Entre crise du vers classique et logique(s) de la prose : le genre pastoral en prose français (de la fin du XVIe siècle au premier romantisme)

The renewed interest in the pastoral genre is the occasion to focus on an understudied aspect of its tradition: the composition, in France, of narrative, dramatic and lyric pastorals written in prose. In light of the crisis of classical verse that many deemed impossible to amend, a certain number of...

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Main Author: Christian Leroy
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Institut du Monde Anglophone 2022-06-01
Series:Etudes Epistémè
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Online Access:https://journals.openedition.org/episteme/14473
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author Christian Leroy
author_facet Christian Leroy
author_sort Christian Leroy
collection DOAJ
description The renewed interest in the pastoral genre is the occasion to focus on an understudied aspect of its tradition: the composition, in France, of narrative, dramatic and lyric pastorals written in prose. In light of the crisis of classical verse that many deemed impossible to amend, a certain number of writers resorted to prose so as to salvage poetry. In itself, the pastoral genre, whose naïve aesthetics seemed to call for prose as its alleged natural material, provided the ideal chance to demonstrate the validity of this practice. As early as the 16th century, this genre became the favorite locus of the debate between verse and prose, the latter defeating the former. Already justified during the Baroque period by the existence of the pastoral novel — in prose, but purporting to be poetic — this aesthetics also developed, from the 17th century to the early Romantic age, in drama and lyricism through translations and original pieces as is illustrated by the vogue for idylls in prose inspired by Gessner in the second half of the 18th century. More specifically, new literary forms appeared, such as pastoral epics of biblical inspiration and new type of « pastoral novels » theorized by Florian, pieces in « poissard » style introduced by Vadé, lyric « scenes » and « tableaux ». However, under the French Revolution and Empire, the use of prose was to shed its role as savior of the poetic genre in order to develop its own threefold logic: triumph of the narrative novel, primacy of realism over imagination and death of the sense of poetry.
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spelling doaj-art-e84b2b6a1a014570a4cef37ceab7ac802025-08-20T03:07:23ZengInstitut du Monde AnglophoneEtudes Epistémè1634-04502022-06-014110.4000/episteme.14473Entre crise du vers classique et logique(s) de la prose : le genre pastoral en prose français (de la fin du XVIe siècle au premier romantisme)Christian LeroyThe renewed interest in the pastoral genre is the occasion to focus on an understudied aspect of its tradition: the composition, in France, of narrative, dramatic and lyric pastorals written in prose. In light of the crisis of classical verse that many deemed impossible to amend, a certain number of writers resorted to prose so as to salvage poetry. In itself, the pastoral genre, whose naïve aesthetics seemed to call for prose as its alleged natural material, provided the ideal chance to demonstrate the validity of this practice. As early as the 16th century, this genre became the favorite locus of the debate between verse and prose, the latter defeating the former. Already justified during the Baroque period by the existence of the pastoral novel — in prose, but purporting to be poetic — this aesthetics also developed, from the 17th century to the early Romantic age, in drama and lyricism through translations and original pieces as is illustrated by the vogue for idylls in prose inspired by Gessner in the second half of the 18th century. More specifically, new literary forms appeared, such as pastoral epics of biblical inspiration and new type of « pastoral novels » theorized by Florian, pieces in « poissard » style introduced by Vadé, lyric « scenes » and « tableaux ». However, under the French Revolution and Empire, the use of prose was to shed its role as savior of the poetic genre in order to develop its own threefold logic: triumph of the narrative novel, primacy of realism over imagination and death of the sense of poetry.https://journals.openedition.org/episteme/14473French prose poetrydramatic pastoralpoetic novelepic pastoralidyllprose theory
spellingShingle Christian Leroy
Entre crise du vers classique et logique(s) de la prose : le genre pastoral en prose français (de la fin du XVIe siècle au premier romantisme)
Etudes Epistémè
French prose poetry
dramatic pastoral
poetic novel
epic pastoral
idyll
prose theory
title Entre crise du vers classique et logique(s) de la prose : le genre pastoral en prose français (de la fin du XVIe siècle au premier romantisme)
title_full Entre crise du vers classique et logique(s) de la prose : le genre pastoral en prose français (de la fin du XVIe siècle au premier romantisme)
title_fullStr Entre crise du vers classique et logique(s) de la prose : le genre pastoral en prose français (de la fin du XVIe siècle au premier romantisme)
title_full_unstemmed Entre crise du vers classique et logique(s) de la prose : le genre pastoral en prose français (de la fin du XVIe siècle au premier romantisme)
title_short Entre crise du vers classique et logique(s) de la prose : le genre pastoral en prose français (de la fin du XVIe siècle au premier romantisme)
title_sort entre crise du vers classique et logique s de la prose le genre pastoral en prose francais de la fin du xvie siecle au premier romantisme
topic French prose poetry
dramatic pastoral
poetic novel
epic pastoral
idyll
prose theory
url https://journals.openedition.org/episteme/14473
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