The Aphorism and Play in the Artistic Paradigm of the Novels by Crébillon-fils

The article examines the function of ludic poetics and the role of aphorisms in the novels by Crébillon-fils: “L’Ecumoire, ou Tanzaï et Néadarné.” “Les Egarements du cœur et de l’esprit,” and “Le Sopha.” It argues that the specificity of the artistic paradigm of Crébillon’s novels draws from the syn...

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Main Author: Natalya V. Lidzerhos
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Russian Academy of Sciences, A.M. Gorky Institute of World Literature 2016-12-01
Series:Studia Litterarum
Subjects:
Online Access:http://old.studlit.ru/1-3-4/Lidzerhos.pdf
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author Natalya V. Lidzerhos
author_facet Natalya V. Lidzerhos
author_sort Natalya V. Lidzerhos
collection DOAJ
description The article examines the function of ludic poetics and the role of aphorisms in the novels by Crébillon-fils: “L’Ecumoire, ou Tanzaï et Néadarné.” “Les Egarements du cœur et de l’esprit,” and “Le Sopha.” It argues that the specificity of the artistic paradigm of Crébillon’s novels draws from the synthesis of the ludic origin and aphoristic writing while their “inner measure” (N. D. Tamarchenko) is determined by skeptical and ironic attitude to the world typical for rococo. The ludic poetics creates the second level of encoding in the novels that makes them interesting to different audience. A naive reader enjoys a frivolous work that has a comical situation at its core; a more sophisticated reader peruses a “novel with a clue,” that is a novel with a metaphorical plot containing ironic insinuations and allusions to contemporary realities. Aphorisms in the dialogues reveal the absence of the shared, universal truth and demonstrate its contingency on the speaker’s viewpoint. Taken together, aphorisms of Crébillon’s characters reflect the author’s own dialogical relation to reality and relativity of the moral truths in his opinion. Blurring semantic meaning of the words related to moral and ethical sphere was typical for rococo; it allowed these words collide in a ludic manner within the aphoristic framework; it also prompted further dialogization of aphoristic statements and the establishment of dialogic relations among characters and between the author and the world. By broadening the local chronotope and establishing contacts between the novel’s conventional plot and reality, by contributing to the ongoing dialogue among the characters, the author, and the reader, by reflecting the controversies of the rococo worldview and sophisticating the style, the ludic poetics and aphoristic writing defined stylistic and generic specificity of Crébillon’s novel — intellectual in form and philosophical in content.
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spelling doaj-art-75425f76fcad4aa9b32a681e79e49bae2025-08-20T02:07:13ZengRussian Academy of Sciences, A.M. Gorky Institute of World LiteratureStudia Litterarum2500-42472541-85642016-12-0113-414116110.22455/2500-4247-2016-1-3-4-141-161The Aphorism and Play in the Artistic Paradigm of the Novels by Crébillon-filsNatalya V. Lidzerhos 0 “BIP — Institute of Law,” private educational establishmentThe article examines the function of ludic poetics and the role of aphorisms in the novels by Crébillon-fils: “L’Ecumoire, ou Tanzaï et Néadarné.” “Les Egarements du cœur et de l’esprit,” and “Le Sopha.” It argues that the specificity of the artistic paradigm of Crébillon’s novels draws from the synthesis of the ludic origin and aphoristic writing while their “inner measure” (N. D. Tamarchenko) is determined by skeptical and ironic attitude to the world typical for rococo. The ludic poetics creates the second level of encoding in the novels that makes them interesting to different audience. A naive reader enjoys a frivolous work that has a comical situation at its core; a more sophisticated reader peruses a “novel with a clue,” that is a novel with a metaphorical plot containing ironic insinuations and allusions to contemporary realities. Aphorisms in the dialogues reveal the absence of the shared, universal truth and demonstrate its contingency on the speaker’s viewpoint. Taken together, aphorisms of Crébillon’s characters reflect the author’s own dialogical relation to reality and relativity of the moral truths in his opinion. Blurring semantic meaning of the words related to moral and ethical sphere was typical for rococo; it allowed these words collide in a ludic manner within the aphoristic framework; it also prompted further dialogization of aphoristic statements and the establishment of dialogic relations among characters and between the author and the world. By broadening the local chronotope and establishing contacts between the novel’s conventional plot and reality, by contributing to the ongoing dialogue among the characters, the author, and the reader, by reflecting the controversies of the rococo worldview and sophisticating the style, the ludic poetics and aphoristic writing defined stylistic and generic specificity of Crébillon’s novel — intellectual in form and philosophical in content.http://old.studlit.ru/1-3-4/Lidzerhos.pdfartistic paradigmludic poeticsaphorismCrébillon-filsnovelrococo
spellingShingle Natalya V. Lidzerhos
The Aphorism and Play in the Artistic Paradigm of the Novels by Crébillon-fils
Studia Litterarum
artistic paradigm
ludic poetics
aphorism
Crébillon-fils
novel
rococo
title The Aphorism and Play in the Artistic Paradigm of the Novels by Crébillon-fils
title_full The Aphorism and Play in the Artistic Paradigm of the Novels by Crébillon-fils
title_fullStr The Aphorism and Play in the Artistic Paradigm of the Novels by Crébillon-fils
title_full_unstemmed The Aphorism and Play in the Artistic Paradigm of the Novels by Crébillon-fils
title_short The Aphorism and Play in the Artistic Paradigm of the Novels by Crébillon-fils
title_sort aphorism and play in the artistic paradigm of the novels by crebillon fils
topic artistic paradigm
ludic poetics
aphorism
Crébillon-fils
novel
rococo
url http://old.studlit.ru/1-3-4/Lidzerhos.pdf
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