Isabelle de Charriere (1740--1805): A philosophical 'impromptu' in the age of reason.
Item
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Title
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Isabelle de Charriere (1740--1805): A philosophical 'impromptu' in the age of reason.
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Identifier
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AAI9908314
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identifier
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9908314
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Creator
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Fisch-Freedman, Gina.
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Contributor
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Advisers: Nancy K. Miller | David S. Ferris
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Date
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1998
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Language
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English
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Publisher
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City University of New York.
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Subject
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Literature, Comparative | Literature, Romance | Philosophy
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Abstract
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This dissertation examines the work of Isabelle de Charriere, a cosmopolitan writer of the 18th century, who positioned herself as a translator between fiction and philosophy. Each chapter is devoted to a specific historical, critical and philosophical problematic as developed both in Charriere's fiction and her correspondence.;The first chapter focuses on Charriere's use of the epistolary genre. The mixture of disparate elements characteristic of the epistolary novels (multiplicity of narrators, interweaving of reading and writing, shifts in narrative continuity and authority, etc.) allows Charriere to question exemplary fictions as well as examples in fiction. The textual part examines the thorny question of education and virtue in Lettres de Lausanne.;The second chapter contrasts Charriere's reaction to Rousseau with those of her contemporaries for whom Rousseau's writings contained dominant examples not only for political theory but also for morals and fiction. Charriere invites the reader to concentrate on Rousseau's style and creates a fictional example of her own which will question ideological and thematic examplarity in Rousseau's works. The second half of the chapter examines Charriere's critical transformation of La Nouvelle Heloise in her Lettres neuchateloises.;The third chapter studies the complexities of representing the "devoir," the key-concept in Kant's moral philosophy. In Trois Femmes, Charriere fictionalizes Kant's categorical imperative and aspires to arrive at the philosophical as well as practical criticism of his moral system. In her narrative, Charriere shifts emphasis from Kant's systematic articulation of the a priori moral principle to the question of its practicability in the world of action. By becoming the "free" space where the a priori can be figured, literature in Charriere contributes to the philosophical education of mankind.;The fourth chapter examines Charriere's persistent preoccupation with the political event she saw taking place during her lifetime--the French Revolution. More than a historical background for her stories, the French Revolution for Charriere becomes an opportunity to assess the role played by fictionality in political discourse eager to establish the Revolution as its proper origin. Charriere once again warns her readers against following in Don Quixote's footsteps and highlights the rhetorical and normative aspects of any historical discourse.
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Type
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dissertation
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Source
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PQT Legacy CUNY.xlsx
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degree
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Ph.D.
