: T. M. Harrington RPFE 195.2 (avril–juin 2005), 233–234: 《 L'œuvre de Pascal voisonne de méthodes pour trouver, établir ou appliquer la vérité dans les domaines les plus divers, depuis la géométrie (《 De l'esprit géométrique 》) jusqu'à la vie chrétienne (《 Prière pour demander le bon usage des maladies 》). Quelle est au juste cette vérité protéiforme tant recherché? Cette question, fondamentale chez Pascal, est le point de départ d'un recueil d'articles rédigés par six pascaliens bien connus 》: Pierre Magnard, Jean-Pierre Cléro, Hélène Bouchilloux, Christian Lazzeri, Bernard Sève et Martine Pécharman. 《 Cet ouvrage très stimulant mérite un accueil favorable de la part de tous ceux qui s'intéressent à Pascal. 》
SCHOLAR, RICHARD. "Towards a Pre-History of the Knowledge Economy: The Case of Pascal." SCFS 27 (2005), 71–80.
Examines the question: "Is it fair to claim that the knowledge economy of the twenty-first century has a lengthy genealogy which includes early-modern France?", and particularly the methodological question "of how, if at all, one ought to approach a contemporary concept like that of the 'knowledge economy' in studying the early modern period." The case of Pascal offers an example of the approach suggested.
SELLIER, PHILIPPE. "Les leçons de la 'Lettre pour porter à rechercher Dieu'." S Fr 143 (2004): 251–59.
Succinct but highly instructive essay focuses on Pascal's repeated invitation to look for God and truth. Sellier underscores the rich quality of dossier XLVI and focuses on "ses trois caractères d'ouverture générale, de protreptique et de future 'Lettre'" (252). Contrary to certain critics, "'Connaissance de l'homme' ou 'Que la nature est corrompue' (fr. 40) est une 'preuve', et même un 'fondement'" (253). Sellier demonstrates the Augustinian quality of fr. 681, especially as concerns predestination; he analyses the rhetoric of the protreptique: imperatives of exhortation, figures of force, dramatization, redoublings, reinforcements, parataxis, a "frappante panoplie de techniques" (257). Finally so as not to preclude any reader in this "ouverture", Pascal does not address directly unbelievers or indifferent persons but rather "celui qui écrit s'adresse à des lecteurs intelligents et leur donne en quelque sorte des nouvelles du pays d'Incroyance" (258). Sellier masterfully demonstrates that fr. 681 is indeed "un des plus beaux textes que Pascal ait écrits" (259).
SELLIER, PHILIPPE and FERREYROLLES, GERARD, eds. Pascal. Les Provinciales, Pensées et opuscules divers. Paris: Le Livre de Poche/Classiques Garnier "la Pochothèque," 2004.
Review: B. Papasogli in S Fr 144 (2004): 603–604: Highly praised for the rigor of its method and the richness of its commentary, this remarkable edition provides "un Pascal essenziale" by extremely prominent Pascal specialists.
THIROUIN, LAURENT. "Le Cycle du divertissement." S Fr 143 (2004): 260–72:
Examines the place of "divertissement" in "le dispositif des liasses" of the Pensées as he places the liasse "Divertissement" successively in contact with each of the three others which complement it and/or contradict it, forming with it "un système" (262). Thirouin studies "Divertissement" and "philosophes," then "ennui" and finally, "souverain bien."
WETSEL, DAVID and FREDERIC CANEVAS, eds. Pascal: New Trends in Port-Royal Studies. Actes du 33e congrès annuel de la North American Society for Seventeenth-Century French Literature Tome I. Tübingen: Narr, 2002.
Review: E. Gilby in FS 58.1 (2004): 101–102. While the reviewer praises more than a few of the "subtle" and "illuminating" contributions to this collection, some are "variable" in quality, others do not even have bibliographies. The reviewer reserves the harshest critiques for the editors: "The proceedings have a hasty feel, and the volume is let down by patchy proof-reading."
CONLEY, JOHN J., S.J. ed. Jacqueline Pascal. A Rule for Children and Other Writings. Chicago: U of Chicago P, 2003.
Review: C. Jordan in Ren Q 57 (2004): 630–32: Appreciative of translator/editor Conley's critical observations on Pascal's "relatively flexible set of rules"—teachers should demonstrate charity, conversation need not always be "serious" nor the daily order "too spiritual" (75, 79, 97). Reviewer characterizes Pascal's copia as one "devoted to celebrating its negation. . . to use words to extol silence" (632).
CARABIN, DENISE, ed. Nicolas Pasquier. Le Gentilhomme. Paris: Honoré Champion, 2003.
Review: A. Arrigoni in S Fr 143 (2004): 357: Laudable critical apparatus includes an ample introduction (on Pasquier's education, the genesis and composition of this work, Pasquier's culture and ideals, etc.), notes, a glossary, and a rich bibliography. Pasquier's volume treats the multifaceted education of the young noble.
Review: H. Romann in BHR 66.3 (2004), 770–71: Edition critique de qualité: "Le portrait du gentilhomme que nous propose Nicolas est le résultat d'un syncrétisme mêlant idéologie nobiliaire traditionnelle et évolution culturelle liée aux circonstances politiques. 》
EMELINA, JEAN. "Le regard d'un savant sur les curiosités de la nature: plantes, jardins et eaux chez Peiresc." CdDS 9.1 (2004): 33–47.
Describes the contents of Peiresc's observations on nature, emphasizing his modernity, his optimism, and his scientific characteristics.
ROBERTS, WILLIAM. "Perelle's Veües des plus beaux endroits de Versailles: How the Engravings Contribute." CdDS 9.1 (2004): 49–60.
Examines how Perelle's work can help us assess the history of the various states of the Versailles gardens.
ANGOT, CHRISTINE. Peau d'âne. Paris: Stock, 2003.
Review: J. Hippolyte in FR 78.2 (2004): 395–96. Stock commissioned this edition in part to commemorate the 300th birthday of Perrault, from whom the Donkey-Skin tale was largely derived. The reviewer admires the tale's ontologically complex characters, who are "équivoques dans le rapport à soi et à l'autre" (395).
CULPIN, D. J., ed. Charles Perrault. Les hommes illustres. Avec leurs portraits au naturel. Tübingen: Gunter Narr, 2003. "Biblio 17"
Review: B. Papasogli in S Fr 142 (2004): 185: Useful edition of a work which underscores the rapports between the modern and the ancient. Admirable critical apparatus. Perrault's work is somewhere between "éloge" and "historiographie" as it presents 102 men of the Church, of war, of literature, of the professions, and so forth. The curious number highlights the anti-conformism of the work—the 2 "extra" are Arnauld and Pascal.
MILLET, CATHERINE. Riquet à la houppe-Millet à la loupe. Paris: Stock, 2003.
Review: J. Hippolyte in FR 78.2 (2004): 395–96. Stock commissioned this edition in part to commemorate the 300th birthday of Perrault, from whom the tale was largely derived. The reviewer admires the tale's ontologically complex characters, who are "équivoques dans le rapport à soi et à l'autre" (395). He also compares Millet's tale to La Vie sexuelle de Catherine M.
PILES
DEMORIS, RENE. "De Piles en 1699: La peinture mise à nu dans l'Idée du peintre parfait" in Aurélia Gaillard, ed. L'Année 1700. Actes du colloque du Centre de recherches sur le XVIIe siècle européen (1600–1700). Université Michel de Montaigne, Bordeaux III, 30–31 janvier 2003. Biblio 17 (154). Tübingen: Gunter Narr Verlag, 2004. 55–71.
An analysis of the major original lines of argument in De Piles' Idée (e.g., the distrust of the imagination, the conception of the origins of painting in a secular anthropology of nature, and the absence of a theory of surprise) in order to re-evaluate the critical evaluation of his theory as a point of transition between his 17th-century predecessors and his 18th-century successors.
MARANDET, FRANÇOIS. "The Grand Prix of Nicolas de Poilly the Younger." Burlington 1229 (2005): 549–551.
Examines "The Finding of the Silver Cup in Benjamin's Sack," recently attributed to Nicolas de Poilly the Younger, a talented but troubled and not very prolific painter during Louis XIV's reign. Concludes from comparison with Poilly's other known works that the painting in question won the 1698 Académie royale Grand Prix.
WELCH, MARCELLE MAISTRE. "Poullain de la Barre et les Modernes." CdDS 9.1 (2004): 106–118.
Examines the paradox in the fact that Poullain failed to secure a readership for his feminist treatises, in spite of his timely critique of the authority of the Ancients. Argues that his failure was due to his having put forth a model of "une élite féminine désengagée de la vie publique."
NAU, CLELIA. "Le temps de l'évanouissement: sur un monochrome de Poussin." RSH 275 (juillet–septembre 2004): 55–74.
Analyzes Nicolas Poussin's painting, Le Déluge or L'Hiver as an examination of the problem of temporality and of the sublime in painting. Examines the treatment of Poussin's painting by the critics of his time and after, and the idea of a "sublime classique."
OLSON, TODD P. Poussin and France: Paintings, Humanism and the Politics of Style. New Haven: Yale UP, 2002.
Review: H. Ballon in Ren Q 57 (2004): 648–50: Reviewer finds' Olson's work "thought-provoking," "smart and bristling with fascinating insights," but is not convinced by a number of Olson's "strained readings of Poussin's paintings" (649). Underscoring political angles and reception, Olson links Poussin's simplified style of the 1640s and 1650s with the anti-luxury discourse of the Fronde" (Olson 182).
VENESOEN, CONSTANT, ed. Les différens [sic] caracteres des femmes du siecle avec la description de l'amour propre. Edition de 1694. Paris: Champion, 2002.
Review: A. R. Larsen in Ren Q 57 (2004): 632–33: Praiseworthy edition of this treatise out of the six volumes that Madame de Pringy authored. Venesoen includes a 66-page introduction and a sizeable commentary on "amour propre" as a 17th c. concept. Appendices include de Pringy's funerary eulogy on Bourdaloue. Venesoen emphasizes both de Pringy's "vitriolic" moral judgments and her belief in the "perfectability of women" (633).
Review: B. Piqué in S Fr 142 (2004): 185–86: Venesoen's accurate and scholarly introduction accompanies this welcome edition of a female moralist or as Piqué states "moralizzatrice più che moralista" of La Bruyère's era. Pringy contrasts a desired virtue with opposite characters such as "Les Coquettes/ La Modestie," while the second and misogynous part describes "l'amour-propre" as the "passion dominante des femmes" (subtitle).
BROOKS, WILLIAM, ed. Philippe Quinault. L'Amant indiscret ou le maistre estourdi. Liverpool: Liverpool Online Series, 2003.
Review: B. Papasogli in S Fr 144 (2004): 606–607: Important edition provides a renewed appreciation of the multifaceted comedy in Quinault. Brooks underscores this in his introduction as he analyzes the ironic dimension.
Review: D. Shaw in MLR 100.3 (2005), 816–17: Well-organized critical edition based on the 1656 text. Brooks "lucidly argues that Molière, then in the provinces, heard of the successful Paris comedy and was inspired to go back to the common source, Barbieri's L'inavvertito. Brooks also convincingly argues that Quinault's play is actually better than Molière's."
CAMPION, EDMUND J., ed. Philippe Quinault. Pausanias, tragédie (1668). Introduction by William Brooks. Geneva: Droz, 2004.
Review: B. Papasogli in S Fr 144 (2004): 606–607: Useful edition of Quinault's penultimate tragedy, the latter written to "correct" the defects of Racine's Andromaque (607). Brooks's "spirited" introduction is highly instructive for its theatrical and psychological insights.
Review: D. Shaw in MLR 100.3 (2005), 816–17: "The first edition of Pausanias for over two hundred years, this volume provides a more than competent analysis of a tragedy written in the shadow of Racine."
NORMAN, BUFORD. Touched by the Graces: The Libretti of Philippe Quinault in the Context of French Classicism. Birmingham, AL: Summa Publications, 2001.
Review: P. Gethner in CdDS 9.1 (2004): 165–67. "This first full-length study" of Quinault's libretti is a synthesis of many perspectives and much previous scholarship. Includes information on sources and how they were altered, performance history, and topical allusions and political allegory; a "superb introduction," presenting recent work on the aesthetics of opera; and chapters on both the prologues and the eleven libretti. Also contains musicological considerations. Reviewer lauds the excellence of the writing as well as the scholarship, and views a large number of typographical errors as the volume's only flaw.
HALL, H. GASTON. "Honorat de Breuil, Marquis de Racan (1589–1670)" in La poésie française du premier 17e siècle, eds. D. L. Rubin & R. Corum, Charlottesville, VA: Rookwood Press, 2004, pp. 196–207.
Introduction to a selection of Racan's poetry in the 2nd edition of this volume.
BACKES, JEAN-LOUIS. "Elle tombe (comme) évanouie." RSH 275 (juillet–septembre 2004): 43–54.
Examines the meanings of episodes of fainting in Racine's Bajazet and Esther as a literary and theatrical device, and "découvrir le sein" as a common gesture of revealing truth.
BERLAN, FRANÇOISE. "Les verbes substituts lexicaux de la négation dans le théâtre classique. Le corpus racinien." LF 143 (2004), 93–110.
Analyses the use of verbs of negative meaning as opposed to negative adverbs, particularly in "constrained" forms such as the alexandrine.
BIET, CHRISTIAN. "Racine et le roi: Histoire, tragédie, historiographie" in Marie-Claude Canova-Green & Alain Viala, eds. Racine et l'Histoire. Biblio 17 Number 155, Tübingen: Gunter Narr Verlag, 2004. 17–36.
Through his engagements with Roman history (Britannicus, Bérénice), sacred history (Athalie) and royal historiography, Racine reflects on and refines his conception of the monarchical ideal. The vision of sacred history triumphs by showing that "il n'est plus, dans ce monde, de souverain très-chrétien, ni de roi-prêtre, ni de monarque eschatologique, mais que les hommes, quels qu'ils soient, sont soumis à la Chute."
BLANC, ANDRÉ. Racine: trois siècles de théâtre. Paris: Fayard, 2003.
Review: M.-O. Sweetser in FR 78.4 (2005): 775–76. This two-part tome on Racine begins with a biography and a critical analysis of his œuvre, then moves on to consider his plays' history on the stage. This latter half of the volume examines the most important Racine stagings from the 18th century to the present. The reviewer admires this "useful compendium," with its qualified, capable author and its succinct bibliography. Blanc's prose is also said to be "écrit dans un style alerte, contemporain, avec esprit et humour" (775).
Review: B. Papasogli in S Fr 142 (2004): 180–81: Important as a "summa raciniana," this wide-ranging volume presents in an even-handed manner historical and critical material as well as several 20th c. debates.
BLANC, ANDRE. "Vision de l'Orient chez racine et ses illustrateurs," in Isabelle Martin & Robert Elbaz, eds. Jean Racine et l'Orient. Actes d'un colloque international tenu à l'Université de Haïfa, 14–16 avril 1999. Biblio 17 Number 148. Tübingen: Gunter Narr Verlag, 2003. 173–182.
The author compares Racine's creation of an "oriental" décor in the plays, with the many visions of the plays' illustrators and contemporary theater directors.
BLOCKER, DEBORAH. "Esther à la cour du Roi de France: l'Orient biblique christianisé, éloge ou dénonciation?" in Isabelle Martin & Robert Elbaz, eds. Jean Racine et l'Orient. Actes d'un colloque international tenu à l'Université de Haïfa, 14–16 avril 1999. Biblio 17 Number 148. Tübingen: Gunter Narr Verlag, 2003. 81–103.
Esther demonstrates an incoherence and ambiguity in its treatment of biblical sources and monarchy. The play's ambivalence, however, is far from a failure: it represents instead the very fault lines at the heart of absolutism.
BOULHOL, VERONIQUE. "Racine dans le Lycée de La Harpe." DSS 228 (2005), 409–426.
Via a detailed reading of Jean-François de La Harpe's Lycée, published in 1799, the author identifies the particular emphasis La Harpe put on Racine ("Il apparaît que La Harpe contribue grandement à promouvoir au rang de classiques les auteurs du temps de Louis XIV [...] Parmi ceux-là, promu au tout premier rang, Racine"), and holds it up as "un exemple intéressant du processus de classicisation que celui-ci met en œuvre." The author concludes: "Résolument, dans la lecture de La Harpe, c'est la modernité de Racine qui fait de lui le plus parfait des classiques."
BRAHIMINI, DENISE. "Bérénice, Reine d'Orient," in Isabelle Martin & Robert Elbaz, eds. Jean Racine et l'Orient. Actes d'un colloque international tenu à l'Université de Haïfa, 14–16 avril 1999. Biblio 17 Number 148. Tübingen: Gunter Narr Verlag, 2003. 107–112.
Bérénice's resignation and withdrawal from the political arena represents a midpoint or transition between the model of powerful Oriental queens (Medea, Dido, Cleopatra) who were eventually sacrificed for political expediency and the Western figure of the queen who, the author claims, was essentially powerless.
CANOVA-GREEN, MARIE-CLAUDE & ALAIN VIALA, EDS. Racine et l'Histoire. Biblio 17 Number 155, Tübingen: Gunter Narr Verlag, 2004.
Note: all articles contained within this volume are summarized in this issue of French 17.
CANOVA-GREEN, MARIE-CLAUDE. "Racine et l'histoire métallique de Louis XIV" in Marie-Claude Canova-Green & Alain Viala, eds. Racine et l'Histoire. Biblio 17 Number 155, Tübingen: Gunter Narr Verlag, 2004. 237–256.
Racine's contributions to L'Académie Royale des Médailles et Inscriptions reveal him to be a true ancien with a taste for antiquity.
CHAOUCHE, SABINE. "Les tragédies religieuses de Racine : une ponctuation de l'émotion?" PFSCL XXXII, 63 (2005), 441–465.
Examines questions such as "Peut-on parler d'une spécificité de la declamation des tragédies religieuses? Existe-t-il de nouveaux procédés scripturaux permettant de 《 fixer 》, à l'avance le jeu des acteurs?" Adds: 'Nous examinerons dans cette étude l'utilisation 《 raisonnée 》 de la ponctuation dans Esther et Athalie. Nous tenterons aussi de montrer comment Racine a su, grâce à une utilisation particulière des points de suspension, donner une impulsion nouvelle à la déclamation en forçant le comédien à travailler 《 l'intériorité 》 de son rôle."
CLARKE, DAVID. "Entre Histoire et panégyrique: les princes romains de Racine" in Marie-Claude Canova-Green & Alain Viala, eds. Racine et l'Histoire. Biblio 17 Number 155, Tübingen: Gunter Narr Verlag, 2004. 83–97.
Panegyric provides a "fil conducteur" for understanding Racine's dramaturgy, historiography, and experience as a courtier. With the characters of Néron and Titus, Racine enters the domain of allegory and exemplarity which are the chief elements of seventeenth-century history writing and panegyric.
DARTOIS-LAPEYRE, FRANÇOISE. "Racine, l'Orient et les livrets d'opéra au XVIIIe et au début du XIXe siècle." PFSCL XXXII, 62 (2005), 215–242.
"Après avoir dégagé les principaux caractères de [l'orient théâtral de Racine] et les avoir mis en relation avec les descriptions transmises par les récits de voyageurs, nous montrerons à travers quelques exemples l'influence de Racine sur l'écriture des livrets d'opéra au XVIIIe siècle et le rôle indirect qu'il a joué dans le développement d'une poétique de la danse qui rayonna en Europe jusqu'au début du XIXe siècle."
DARTOIS-LAPEYRE, FRANCOISE. "Racine, l'Orient et les livrets d'opéra au XVIIIe et au XIXe siècles," in Isabelle Martin & Robert Elbaz, eds. Jean Racine et l'Orient. Actes d'un colloque international tenu à l'Université de Haïfa, 14–16 avril 1999. Biblio 17 Number 148. Tübingen: Gunter Narr Verlag, 2003. 183–203.
This article examines the direct influence of Racine's vision of the Orient on the writing of operas in the 18th century as well as its indirect influence on the creation of a poetics of dance in the 19th century.
DELMAS, CHRISTIAN. "Histoire et Mythe" in Marie-Claude Canova-Green & Alain Viala, eds. Racine et l'Histoire. Biblio 17 Number 155, Tübingen: Gunter Narr Verlag, 2004. 57–68.
In a century when the boundary between histoire and fable tended to be blurred, Racine's theater questions the dichotomy between history and myth.
DUGOVSKY, ALEXANDRA & VICTORIA DUGOVSKY. "Racine en Russie: l'exemple d'Athalie," in Isabelle Martin & Robert Elbaz, eds. Jean Racine et l'Orient. Actes d'un colloque international tenu à l'Université de Haïfa, 14–16 avril 1999. Biblio 17 Number 148. Tübingen: Gunter Narr Verlag, 2003. 157–169.
The authors survey the history of Russian theater and the reception/performance of Racine's work in Russia from the XVIIIth–XXth centuries. In particular they examine the interest of the Decembrist movement in Racine's work because it considered Athalie's patriotic, civic, political, and historical message to be an endorsement of an anti-monarchical revolutionary movement.
FRANTZ, PIERRE. "Athalie au XVIIIe siècle," in Isabelle Martin & Robert Elbaz, eds. Jean Racine et l'Orient. Actes d'un colloque international tenu à l'Université de Haïfa, 14–16 avril 1999. Biblio 17 Number 148. Tübingen: Gunter Narr Verlag, 2003. 133–146.
It is surprising, the author argues, that Athalie was more appreciated in the XVIIIth century than the XVIIth and that Voltaire accorded it a special place of honor for its poetic perfection.
GAIGNEBET, LEON. "Revoir Racine," in Isabelle Martin & Robert Elbaz, eds. Jean Racine et l'Orient. Actes d'un colloque international tenu à l'Université de Haïfa, 14–16 avril 1999. Biblio 17 Number 148. Tübingen: Gunter Narr Verlag, 2003. 205–229.
An artist assembles a collection of illustrations of Racine's "oriental" tragedies.
GIULIANI, PIERRE. "Esther et la douceur: une gageure dramatique." IL 56.2 (2004): 3–11.
Views the play as a type of "wager" on Racine's part: "faire de la commande que motive l'expérience pédagogique conduite à Saint-Cyr... une oeuvre affranchie des passions jugées délétères pour atteindre... à la célébration épurée de l'innocence et d'une certaine qualité de douceur fondée sur la confiance dans la Providence."
HEYNDELS, RALPH. "Vraisemblance dramatique, invraisemblable homotexte? Bérénice de Racine" in J.-V. Blanchard & H. Visentin, eds., L'Invraisemblance du pouvoir, Fasano / Paris: Schena editore / Presses de l'Université de Paris-Sorbonne, 2005, pp. 123–134.
With attention to what he calls the "cohérence organique" of Racine's play (based on lexical considerations and the use of doubles), Heyndels proposes a homotexte according to which the rivals Titus and Antiochus love each other, and the way in which la vraisemblance works to conceal this relationship.
MARTIN, ISABELLE. "La tragédie idéale: l'influence de J. Racine sur Sébastien Nicolas Roch de Champfort," in Isabelle Martin & Robert Elbaz, eds. Jean Racine et l'Orient. Actes d'un colloque international tenu à l'Université de Haïfa, 14–16 avril 1999. Biblio 17 Number 148. Tübingen: Gunter Narr Verlag, 2003. 147–156.
The utopian author's experiments and engagement with the classical theater give his work a continuity with Racine's, particularly in the choice of "oriental" subject matter.
MARTIN, ISABELLE and ROBERT ELBAZ, eds. Jean Racine et l'Orient. Actes d'un Colloque international tenu à l'Université de Haïfa, 14–16 avril 1999. Tübingen, Biblio 17, Gunter Narr, 2003. (Note: Individual articles are summarized in this volume.)
Review: A. Merle in DSS 227 (2005), 361–362: One of many conferences convened in recognition of the tricentenary of Racine's death, this one concentrates on the subject of "l'orient, très présent dans l'œuvre du dramaturge [...] n'avait pas jusqu'ici fait l'objet d'une étude d'ensemble." The reviewer remarks on the large number of articles included and concludes that the acts constitute "un bel ouvrage [...] riche et souvent novateur, cohérent malgré — et c'est là notre seule réserve — une répartition des articles en chapitres inutilement nombreux et d'ampleur trop manifestement inégale."
Review: C. Rolla in S Fr 144 (2004): 605–606: These Actes of the 1999 international Haïfa colloque analyze reciprocal influences of the Orient and the Occident for a better understanding of Racine's dramaturgy. The preface by Alain Viala is followed by six sections: "L'Orient grec et turc," "Bible et poésie," "Images du pouvoir," "L'univers féminin: images de Bérénice," "Racine et l'Orient au delà de Racine: influences," and "L'Orient et la dramaturgie."
MAZAWI, ANDRE ELIAS & MARTIN, ISABELLE. "Bajazet en arabe: entre traduction et acculturation," in Isabelle Martin & Robert Elbaz, eds. Jean Racine et l'Orient. Actes d'un colloque international tenu à l'Université de Haïfa, 14–16 avril 1999. Biblio 17 Number 148. Tübingen: Gunter Narr Verlag, 2003. 53–62.
Examines the translation of Bajazet in Arabic in order to bring out the play's "orientalism" and the problems of its culturally-specific context. Arabic translations rehabilitate the customs, values, and symbols represented in the play while still maintaining its essential East-West dichotomy.
MENDELSON, DAVID. "Quand Chateaubriand lisait Athalie à Jérusalem: Le modèle de cette pièce à l'époque pré-romantique," in Isabelle Martin & Robert Elbaz, eds. Jean Racine et l'Orient. Actes d'un colloque international tenu à l'Université de Haïfa, 14–16 avril 1999. Biblio 17 Number 148. Tübingen: Gunter Narr Verlag, 2003. 115–132.
On his voyage to Jersusalem in 1806 Chateaubriand declaimed scenes from Racine's Athalie. He found the play so appealing because it is both classical and pre-romantic, evokes the ravages of history, and bridges the gap between reality and the imaginary in the theater.
MOLINIE, GEORGES. "Poéticité et négativité: Bérénice ou l'Orient saccagé," in MARTIN, ISABELLE & ROBERT ELBAZ, EDS. Jean Racine et l'Orient. Actes d'un colloque international tenu à l'Université de Haïfa, 14–16 avril 1999. Biblio 17 Number 148. Tübingen: Gunter Narr Verlag, 2003. 65–68.
A brief close reading of Bérénice I.4 that asks how a Christian audience would understand the tragedy's representation of Jewish misfortune.
MORIARTY, MICHAEL. "Iphigénie: histoire des oracles" in Marie-Claude Canova-Green & Alain Viala, eds. Racine et l'Histoire. Biblio 17 Number 155, Tübingen: Gunter Narr Verlag, 2004. 101–116.
The necessity of submitting blindly to the will of the gods in Iphigénie shows how men cannot be the authors of their own history.
NIDERST, ALAIN. Le Travail de Racine: essai sur la composition des tragédies de Racine. Saint-Pierre-du-Mont: Eurédit, 2001.
Review: M.-O. Sweetser in FR 78.3 (2005): 574–76. Building on Niderst's earlier book on Racine, this study examines Racine's authorial work through a return to his texts and their cultural milieu. Here, Niderst suggests that although Racine gravitated toward predictable tragic subjects, respected the known trajectories of tales, and established parallels with the work of other contemporaries, he nonetheless "a créé du nouveau" (575). Niderst signals that Racine's plays had very little in common with those of Corneille, and instead drew considerable inspiration from contemporary painting. This new addition to Racine criticism is said to "souligne de façon convaincante les rapports de l'œuvre racinienne avec son contexte, sans oublier la part personelle de l'artiste" (575).
PEROVIC, SANJA. "Le Cadavre exquis: The Origins of Tragic Drama in Racine's Bazajet." NLH 36 (2005), 439–460.
Drawing on Bernard Williams' attention to time and the body in the definition of tragic conflict, the article explores Bazajet's 'living dead' body as one which is profoundly tragic. Perovic illustrates how Bazajet's person, slated for death and effectively a corpse already, creates a conflict between pastness and presentness, one which creates a sense that the protagonist is speaking from a realm of timelessness. Perovic then relates this ghostly timelessness to the apparent ahistoricity or time resistance of tragic speech.
PHILLIPPO, SUSANNA. Silent Witness: Racine's Non-Verbal Annotations of Euripides. Oxford: Legenda, 2003.
Review: J. Campbell in MLR 100.2 (2005), 500–01: Phillippo's "enterprise is in appearance more audacious than the traditional study of sources: the establishment of a relationship between Racine's non-verbal annotations of Euripides and his own tragedies." The author considers evidence "provided by the way in which Racine highlighted certain lines and passages in Euripides by means such as underlining and brackets." Reviewer generally favorable to "this well-judged attempt to look at an old question in what is an original, clear-headed, and stimulating way."
PHILLIPS, HENRY. "Racine et l'histoire: personnage, sujet, texte" in Marie-Claude Canova-Green & Alain Viala, eds. Racine et l'Histoire. Biblio 17 Number 155, Tübingen: Gunter Narr Verlag, 2004. 37–54.
The characters of Racinean tragedy create their own text: they seek to control the processes of history in order to become its subject.
PREYAT, FABRICE. "L'influence du "Petit Concile" de Bossuet sur l'Athalie de Racine, ou La christianisation des moeurs sous Louis XIV entre historiographie juive et française" in Marie-Claude Canova-Green & Alain Viala, eds. Racine et l'Histoire. Biblio 17 Number 155, Tübingen: Gunter Narr Verlag, 2004. 129–163.
While reflecting the monarchy's Christianization of practices as well as the religious element of royal patronage, Racine's adaptation of an Old Testament story into a dramatic tragedy questions both the religious and artistic politics of the absolute monarchy.
REILLY, MARY. "The Moral Perspective in Racinian Tragedy." Neophil 88 (2004): 33–41.
Argues that "religious canons [are] given. . .unorthodox treatment" in Racine's plays and emphasizes "the complexity of the moral vision he presents" (40). Notes a certain "blurring of the correlation between sin and guilt on the one hand, and guilt and punishment on the other, creat[ting] moral confusion" (36). Suggestive study with rich notes referring helpfully to related studies.
REILLY, MARY. "Le Paradis Perdu de Racine: ténébreux mystère ou réveil plein d'horreur?" in Marie-Claude Canova-Green & Alain Viala, eds. Racine et l'Histoire. Biblio 17 Number 155, Tübingen: Gunter Narr Verlag, 2004. 117–127.
The author examines the representation of death and the afterlife as well as the use of terms that subtly subvert religion and the image of God to reveal a Racine who is "au mieux ambigu" and "au pire blasphémateur" in his treatment of Christian ideals and language.
RIBARD, DINAH. "Racine historiographe et le genre de la Vie" in Marie-Claude Canova-Green & Alain Viala, eds. Racine et l'Histoire. Biblio 17 Number 155, Tübingen: Gunter Narr Verlag, 2004. 207–223.
Racine's engagement with a variety of different biographical forms shows how sought to write histoire particulière that would be compatible with promoting the glory of his royal patron.
ROBIC-DE BAECQUE, SYLVIE. "L'Abrégé de l'Histoire de Port-Royal, ou le tombeau de la representation politique" in Marie-Claude Canova-Green & Alain Viala, eds. Racine et l'Histoire. Biblio 17 Number 155, Tübingen: Gunter Narr Verlag, 2004. 257–267.
The Abrégé shows "la face et le revers d'une même médaille," namely political power, through its representation of a religious minority's persecutions and "le récit de la sublimité royale."
ROHOU, JEAN. Jean Racine. Athalie. Paris: PUF, 2003.
Review: B. Chédozeau in IL 56.1 (2004): 54. An edition of the play offering a summary of recent interpretations, context (literary, political, religious, historical), and reception. Rohou insists particularly on the Augustinianism of the times, and on tragedy as a means to offering a spiritual vision of man. "[U]n excellent ouvrage... qui sera certainement utile aux étudiants comme à leurs professeurs."
RONZEAUD, PIERRE. "Entre Orient et Occident; poétique et politique de la ruse dans Mithridate," in Isabelle Martin & Robert Elbaz, eds. Jean Racine et l'Orient. Actes d'un colloque international tenu à l'Université de Haïfa, 14–16 avril 1999. Biblio 17 Number 148. Tübingen: Gunter Narr Verlag, 2003. 17–32.
The author examines Racine's linguistic, poetic, and dramatic ruses to show how the play's ultimate ruse—its conclusion—both condemns and praises ambition.
SANTOS, ANA CLARA. "La fortune de Racine au Portugal: traduction et mise en scène." SCFS 27 (2005), 209–219.
Focuses on the reception of Racine's plays in Portugal up to the twentieth century. Aims to "poser un regard diachronique sur les effets plus ou moins lointains, parfois controversés, de ce théâtre sur la culture littéraire portugaise," and to "déceler, dans la chronologie des événements, l'impact opéré sous l'appropriation d'un modèle nouveau qui s'instaure, dès le départ, comme un modèle de rébellion contre la culture dominante."
SCHWARTZ, HAVIVAH. "Racine's Imperfect Monarchs: Models of Kingship in Bajazet, Iphigénie and Phèdre." DAI 65/06 (2004), 2222.
"In seventeenth-century French theater, stage kings generally fulfilled two basic kinds of roles: the hero-king who was the subject of the tragedy, and [...] the 'secondary king'—that is, a monarch who possesses supreme authority over other characters but is not the explicit focus of the play's conflict." Argues that secondary kings "raise questions about key aspects of absolute monarchy: who possesses sovereignty and whether that sovereignty is unified or shared, to what purpose a monarch must use his power, and finally, the source of the right to rule, whether by royal lineage, tradition, reliance on the religious establishment or military might."
SICK, FRANZISKA. "Une Poétique de la ruse: l'Histoire dans les tragedies de Racine" in Marie-Claude Canova-Green & Alain Viala, eds. Racine et l'Histoire. Biblio 17 Number 155, Tübingen: Gunter Narr Verlag, 2004. 69–81.
Unlike Corneille's tragedies where history is the source of tragic interest, Racine's tragedies revolve around love and relegate history to a secondary, narrative role.
SOARE, ANTOINE. "Bajazet dans l'imaginaire racinien," in Isabelle Martin & Robert Elbaz, eds. Jean Racine et l'Orient. Actes d'un colloque international tenu à l'Université de Haïfa, 14–16 avril 1999. Biblio 17 Number 148. Tübingen: Gunter Narr Verlag, 2003. 33–52.
The author analyzes the rhetorical figure of "la projection sylleptique" and examines the uses of the language of bonds ("fers," "chaînes," "noeuds," "liens," "joug") in Racine's tragedies.
VIALA, ALAIN. "L'empire de l'Asie," in Isabelle Martin & Robert Elbaz, eds. Jean Racine et l'Orient. Actes d'un colloque international tenu à l'Université de Haïfa, 14–16 avril 1999. Biblio 17 Number 148. Tübingen: Gunter Narr Verlag, 2003. 71–79.
The author examines the recurrent representation of Asia as the object of imperial desire and uncovers a fundamental ambivalence: the Orient's despotism, corruption, and empire horrify Racine's audience who are nonetheless captivated by its promises of wealth, opulence, and sensuality.
VIALA, ALAIN. "Le récit est un théâtre" in Marie-Claude Canova-Green & Alain Viala, eds. Racine et l'Histoire. Biblio 17 Number 155, Tübingen: Gunter Narr Verlag, 2004. 225–235.
By drawing on the framework of Louis Marin's Le récit est un piège, the author reconciles Racine the dramaturge and Racine the historian.
COMBET, DENIS. "Images de la peur et maîtrise de l'Autre dans les quatres premiers voyages de Pierre-Esprit Radisson." TL 17 (2004): 331–343.
Combet appreciates a double aspect of Radisson's relations: the realistic presentation of "la menace permanente de l'Autre" and his own heroism (333). Combet finds the alliance of personal sentiments and apologetic discourse to make up the original character of Radisson's writings. Omits examination of Radisson's 5th and 6th voyages since the heroism there is more realistic and the emphasis is on prudence and ruse of the conqueror rather than fear (343).
TIEFENBRUN, SUSAN. "Mathurin Régnier (1573–1613)" in La poésie française du premier 17e siècle, eds. D. L. Rubin & R. Corum, Charlottesville, VA: Rookwood Press, 2004, pp. 154–156.
Introduction to a selection of Régnier's poetry in the 2nd edition of this volume.
MAZAURIC, SIMONE, ed. Théophraste Renaudot. De la petite fille velue — et autres conférences du Bureau d'Adresse (1632–1642). Paris: Klincksieck, 2004.
Review: BCLF 663 (2004), 130–31: 《 T. Renaudot a en effet vécu durant une période passionnante, où bon nombre des illusions de l'Antiquité. . . disparaissent lentement, face au cartésianisme naissant. 》 Cette anthologie, 《 bien conçue et agréable, 》 contient une vingtaine de comptes rendus dont "l'ensemble est passionnant et forme, à bien des égards, un cabinet de curiosité. . ." On regrette l'absence de glossaire.
WELLMAN, KATHLEEN. Making Science Social: The Conferences of Théophraste Renaudot 1633–1642. (Series for Science and Culture, number 6.). Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 2003.
Review: J. B. Shank in FHS 28.4 (Fall 2005), 661–695: "Renaudot's bureau certainly has much to teach us about the seventeenth-century foundations of eighteenth-century science and society, and as such Making Social Science can be recommended as a book that isolates these important precursors, analyzes their importance, and argues compellingly for their integration into Enlightenment studies... She also offers a detailed and learned study of the idiosyncrasies of seventeenth-century natural philosophy that is highly instructive."
Review: K. K. Weaver in SCN 62 (2004), 263–265: Using Renaudot's conferences as her primary source, Wellman delves into "major ideas in the history of science, the history of gender and science, and the history of biology." The reviewer particularly appreciates the author's "significant contribution to the history of biology" and praises the author for doing "a fine job establishing the skeptical, humanitarian, utilitarian, and optimistic qualities of the medical discussions that took place among the members of Renaudot's group, and associates these characteristics with the Enlightenment's view of medicine."
GARNEAU DE L'ISLE-ADAM, MARIE-CHRISTINE. "Stendhal, figure de proue d'une nouvelle critique littéraire du cardinal de Retz?" FR 78.1 (2004): 104–115.
The article attests to the fascination of Chateaubriand and Stendhal with the cardinal de Retz, noting the frequency with which both cite the famed memorialist. (One such moment appears when Stendhal recalls Retz's imprisonment in Mémoires d'un touriste, which Garneau de l'Isle-Adam compares to the moment of Fabrice's imprisonment in the Chartreuse de Parme.) The body of the article explores some of the aesthetic, political, and familial reasons for Stendhal and Chateaubriand's interest in Retz. The author of course notes the three authors' predilection for memoirs, but also suggests that these 19th-century admirers perceive poetic and novelistic qualities in Retz (106–107). Garneau de l'Isle-Adam also claims that Chateaubriand and Stendhal gravitate toward the memorialist as a commentator on the pre-Fronde political climate, which interests them due to their own experience with pre-revolutionary moments. Last, the author notes the trio's shared interest in noble origins and genealogy. The article offers an interesting and useful assemblage of citations although its presentation could be improved.
TSIMBIDY, MYRIAM & CHRISTOPHE BLANQUIE. "Retz, solliciteur de procès." DSS 227 (2005), 265–283.
"Comment payer les créanciers, comment défendre les droits attachés aux bénéfices du cardinal? La correspondance entre Retz et La Fons présente bien des similitudes avec les registres des conseils des grands. Les affaires contentieuses s'y taillent la part belle, de sorte que l'on y découvre un Retz solliciteur de procès. Cette facette du personnage est-elle si nouvelle et le coadjuteur ne savait-il pas jouer de ses amitiés au parlement? The authors address these and other questions using the La Fons correspondence as a particularly rich source of information.
VANCE, SYLVIA P. The Memoirs of the Cardinal de Retz. Biblio 17, vol. 158. Tübingen: Gunter Narr Verlag, 2006.
HILDESHEIMER, FRANCOISE. Richelieu. Paris: Flammarion, 2004.
Review: n.a. in BCLF 665 (2004), 110: "F. Hildesheimer a choisi de présenter au lecteur l'image d'un cardinal éloigné de la pompe et de la morgue des portraits de commande, non pas un Richelieu intime, anecdotique (cela ne se serait pas justifié), mais un homme dont l'ascension et le maintien au pouvoir furent le fruit d'une volonté et d'une intelligence surhumaines. 》
MORGAIN, STEPHANE-MARIE. "Richelieu lecteur de Sainte-Thérèse." RHEF 90 no. 224 (2004): 161–173.
Describes the importance of Spanish writing of all sorts in the seventeenth century in spite of the Franco-Spanish wars and political tensions. The author focuses on the influence of Theresa of Avila on Richelieu's Traité de la perfection du Chrétien and the Cardinal's discourse on the opposition between the contemplative and active life.
LOCHERT, VERONIQUE and LILIANE PICCIOLA, eds. Jean Rotrou. Théâtre complet. Vol. VI: La Célimène et Diane. Paris: Les Belles Lettres, 2003.
Review: C. Bernazzoli in S Fr 143 (2004): 357–58: This contribution to the complete edition directed by Georges Forestier includes two pastoral comedies. Lochert demonstrates how the first presents all the fundamental elements of comedy, while Picciola observes how Rotrou both respects the essence of the Iberian source of Diane while he transforms a moralizing play into one "fori morale."
LOMBARDI, MARCO. Il San Gennesio di Rotrou a Bologna. Visioni del teatro celeste. Firenze: Alinea Editrice, 2003.
Review: F. Decroisette in DSS 227 (2005), 363–364: Concentrating on the "parcours italiens de l'un des mythes majeurs du théâtre, la 《 conversion de Saint Genest 》, dont Le Véritable Saint Genest de Rotrou est son 《 modèle 》," the author bases his thoughts on "la retranscription et l'analyse d'une traduction anonyme tardive de l'œuvre de Rotrou parue à Bologne, chez Lelio della volpe, en 1730, intitulée San Gennesio martire, tradedia di Monsieur de Rotrou."
BAILBE, JACQUES et al. "Antoine Girard de Saint-Amant (1594–1661)" in La poésie française du premier 17e siècle, eds. D. L. Rubin & R. Corum, Charlottesville, VA: Rookwood Press, 2004, pp. 258–261.
Introduction to a selection of Saint-Amant's poetry in the 2nd edition of this volume. With C. Wentzlaff-Eggebert, C. Rolfe, E. Duval, R. Corum and C. Ingold.
PEUREUX, GUILLAUME. "Le Rendez-vous des Enfants sans soucy": La poétique de Saint-Amant. Paris: Champion, 2002.
Review: S. Tonolo in IL 56.1 (2004): 52–53. A synthesis of Saint-Amant's poetic production in three parts. The first, starting from a consideration of influence, emphasizes the poet's gay ingenuity and the taste for verbal abundance. The second describes his "esthétique descriptive et voluptueuse" (Peureux), and traces what this Christian Epicureanism owes to authors such as Montaigne or Théophile. The final chapter analyzes the poetics of seeing in Saint-Amant. Very positive review of a study that brings to light, "sous des apparences d'insouciance et de spontanéité, le tempérament de l'artiste et une rhétorique originale" (Tonolo).
ZUERNER, ADRIENNE. "Narrating the Life of a Scandalous Woman: Madame de Saint-Balmon." CdDS 9.1 (2004): 119–133.
Asks what the stakes were in "publishing the life of a scandalous woman ... when the image of the femme forte no longer held cultural sway." Argues that tensions emerge in Vernon's 1678 biography, in spite of the biographer's efforts to mitigate the anxiety the figure provoked.
ARENBERG, NANCY. "Getting Old: Reflections on Aging in the Letters of Saint-Evremond and Ninon de Lenclos." PFSCL XXXII, 62 (2005), 243–256.
"This study will initially examine some of the more theoretical aspects of the epistle as a literary form, since the missive provides the structure for sharing the pair's recollections of their youthful days. Secondly, an investigation of Saint-Evremond's philosophy of friendship is useful, as it adds dimension to the dominant themes of regret, nostalgia and absence. The core of the discussion will consider how the two view the declining body, its weakness offset by the strength of their enduring spirit."
BIET, CHRISTIAN. "Sir Politick Would-Be, ce que la politique ne peut pas être ou peut n'être pas. Comédie et conversation sur le projet ridicule de réformer le monde," in Guellouz, Suzanne, ed. Saint-Evremond: au miroir du temps. Actes du colloque du tricentenaire de sa mort. Caen-Saint-Lô (9–11 octobre 2003). Biblio 17 Number 157. Tübingen: Gunter Narr Verlag, 2005. 75–97.
Saint-Evremond's play functions on different levels: it couches political and economic criticism in parody and ridicule.
BURY, EMMANUEL. "Saint-Evremond, Ancien ou Moderne?" in Guellouz, Suzanne, ed. Saint-Evremond: au miroir du temps. Actes du colloque du tricentenaire de sa mort. Caen-Saint-Lô (9–11 octobre 2003). Biblio 17 Number 157. Tübingen: Gunter Narr Verlag, 2005. 137–148.
The subtlety of Saint-Evremond along with the uncertain dates of authorship of his texts makes his work difficult to plot on an historical continuum between classical and Enlightenment thought.
CAMINITI-PENNAROLA, LEA. "Saint-Evremond et le genre de la comedie," in Guellouz, Suzanne, ed. Saint-Evremond: au miroir du temps. Actes du colloque du tricentenaire de sa mort. Caen-Saint-Lô (9–11 octobre 2003). Biblio 17 Number 157. Tübingen: Gunter Narr Verlag, 2005. 23–48.
The author examines how Saint-Evremond's essay "Sur les comédies" engages in a cross-cultural comparison of French, Italian, Spanish, and English comedy shaped by his exile in Holland and nostalgia for France.
CIVARDI, JEAN-MARC. "La Comédie des Académistes. Théâtre et polémique: Saint-Evremond contre les fils d'Apollon," in Guellouz, Suzanne, ed. Saint-Evremond: au miroir du temps. Actes du colloque du tricentenaire de sa mort. Caen-Saint-Lô (9-11 octobre 2003). Biblio 17 Number 157. Tübingen: Gunter Narr Verlag, 2005. 49–74.
The author analyzes Saint-Evremond's satirical targets as well as the ideology behind La Comédie des Académistes. Saint-Evremond's talent and originality lies in his mélange of bitter satiric portraits with rhetorical and poetic critical insights.
DAGEN, JEAN. "Saint-Evremond et Marivaux," in Guellouz, Suzanne, ed. Saint-Evremond: au miroir du temps. Actes du colloque du tricentenaire de sa mort. Caen-Saint-Lô (9–11 octobre 2003). Biblio 17 Number 157. Tübingen: Gunter Narr Verlag, 2005. 277–291.
The author develops numerous parallels and contrasts between the two authors to show the depths of Marivaux's engagement with Saint-Evremond.
GOLDZINK, JEAN. "Saint-Evremond et Voltaire," in Guellouz, Suzanne, ed. Saint-Evremond: au miroir du temps. Actes du colloque du tricentenaire de sa mort. Caen-Saint-Lô (9–11 octobre 2003). Biblio 17 Number 157. Tübingen: Gunter Narr Verlag, 2005. 293–298.
The author compares and contrasts Voltaire and Saint-Evremond's thought on the theater and religion.
GUELLOUZ, SUZANNE, ed. Saint-Evremond: au miroir du temps. Actes du colloque du tricentenaire de sa mort. Caen-Saint-Lô (9–11 octobre 2003). Biblio 17 Number 157. Tübingen: Gunter Narr Verlag, 2005.
All articles included in this volume are summarized briefly in this issue of French 17.
GUELLOUZ, SUZANNE. "Saint-Evremond et l'Espagne," in Guellouz, Suzanne, ed. Saint-Evremond: au miroir du temps. Actes du colloque du tricentenaire de sa mort. Caen-Saint-Lô (9–11 octobre 2003). Biblio 17 Number 157. Tübingen: Gunter Narr Verlag, 2005. 149–165.
Saint-Evremond's interest in Spain shows how the mindset and concerns of the early seventeenth century permeates all of his later work.
HODGSON, RICHARD. "La Rochefoucauld et Saint-Evremond: des 'detours' de l'amour-propre au 'traffic' de l'amitié," in Suzanne Guellouz, ed. Saint-Evremond: au miroir du temps. Actes du colloque du tricentenaire de sa mort. Caen-Saint-Lô (9–11 octobre 2003). Biblio 17 Number 157. Tübingen: Gunter Narr Verlag, 2005. 169–184.
The two moralists' challenge to prevailing orthodoxies (as Jansenist and libertin) as well as the similarity of their experiences explain the importance of amour-propre in their conception of friendship.
HOURCADE, PHILIPPE. "L'écriture de l'histoire chez Saint-Evremond," in Guellouz, Suzanne, ed. Saint-Evremond: au miroir du temps. Actes du colloque du tricentenaire de sa mort. Caen-Saint-Lô (9–11 octobre 2003). Biblio 17 Number 157. Tübingen: Gunter Narr Verlag, 2005. 215–229.
Saint-Evremond's treatment of historical subject matter is a question of personal interest and highly idiosyncratic.
JASPERS, MICHAEL. "Le relativisme historique de Saint-Evremond," in Guellouz, Suzanne, ed. Saint-Evremond: au miroir du temps. Actes du colloque du tricentenaire de sa mort. Caen-Saint-Lô (9–11 octobre 2003). Biblio 17 Number 157. Tübingen: Gunter Narr Verlag, 2005. 231–245.
The author situates Saint-Evremond's historiography, religious tolerance, political ideas, and cosmopolitanism in the context of the notion of modernity and concludes that Saint-Evremond is a precursor of the eighteenth-century philosophes.
LALLEMAND, MARIE GABRIELLE. "Saint-Evremond et le roman," in Guellouz, Suzanne, ed. Saint-Evremond: au miroir du temps. Actes du colloque du tricentenaire de sa mort. Caen-Saint-Lô (9–11 octobre 2003). Biblio 17 Number 157. Tübingen: Gunter Narr Verlag, 2005. 121–136.
Saint-Evremond criticized the notion of galanterie which he viewed as the novel's fundamental ideology. His criticism of the novel was based on a sketchy, incomplete familiarity with the genre.
LE BLANC, JUDITH. "Les Opéra, un manifeste esthétique et libertin en forme de comédie," in Guellouz, Suzanne, ed. Saint-Evremond: au miroir du temps. Actes du colloque du tricentenaire de sa mort. Caen-Saint-Lô (9–11 octobre 2003). Biblio 17 Number 157. Tübingen: Gunter Narr Verlag, 2005. 99–118.
The author considers how Saint-Evremond's work castigates seventeenth-century France's passion for opera while admiring its textual qualities and the work of Lully.
NIDERST, ALAIN. "Saint-Evremond et les libertines," in Guellouz, Suzanne, ed. Saint-Evremond: au miroir du temps. Actes du colloque du tricentenaire de sa mort. Caen-Saint-Lô (9–11 octobre 2003). Biblio 17 Number 157. Tübingen: Gunter Narr Verlag, 2005. 203–214.
The author examines Saint-Evremond from a biographical and historical perspective to overcome the difficulties of establishing a chronology of Saint-Evremond's work.
POTTS, DENYS, ed. Saint-Evremond: A Voice from Exile: Newly Discovered Letters to Madame de Gonville and the Abbé de Hautefeuille (1697–1701). Oxford: Legenda (Research Monographs in French Studies 10), 2002.
Review: B. Papasogli in S Fr 143 (2004): 364: Welcome additions to Saint-Evremond's oeuvre, these letters are principally from private archives. Potts's introduction is rich with biographical material and reflections on Saint-Evremond's thought and religious position. Useful philological notes and a selective bibliography.
Review: R. Parish in FS 58.1 (2004): 105–106. The reviewer praises Potts' work for its "full and illuminating" account of the aristocrat and a thorough portrait of his religious thinking. With ample annotation, good historical and philosophical explanations, as well as information on the Abbé de Hautefeuille's daily life, the edition is well worth having, according to the reviewer.
Review: n.a. in FMLS 40 (2004): 238: Useful for its introduction and bibliography as well as for the over 20 newly discovered letters which treat, along with financial considerations, Fénelon's Télémaque, unauthorized publication practices, nostalgia for old friends such as Ninon de Lenclos, and the cultural life of France.
POTTS, DENYS. "Soucis de Saint-Evremond au soir de sa vie: l'argent, l'érudition, et l'amitié," in Guellouz, Suzanne, ed. Saint-Evremond: au miroir du temps. Actes du colloque du tricentenaire de sa mort. Caen-Saint-Lô (9–11 octobre 2003). Biblio 17 Number 157. Tübingen: Gunter Narr Verlag, 2005. 17–20.
The author offers a transcription (with commentary) of a letter from Saint-Evremond to l'abbé de Hautefeuille dated February 25, 1700.
POULOUIN, GERARD. "Saint-Evremond au XXe siècle: entre effacement et reconnaissance," in Guellouz, Suzanne, ed. Saint-Evremond: au miroir du temps. Actes du colloque du tricentenaire de sa mort. Caen-Saint-Lô (9–11 octobre 2003). Biblio 17 Number 157. Tübingen: Gunter Narr Verlag, 2005. 299–319.
The author surveys widely varied editorial and critical interest in Saint-Evremond over the course of the last century.
RIOU, DANIEL. "Le scepticisme de Saint-Evremond. Entre Dieu et la morale," in Guellouz, Suzanne, ed. Saint-Evremond: au miroir du temps. Actes du colloque du tricentenaire de sa mort. Caen-Saint-Lô (9–11 octobre 2003). Biblio 17 Number 157. Tübingen: Gunter Narr Verlag, 2005. 185–201.
Saint-Evremond's work is part of "la morale classique" rather than emerging directly from humanism or libertine thought. At the same time, his vision of individualism anticipates the Enlightenment.
WILD, FRANCINE. "La première reception de Saint-Evremond (1670–1706)," in Guellouz, Suzanne, ed. Saint-Evremond: au miroir du temps. Actes du colloque du tricentenaire de sa mort. Caen-Saint-Lô (9–11 octobre 2003). Biblio 17 Number 157. Tübingen: Gunter Narr Verlag, 2005. 249–276.
While Saint-Evremond's work was appreciated by both a general and scholarly audience, his reputation was established not by journalists but by the "réseaux mondains" who created the myth that surrounds him.
CLARK, KATHLEEN. "Denis Sanguin de Saint-Pavin (1595–1670)" in La poésie française du premier 17e siècle, eds. D. L. Rubin & R. Corum, Charlottesville, VA: Rookwood Press, 2004, pp. 386–388.
Introduction to a selection of Saint-Pavin's poetry in the 2nd edition of this volume.
HARRISON, DAVID. "Saint-Simon and the Ambivalence of Hate: The Portrait of Achille de Harlay III." FR 78.3 (2005): 536–545.
Harrison engages insights from Roland Barthes' Le Plaisir du texte to revise Saint-Simon's presumed antipathy for the magistrate Achille de Harlay. Through a series of close readings, Harrison suggests that Saint-Simon and Harlay enjoy some of the same pleasures of verbal repartee and visual scrutiny, adding that the memorialist even appears to take pleasure in his act of describing Harlay. For Harrison, the witticisms that Harlay speaks and that Saint-Simon repeats effect a confrontation between social convention and rebellion, a clash which Barthes sees as emblematic of pleasure.
HIMELFARB, HELENE. Saint-Simon, Versailles, les Arts de cour. Paris: Editions Perrin, 2005.
GENETIOT, ALAIN. "Jean-François Sarasin (1614–1654)" in La poésie française du premier 17e siècle, eds. D. L. Rubin & R. Corum, Charlottesville, VA: Rookwood Press, 2004, pp. 364–366.
Introduction to a selection of Sarasin's poetry in the 2nd edition of this volume.
CARSON, JONATHAN. "The Text, the Whole Text and Nothing but the Text: Editing Paul Scarron's Theatre." PFSCL XXXII, 63 (2005), 597–616.
Sets out "to demonstrate the complexity of establishing what a Scarron text is," focussing particularly on Jodelet ou le Maître valet, L'Héritier ridicule and Dom Japhet d'Arménie and their respective publication histories.
GENETIOT, ALAIN. "Paul Scarron (1610–1660)" in La poésie française du premier 17e siècle, eds. D. L. Rubin & R. Corum, Charlottesville, VA: Rookwood Press, 2004, pp. 374–376.
Introduction to a selection of Scarron's poetry in the 2nd edition of this volume.
GUICHEMERRE, ROGER. P. Scarron. L'Ecolier de Salamanque ou les Généreux ennemis. Paris: Les Belles Lettres, 2003 (Société des Textes Français Modernes, 232).
Review: C. Bernazzoli in S Fr 143 (2004): 360: This edition continues the Scarron texts gathered for the collection STFM (previously published: Dom Japhet d'Armenie and L'Héritier ridicule). Guichemerre successfully demonstrates that this play is definitely the best "remake" of Francosco Rojas Zorrilla's 1641 Obligados y ofendidos. Scarron's originality is evident as we follow Guichemerre's analysis of the play's action, characters and language.
VON STACKELBERG, JÜRGEN. "Lalli, Scarron et les Mazarinades—Parodie et réalisme dans la littérature française au milieu du XVIIe siècle." S Fr 144 (2004): 517–26.
Von Stackelberg continues to be fascinated by the French novel (see his 1970 volume Von Rabelais bis Voltaire) and here concentrates his observations on literary realism of the 17th c. (Scarron parodying Vergil, for example). Von Stackelberg finds that le Virgile travesti is a "réplique" rather than an imitation (522). Authorial interventions are considered here, as is "la parenté entre parodie et satire politique" (525). Von Stackelberg concludes that Scarron was "plutôt un émule qu'un imitateur de Lalli" (526).
CEDRO, ISABELLA, ed. Georges de Scudéry. La Comédie des comédiens. Fasano: Schena (Biblioteca della ricerca), 2002.
Review: W. D. Howarth in FS 58.1 (2004): 96–97. This edition, with "copious" notes and introduction in Italian, is a "valuable edition to [an] excellent series." The introduction is "wide-ranging" and the bibliography "generous," according to this very positive review.
SPICA, ANNE-ELISABETH. "Les Scudéry lecteurs de L'Astrée." CAEIF 56 (2004), 397–416.
"Paradigmes positifs de l'écriture romanesque des Scudéry, les références à L'Astrée et leur retravail permettent d'accréditer un didactisme mondain, soutenu, sans pédantisme, aussi actuel pour les années 1650–60 que l'œuvre d'Urfé pour son temps. Elles permettent surtout d'actualiser définitivement le principe de la motivation métalittéraire de l'Ecriture romanesque: de baroque, la voici désormais critique."
DENIS, DELPHINE and ANNE ELISABETH SPICA, eds. Madeleine de Scudéry: une femme de lettres au XVIIe siècle. Arras: Artois Presses Université coll. "Études littéraires", 2002.
Review: B. Papasogli in S Fr 142 (2004): 179–80: Like the colloque from which these essays are drawn, the volume commemorates the Tricentenaire of Madeleine de Scudéry's death. With an introduction by Ph. Sellier and a conclusion by Jean Mesnard, this collection presents "un panorama complesso e vivo," demonstrates the recent revival of interest in Scuderiana and suggests directions for future research. With sections treating poetics, "La morale du monde," and reception, the volume is remarkable for its "estrema apertura" as well as its impressive scholarship.
DONAWERTH, JANE and JULIE STRONGSON, ed. & trans. Selected Letters, Orations and Rhetorical Dialogues. Chicago: U of Chicago P, 2004.
Review: M. Slater in TLS 5340 (Aug 5 2005), 8: Book consists of three parts: fictional correspondence between two ladies, imaginary orations from famous historical women, and imaginary conversations between men and women about social mores. Reviewer finds that Scudéry fails to give color or individuality to the voices. Writings remarkable for rhetorical technique, but all form and not much content.
GRANDE, NATALIE, ed. Madeleine de Scudéry. Mathilde. Paris: Champion, 2002.
Review: J. DeJean in FS 58.1 (2004): 99–100. In this review, which simultaneously looks at M.-G. Lallemand's edition of La Promenade de Versailles, great praise is given to the editor's preface. However, this edition, like the other in the series, suffers from having over-modernized spelling, punctuation and formatting that do not allow the reader to "understand [Scudéry's] oeuvre on her own terms."
LALLEMAND, MARIE-GABRIELLE. Madeleine de Scudéry: La Promenade de Versailles. Paris: Champion, 2002.
Review: J. DeJean in FS 58.1 (2004): 99–100. The reviewer praises Lallemand for a well-document and "erudite" edition. However, as is the case for Natalie Grande's edition of Mathilde in the same collection, the modernization of spelling and formatting make this a very problematic verson of Scudéry's text in the reviewer's eyes.
MORLET-CHANTALAT, CHANTAL, ed. Madeleine de Scudéry. Clélie. Histoire romaine. Troisième partie- 1657. Paris: Champion, 2003.
Review: C. Rolla in S Fr 143 (2004): 360. Highly appreciative review of this noteworthy new edition; part 3 is important for its significant references to l'Astrée and its relevance for a comprehension of 17th c. social life and "tendre amitié."
NEWMAN, KAREN,trans. Madeleine de Scudéry. The Story of Sapho. Chicago: U of Chicago P, 2003.
Review: C. Jordan in Ren Q 57 (2004): 630–32: Praiseworthy translation of Scudéry's novella, taken from her Artamène ou le grand Cyrus. Important for its rhetorical power, this "other voice" presents a copia linking poetry and true love.
NIDERST, ALAIN, DELPHINE DENIS & MYRIAM MAITRE, eds. Madeleine de Scudéry, Paul Pelisson et leurs amis, Chroniques du Samedi, suivies de pièces diverses (1653–1654). Paris: Champion, 2002.
Review: G. Banderier in RBPH 82.3 (2004), 799–800: ". . .une édition impeccable d'un ouvrage qui avait déjà fait l'objet d'un premier travail éditorial (lors de la confection du recueil) destiné à effacer toutes les aspérités, toutes les entorses à la bienséance. 》
SPICA, ANNE-ELISABETH. "Les Scudéry lecteurs de L'Astrée." CAEIF 56 (2004), 397–416.
"Paradigmes positifs de l'écriture romanesque des Scudéry, les références à L'Astrée et leur retravail permettent d'accréditer un didactisme mondain, soutenu, sans pédantisme, aussi actuel pour les années 1650–60 que l'œuvre d'Urfé pour son temps. Elles permettent surtout d'actualiser définitivement le principe de la motivation métalittéraire de l'Ecriture romanesque: de baroque, la voici désormais critique."
CARTMILL, CONSTANCE. "Lorsqu'un 'on' vaut 'je': emplois du pronom indéfini chez Mme de Sévigné." Neophil 88 (2004): 203–217.
Close and thorough linguistic analysis of "on" and "je" in Sévigné's correspondence reveals five distinct uses of "on": "les correspondants de Sevigne. . . [un] réseau d'espions; une distance ironique. . .; celui qui suit l'ordre et le devoir. . .; le monde et la cour en particulier; nous, moi et mon fils" (204). Examines three main hypotheses: "le général [qui repésente] un savoir hors-textuel" (213); "on" est un emploi précieux ou stylisé" (214), and the hypothesis that Cartmill considers "rend mieux compte des emplois du On par rapport au Je," that is that "on" is "la manipulation d'une vision de l'individu qui ne se définit pas par l'unicité et l'identité. . . ["on"] n'est pas le signe d'un effacement de l'identité, mais plutôt la reconnaissance de sa multiplicité" (215).
JENSEN, KATHARINE ANN. "Mother-Daughter Mirroring in Madame de Sévigné's Letters: Identity Confusion and the Lure of Intimacy." E Cr 44 (2004): 108–120.
Fascinating and well-argued study whose theoretical framework includes the 17th c. L'Honneste fille by François de Grenaille and Jessica Benjamin's 1988 work The Bonds of Love: Psychoanalysis, Feminism, and the Problem of Domination. Jensen defines intimacy "in psychological terms of mutual recognition, which implies psychic difference within the intimate bond" (108). Her essay demonstrates how Sévigné "treats her daughter as her self-extension" (110) and finds that this "mother-daughter mirroring prevents the psychic intimacy it seems to promise" (113). Investigating as well the letters relating to Grignan's reproductive activity, Jensen finds that "marriage, by moving the daughter. . . to her husband's [jurisdiction], functions as a structural crack in the mirror" (115). Sevigné's maternal narcissism is as evident as her maternal, protective concern for Grignan's health.
PERKINS, WENDY. "Pauline de Grignan in the Letters of Mme de Sévigné." SCFS 27 (2005), 147–161.
Focuses on Sévigné's granddaughter. Examines "the shape of Pauline's life, as far as we can determine it; the psychological impact on her of the events and relationships she experienced; and the kind of identity which the older woman created through the correspondence for her granddaughter."
ZAISER, RAINER. "Don Quichotte à la française: l'Histoire comique de Francion et le déclin du monde héroïco-chevaleresque à l'aube de l'âge moderne." PFSCL XXXII, 62 (2005), 143–163.
Examines the extent to which Sorel "se montre le vrai successeur de l'art narratif de Cervantès," firstly in terms of the role of parody in Le Berger extravagant, and later in terms of not only parody but also metanarrative concerns in Francion. Two metanarrative issues in particular link Francion and Don Quichotte: "le premier concerne le commentaire du récit sur le caractère démodé du roman héroïque, le deuxième la mise en abyme de la fiction romanesque."
ETIENNE, ROLAND, ed. Jacob Spon. Voyages d'Italie, de Dalmatie, de Grèce et du Levant (1678). Paris: Champion, 2004.
Review: BCLF 663 (2004), 131–32: 《 J. Spon s'avère être l'un des plus éminents représentants du genre littéraire du voyage scientifique. 》 Excellent appareil critique.
BLANC, EMMANUÈLE. "A propos d'une ode de Théophile." IL 56.4 (2004): 45–47.
Examines the ode "Heureux tandis qu'il est vivant" (I, 17, ed. Saba), and tries to explain the unexpected reference in the penultimate verse to Jesus—unexpected, given the rest of the ode's Epicurean gist. Advances that this reference must be understood both literally and ironically.
BLANC, EMMANUÈLE. "La maison de Sylvie: changements et continuité." IL 57.1 (2005): 44–49.
Commentary on Théophile's odes that stress how the poetic work itself, faced with death, figures eternity.
SABA, GUIDO, ALVIN EUSTIS & CLAIRE GAUDIANI. "Théophile de Viau (1590–1626)" in La poésie française du premier 17e siècle, eds. D. L. Rubin & R. Corum, Charlottesville, VA: Rookwood Press, 2004, pp. 216–220.
Introduction to a selection of Théophile's poetry in the 2nd edition of this volume.
RIBARD, DINAH. "Pratique(s) jésuite(s) de l'écrit: le P. Tournemine, les Mémoires de Trévoux et Fénelon." DSS 228 (2005), 513–526.
Taking les Mémoires de Trévoux as "un instrument de la politique jésuite," the author focuses on the "pratique collective et institutionnelle du journalisme à partir d'un cas, celui du P. René-Joseph de Tournemine (1661–1739), directeur des Mémoires entre 1701 et 1719, et du point de vue d'une histoire de l'action par l'écrit qui n'isole pas la rédaction d'articles de presse de l'ensemble des opérations d'écriture [...] menées par un spécialiste dans ce domaine, de surcroît acteur central dans sa Compagnie comme dans la haute société et le monde intellectuel parisiens."
ACTUALITES DE TRISTAN. Actes du Colloque international (22, 23, 24 novembre 2001), "Littérales", n. spéc., n. 3, 2003.
Review: C. Rizza in S Fr 143 (2004): 358–58. Collected from the Paris X, Nanterre, international congress, these 20 essays are divided into sections on "Tristan dans son temps," "Tristan en son doute," and "Tristan aujourd'hui." Rich and varied homage to Tristan which has the merit "di aprire nuovi orrizonti per future ricerche" (359).
CAHIERS TRISTAN L'HERMITE. XXV, 2003.
Review: F. Robello in S Fr 143 (2004): 359: Collection of nine essays in tribute to the "infaticabile cultore e animatore" of Tristan studies. The perceptive scholarly analyses are complemented by a CD of Tristan's airs.
CAHIERS TRISTAN L'HERMITE. XXVII, 2005.
Actes de la journée d'étude du samedi 15 janvier 2005 sur Le Page disgracié. Includes articles by Sandrine Berregard ("La folie du page ou le sage disgracié"), Florence Orwat ("Galanterie et tentation mondaine dans Le Page disgracié"), Lionel Philipps ("Tristan chez Cyrano: le page disgracié comme personnage dans L'Autre monde"), Filippo D'Angelo ("Aspects de la mise en intrigue dans Le Page disgracié"), and Patrick Riard ("Le page et son initiation: quelle alchimie pour devenir poète?"), as well as "Les poèmes du Page disgracié" presented by Alain Génetiot.
CARRIAT, AMEDEE et al. "Tristan L'Hermite (1601–1655)" in La poésie française du premier 17e siècle, eds. D. L. Rubin & R. Corum, Charlottesville, VA: Rookwood Press, 2004, pp. 318–321.
Introduction to a selection of Tristan's poetry in the 2nd edition of this volume. With J.-P. Chauveau, C. Grisé and C. Abraham.
CHAUVEAU, JEAN-PIERRE, ed. Tristan l'Hermite. Œuvres complètes, t. II et III: Poèsie. Paris: Champion, 2002.
Review: G. Banderier in RBPH 82.3 (2004), 795–98: 《 Nous installerons ces deux forts volumes sur nos étagères avec des sentiments mitigés et l'impression d'une belle occasion gâchée: la modernisation de l'orthographe, la médiocrité de certaines annotations laissent le lecteur sur sa faim et il est à craindre que bien du temps ne s'écoule avant qu'un éditeur entreprenne de donner des poésies de notre auteur l'édition que le monde érudit attend et que Tristan mérite. 》
Review: R. Ganim in FS 59.1 (2005), 89–90: This is a valuable contribution to scholars, according to the the reviewer, for its additions of unknown or lesser-known poems and its useful editorial apparatus. "By any measure, the results are eminently satisfying," he comments. Futher adding to the work, the reviewer says, are the choice to include the original illustrations. This volume will "no doubt become a standard edition and will continue to stimulate interest" in Tristan.
GUICHEMERRE, ROGER avec la collaboration deC. ABRAHAM,J.-P. CHAUVEAU,D. DALLA VALLE,N. MALLET etJ. MOREL. Tristan L'Hermite: Œuvres complètes, IV. Les Tragédies. Paris: Champion, 2001.
Review: A. Wygant in FS 59.1 (2005), 90–91: The strengths of this volume, according to the reviewer, are historicism and thematics. While this work seems "likely to stand as a monument of Tristan's tragedies for the foreseeable future," the reviewer tempers her remarks. She notes that the main drawback is the unexplained modernization of spelling and punctuation, which may lead those who do source-critical work to other editions by Abraham, Schweitzer or Van Baelen.
MAILLARD, NADIA. "Fonction et representation des animaux dans Le Page disgracié de Tristan l'Hermite ou le conteur bavard et la linotte muette." In Charles Mazouer, ed. L'animal au XVIIe siècle. Actes de la 1ère journée d'études (21 novembre 2001) du Centre de recherches sur le XVIIe siècle européen (1600–1700) (Université Michel de Montaigne-Bordeaux III). Biblio 17 Number 146. Tübingen: Gunter Narr Verlag, 2003. 73–88.
The author examines Tristan's novel for evidence of the place and role of animals in seventeenth-century society and daily life. She also examines the narratological function of animals as well as their use in the novel's metadiscourse on writing and authorship.
BERTAUD, MADELEINE. "L'Astrée, une pastorale envahie par la politique." OeC 31.1 (2005), 99–107.
《 Grâce à une technique romanesque complexe, qui entremêle les histoires et fait se croiser les personnages, cette invasion s'opère naturellement, sans introduire de dissonances ; le réel et la fiction se fondent, les époques se joignent. 》
MEDING, TWYLA. "Economies of Gender and of the Foreign in the Pastoral: Hair, Habits and the African Satyr in the 'Histoire de Diane' of L'Astrée." SCFS 27 (2005), 13–27.
Examines the treatment of determiners of gender, identity and the Other.
RICHEFORT, ISABELLE. Adam-François Van Der Meulen (1632–1690): peintre flamand au service de Louis XIV. Rennes: PU de Rennes, 2004.
Review: BCLF 669 (2005), 48: Dans 《 ce grand ouvrage érudit 》, Richefort 《 reconstitue la carrière et étudie le style de ce Flamand venu, comme tant de ses compatriotes, travailler à Paris. 》
FOUCAULT, DIDIER. Un Philosophe libertin dans l'Europe baroque: Giulio Cesare Vanini (1585–1619). Paris: Champion, 2003.
Review: H. S. Lang in Ren Q 57 (2004): 981–982: Foucault's "remarkable study" details Vanini's death by execution (Toulouse, Feb 9, 1619) and argues that the history of ideas should not only "belong" to philosophers, but also to historians. This extensive (nearly 800 page) work finds "in a case study of Vanini's life, thought and execution, evidence by which to evaluate some of the failings of the ideology of Christianity in the Baroque period" (981). Ambitious and successful in attaining its goals, Foucault's study also includes a bibliography, an index, and a list of Vanini's writings and manuscripts.
Review: C. Rolla in S Fr 144 (2004): 602: Noteworthy for its rigor and enriched by an inventory of primary and manuscript sources, Foucault's study is a welcome intellectual biography. Important critical bibliography.
JOHNSTON, A.J.B. "Sébastien le Prestre de Vauban: Reflections on His Fame, His Fortifications, and His Influence." FCS 3 (2003), 175–188.
Explores the reasons for the continuing fame of "Louis XIV's most renowned engineer and master besieger." Suggests that it is in part because Vauban's work is emblematic of France's transition to the modern world.
MARSHALL, ROBERT G. "Abraham de Vermeil (1555?–1620?)" in La poésie française du premier 17e siècle, eds. D. L. Rubin & R. Corum, Charlottesville, VA: Rookwood Press, 2004, pp. 91–92.
Introduction to a selection of Vermeil's poetry in the 2nd edition of this volume.
ZUERNER, ADRIENNE. "Narrating the Life of a Scandalous Woman: Madame de Saint-Balmon." CdDS 9.1 (2004): 119–133.
Asks what the stakes were in "publishing the life of a scandalous woman ... when the image of the femme forte no longer held cultural sway." Argues that tensions emerge in Vernon's 1678 biography, in spite of the biographer's efforts to mitigate the anxiety the figure provoked.
GETHNER, PERRY. "Love and Friendship: From Tirso to Desjardins." PFSCL XXXII, 62 (2005), 113–123.
Examines how Villedieu, in her play Le Favori (1665) alters the treatment of the central themes of love and friendship in her adaptation of Tirso's Spanish El amor y el amistad (1634). Indicates how the female author presents "a view of interpersonal relationships in which there can be full equality between men and women, and genuine friendship may exist between men and women."
GRANDE, NATHALIE. "Que reste-t-il de nos amours? (ou comment le modèle baroque a été compris par Mme de Villedieu." CAEIF 56 (2004), 437–454.
The author explores the following hypothesis: "que les innovations qu'introduit l'écriture villedieusienne ne peuvent se comprendre et s'apprécier que dans la continuité de la référence au roman baroque. Cette interprétation me semble en particulier permettre de mettre en évidence comment l'ombre du roman baroque plane, comme la nostalgie d'un monde devenu inaccessible, sur toute sa production."
KUIZENGA, DONNA, ed. & trans. Memoirs of the Life of Henriette-Sylvie de Molière. Chicago: U of Chicago P, 2004.
Review: M. Slater in TLS 5340 (Aug 5 2005), 8: Memoirs full of incident. Spice added because the work echoes author's life. Literal translation can make the text laborious to read.
LALANDE, ROXANNE. "Madame de Villedieu's Le Portefeuille (1674): An Epistolary Drama." PFSCL XXXII, 62 (2005), 197–213.
Examines the influence of dramatic conventions on Villedieu's letter novel. Argues the "the originality of this slim volume derives primarily from the dynamics between dramatic and epistolary modes of expressions and secondarily from the association of these two conventions with gender-specific literary categories. The letter was considered to be a female- marked genre in opposition to the male-marked theater and the ensuing tension ultimately results in what might be termed a feminine subversion of theatrical discourse: an epistolary drama."
WOOD, ALLEN & MONA TOBIN HOUSTON. "Vincent Voiture (1597–1648)" in La poésie française du premier 17e siècle, eds. D. L. Rubin & R. Corum, Charlottesville, VA: Rookwood Press, 2004, pp. 303–305.
Introduction to a selection of Voiture's poetry in the 2nd edition of this volume.
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