Sentimental Narrative and the Social Order in France, 17601820 [Paperback]

In this detailed study of popular sentimentalist literature of the late eighteenth century, David J. Denby sheds new light on Enlightenment thought and sensibility.In this detailed study of popular sentimentalist literature of the late eighteenth century, David J. Denby sheds new light on Enlightenment thought and sensibility. He situates sentimentalist writing in its social and political context, analysing how its formal structures are reflected in contemporary theories concerning the nature of society, morality, and history.In this detailed study of popular sentimentalist literature of the late eighteenth century, David J. Denby sheds new light on Enlightenment thought and sensibility. He situates sentimentalist writing in its social and political context, analysing how its formal structures are reflected in contemporary theories concerning the nature of society, morality, and history.In this interdisciplinary study of sentimental discourse of the late eighteenth century, David J. Denby sheds new light on Enlightenment thought and sensibility. He situates sentimental subliterature in its social and political context, analyzing how its formal structures are reflected in contemporary theories and texts concerning society, morality, politics, and history. Denby argues that sentimentalism is central to the culture of late-eighteenth-century France. Texts discussed include works by Rousseau and de Staël.Acknowledgements; Note on spelling; Introduction: the politics of tears; 1. Three sentimental writers; 2. Towards a model of the sentimental text; 3. Love and money: social hierarchy in the sentimental text; 4. Sentimentalism in the rhetoric of the Revolution; 5. Sentimentalism and id?ologie; 6. Beyond sentimentalism? Madame de Sta?l; Conclusion; Notes; Bibliography; Index.