Revolutionary Emerson: On Some of the Political Aspects of Emerson's French Reception in the Mid-Nineteenth Century - Archive ouverte HAL Accéder directement au contenu
Communication Dans Un Congrès Année : 2022

Revolutionary Emerson: On Some of the Political Aspects of Emerson's French Reception in the Mid-Nineteenth Century

Résumé

Upon attracting the attention of French critics in the 1840s, Emerson's works underwent literary review and were assayed in comparison to continental and British literature. However, his reception in France did not only entail literary takes on his works. It was immediately laden with politics. The essays of the American writer were often used by French critics as springboards to take strong stances on French current affairs. Among them was Émile Montégut, a budding Revue des Deux Mondes critic. In 1847, Montégut argued in an article for the Revue that Emerson stood as a more-than-welcome individualist beacon in an age overtaken by what he saw as the tyrannical democratic “mass” born of the 1789 Revolution. For him, Emerson's 'doctrine' could help restore and preserve what he called an 'aristocracy of character.' However, after the watershed of the 1848 February Revolution, which resulted in the advent of the Second Republic, Montégut's stance became less philosophical: Discussing Emerson's freshly published Representative Men in 1850, Montégut eventually called for the advent of a great man. In so doing, not only did he echo the election of Louis Napoléon Bonaparte as president of the Second Republic, but he somewhat anticipated the upcoming demise of the Republic following the 1851 coup.
Fichier non déposé

Dates et versions

hal-03983943 , version 1 (11-02-2023)

Identifiants

  • HAL Id : hal-03983943 , version 1

Citer

Lise Chenal. Revolutionary Emerson: On Some of the Political Aspects of Emerson's French Reception in the Mid-Nineteenth Century. Journée d'étude des doctorant·es du LARCA, Apr 2022, Paris, France. ⟨hal-03983943⟩
13 Consultations
0 Téléchargements

Partager

Gmail Facebook X LinkedIn More