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Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Chicago, Department of Romance Languages and Literatures, December 1999. / Includes bibliographical references. Also available on the Internet.

<p>In this dissertation, I argue that musicians began to emerge as a professional class during the French Revolution (1789-1804) by mobilizing Enlightenment philosophies of music, pre-revolutionary social networks, and economic upheaval. I conceive of this phenomenon within a broad macro-historical context beginning in 1749 with Rousseau's first articulations of music and political culture, and ending with institutional changes at the Paris Conservatoire in 1802. My research applies an anthropological approach to the archives as set forth by scholars including William H. Sewell, Jr., Bernard S. Cohn, and Natalie Zemon Davis. Through archival discoveries from across Parisian archives, I elucidate how musicians capitalized upon revolutionary change to pursue personal and collective advancement as artists and professionals. This approach takes the concept of musicianship as a multivalent social category that traverses musical genres and institutions. This study contributes to the nascent movement to reincorporate economic life back into the historiography of the French Revolution and to a relational approach to the politics of expressivity and practice in musical production. The result of this study is a rethinking of previous historical accounts of revolutionary musicians as simply utilitarian. </p><p>In focusing on practicing musicians, their social networks, and their economy, I demonstrate the unique political circumstances of musical production and practice in late eighteenth-century Paris. I conclude that revolutionary politics among composers, performers, and pedagogues gave birth to a distinct form of French musical Romanticism rooted in the negotiation of rational approaches to music with the lived experiences of Revolution. This perspective locates one origin of musical Romanticism in Parisian musical institutions during the second half of the eighteenth century. In Paris, musical genius came to be regarded as a collective attribute applicable to not only composers, but also to performers. This shift toward inclusive professional musicianship constituted an evolution of musical production and aesthetics, which held profound implications for cosmopolitan nineteenth-century European music culture.</p> / Dissertation

Submitted by William Romualdo (liam_romualdo@yahoo.com.br) on 2018-05-22T16:53:53Z No. of bitstreams: 1 VERSAO FINAL_DISSERTACAO_DEFESA - HOLBACH_WILLIAM.pdf: 1083655 bytes, checksum: c8798d36eb53638fcbb8c341e670c3f4 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Telma Jaqueline Dias Silveira null (telmasbl@marilia.unesp.br) on 2018-05-22T18:58:31Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 romualdo_w_me_mar.pdf: 1083655 bytes, checksum: c8798d36eb53638fcbb8c341e670c3f4 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2018-05-22T18:58:31Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 romualdo_w_me_mar.pdf: 1083655 bytes, checksum: c8798d36eb53638fcbb8c341e670c3f4 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2018-03-23 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES) / Este trabalho tem o objetivo de analisar e demonstrar os princípios morais do Barão de Holbach (1723- 1789), em especial, como ele fundamenta a noção de felicidade em seu materialismo ateu, fatalista e eudemonista. No Sistema da Natureza (ou das leis do mundo físico e do mundo moral), de 1770, Holbach entende que a infelicidade que atormenta grande parte dos seres humanos é causada pela ignorância acerca da natureza da qual fazemos parte, bem como pela ignorância que temos de nossa própria natureza. Por meio da experiência que guia a razão e proporciona o desvelamento da natureza e conhecimento da sua dinâmica, Holbach acredita que o comportamento humano pode ser conduzido na vida em sociedade sem depender dos dogmas teológicos. Segundo o barão, o próprio desejo de ser feliz e de se conservar é uma tendência natural nos seres humanos. E a “verdadeira felicidade” só será possível com uma moral em conformidade com as leis da natureza e as necessidades naturais do homem, as quais exigem dele a prática de uma virtude que considere também a felicidade dos demais seres humanos. / This work aims to analyze and demonstrate the moral principles of Baron d’Holbach (1723-1789), mainly, how he bases the notion of happiness in his atheistic, fatalistic and eudemonistic materialism. At The System of Nature (or the laws of the physical world and the moral world), 1770, Holbach perceives that the unhappiness that plagues most human beings is caused by ignorance about the nature of which we are part of, as well as by the ignorance we have upon our own nature. By means of the experience that guides reason and provides the unveiling of nature and knowledge of its dynamics, Holbach believes that human behavior can be guided in the society life without dependence on theological dogmas. According to Baron, the very desire to be happy and to preserve oneself is a natural tendency in the human beings. And “the true happiness” will only be possible with a moral in accordance with the laws of nature and the natural needs of man, which require him the practice of a virtue that also considers the happiness of other human beings.

For over 200 years “René&rqduo; Chateaubriand's short fictional interlude in his grand argument for the restoration of Christianity after the French Revolution, has been read as the founding text of the French Romantic movement. While this text did in fact serve to define many of the characteristics of French Romantic literature, simply labeling it as such is anachronistic and obscures the more profound philosophical and theological claims Chateaubriand was actually attempting to illustrate. After an examination of the discrepancy between the author's intentions and the general perception, this study will briefly consider some of the traditional readings of “René” specifically in an effort to expose the inadequacies that have led to misinterpretation. At this point, an analysis of evolving philosophical and aesthetic ideals in the European tradition, particularly focusing on how Chateaubriand incorporated them into his Christian model, will reveal “René” as the author intended. While Chateaubriand has rightly been considered an anti-Enlightenment thinker, this assessment exposes a generally unnoticed and decidedly anti-Romantic tendency in his writings. Once restored to these original literary and philosophical contexts “René” coincides quite clearly with Chateaubriand's efforts to reinstate an eclectic, modernized, and aesthetically grounded form of traditional Christianity. Furthermore, it can finally be understood as an anticipatory effort aimed at disparaging rather than encouraging the burgeoning Romantic sentiment.

Although historians have written extensively on both the early modern era and the development of an absolute monarchy, the history of Jewish communities in France and the role they played has been largely ignored. Beginning with the French Wars of Religion, this study analyzes to what extent France’s religious situation affected the growth of absolutism and how this in turn affected the Jews. Taking advantage of the fractured nature of the early French monarchy, Jews began settling in provinces along the border of both Spain and the Holy Roman Empire. Affected by economic jealousies and cultural perceptions of Jews, the treatment of these communities by local officials led to requests by Jews for royal intervention in these regions. Perceptions of Jews evolved through the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries as the French Enlightenment influenced the way Jewish characters were presented. This study then ties these perceptions of Jews to the political and economic reality of these communities in an attempt to create a unified history of France’s early modern Jewish population.

My diploma thesis called Search of happiness in Voltaire's novels aims to analyse the theme of happiness in prose works Micromegas, L'Ingénu, Zadig and Candide. The analysis is preceded by an introduction showing the evolution of the theme of happiness through different historical periods. This theoretical part is also followed by a definition of philosophical novel as a typical Voltaire's way of expressing his philosophical thoughts. The analysis itself underlines common points of view found in the novels which all describe a world full of evil, disasters and misfortune. Good and honest heroes enter into this bad world and they struggle to find their place in the sun. Their nice personalities present a big contrast to the merciless world which surrounds them. The analysed examples from novels highlight major problems in Voltaire's time but a lot of parallels are found in today's world. I systematically pay attention to these parallels throughout the diploma. The analysis leads to the description of incorrigibly bad world, where only small islands of happiness can be found represented by friendship and love. We can only deal with such a life thanks to a meaningful activity which can make it bearable. The philosopher's approach to the theme which still captures people's attention is evaluated in the...

In mid-eighteenth century Paris, two Benedictine monks from the Congregation of Saint-Maur – also known as the Maurists – started compiling a universal dictionary of arts, crafts, and sciences. The project was initiated simultaneously with what would become one of the most famous literary enterprises in Western intellectual history: the Encyclopédie of Diderot and d’Alembert. The latter started as an augmented translation of Ephraim Chambers’s Cyclopaedia, but it was constructed with another French dictionary as its ideological counterpart: the Jesuits’ Dictionnaire de Trévoux. While the Encyclopédie eventually turned into a controversial but successful best-seller, considered as the most important medium of Enlightenment thought, the Benedictines never finished or published their work. After a decade, the manuscripts were put aside in the monastery library, and were soon forgotten. For about two hundred and sixty years, the Maurists’ dictionary material has largely escaped the attention of researchers, and its history of production has been unknown.      This dissertation examines the history and characteristics of the Maurists’ enterprise. The manuscripts are compared to the Encyclopédie and the Dictionnaire de Trévoux, and the project situated within its monastic environment of production, the history of the encyclopedic dictionary, and the Enlightenment culture. The study has an interdisciplinary character and combines perspectives of History of Science and Ideas, History of Monasticism, History of Encyclopedism, and History of the Book. The research procedure is distinguished by a microhistorical approach, where the studied materials are analyzed in a detailed manner, and the research process included in the narrative.       The dissertation shows that the Maurists early found themselves in a rival situation with the embryonic Encyclopédie, and that the two projects had several common denominators that distinguished them from the predecessors within the genre. At the same time, the Maurists were making a dictionary unique in the eighteenth century, which assumed a third position in relation to the works of the encyclopédistes and the Jesuits. The study provides new perspectives on the Encyclopédie of Diderot and d’Alembert, the intellectual activities of the Congregation of Saint-Maur, as well as the editor in charge of the Maurist dictionary: Dom Antoine-Joseph Pernety, otherwise known for his alchemical writings.

Ce mémoire, qui s’intéresse aux enjeux de l’imbrication du philosophique et du romanesque chez les penseurs des Lumières françaises, cherchera à mettre de l’avant la contribution originale de Denis Diderot à la réflexion philosophique sur le roman, de même qu’à l’exploration des ressources littéraires permettant de philosopher par le roman. Nous nous proposons, dans un premier temps, d’examiner ce qui relève d'une théorisation explicite de l'écriture des fictions narratives dans l’oeuvre du philosophe langrois. Nous nous attacherons à montrer comment l’approfondissement des thèses de son matérialisme, ainsi que les déceptions consécutives à ses projets de réforme du théâtre, sont venus bouleverser les conceptions esthétiques et morales qui formaient le premier horizon normatif à partir duquel Diderot envisageait les modalités idéales de l'écriture et de la réception romanesques. Puis, dans un deuxième temps, nous chercherons à faire voir comment Diderot, à titre d’auteur de fictions narratives, entreprend une exploration aussi originale que féconde des ressorts proprement philosophiques de l’écriture romanesque. Les dernières sections de notre étude seront consacrées à une lecture approfondie de Jacques le fataliste et son maître. Nous tâcherons d’abord d’en dégager les principales ressources mises au service de la formation d’un lecteur de romans plus lucide et plus critique. Puis, nous chercherons à mettre en lumière de quelle façon cette propédeutique, si elle réussit, doit ultimement conduire le lecteur à entamer un véritable dialogue avec l’oeuvre, tant sur les questions métaphysiques et ontologiques qu’entraîne le « fatalisme » de Jacques, que sur les enjeux moraux qui en découlent. / This thesis, which deals with the interweaving of philosophy and literature in the work of French Enlightenment thinkers, seeks to shed light on Denis Diderot’s unique contributions to philosophical reflection on the novel, as well as to the exploration of the literary resources that make it possible to delve into philosophical issues through the novel. Beginning with an examination of Diderot’s explicit theories about writing narrative fiction, it argues that the outgrowth of his materialism and the disenchantment following his attempts at theatre reform upended the aesthetic and moral basis for the initial normative framework underpinning his analysis of how fiction is ideally written and received. It goes on to examine how Diderot, as a novelist, undertook an innovative and fruitful exploration of the unsuspected philosophical resources that narrative fiction offers. The final sections are devoted to a close reading of Jacques the Fatalist and His Master, beginning with an attempt to identify the main resources it deploys to train more lucid and critical readers of fiction. The thesis then seeks to show how this knowledge base, if successfully transmitted, ultimately leads the reader to engage in a genuine dialogue with the work, both in terms of the metaphysical and ontological issues raised by Jacques’ “fatalism” and the moral issues that ensue.

La tesi si occupa di verificare l’influenza che i classici greci e latini hanno esercitato su i padri fondatori americani e più in particolare su Thomas Jefferson. La prima sezione tratteggia il contesto universitario e lo studio delle lingue classiche tra seicento e settecento, comprendendo non solo le università inglesi (Oxford e Cambridge) e scozzesi, ma anche i nuovi college nati nelle colonie americane. Tale analisi dei modelli e delle pratiche educative ha permesso, in effetti, di comprendere meglio l’influenza dei classici sui rivoluzionari americani. Nello specifico viene scandagliata a fondo l’educazione ricevuta da Jefferson. Tra i numerosi spunti di studio aperti da codesto argomento, il lavoro si concentra sulle modalità con cui i classici gli furono insegnati, sul suo Commonplace Book (una raccolta di brani tratti in parte da autori antichi letti in giovinezza) e su documentazione epistolare. Quest’ultima è oggetto particolare di studio, allo scopo di scoprire quali opere antiche Jefferson, in età adulta e durante la vecchiaia, lesse e apprezzò. Essendo un collezionista di libri, comprò moltissimi testi classici come dimostrano alcuni suoi manoscritti. Nonostante manchino dati precisi a riguardo, risulta inoltre che Jefferson, benché facesse largo uso di traduzioni, preferiva leggere in originale e che probabilmente abbia letto la maggior parte di questi libri durante il ritiro dalla vita politica. La seconda parte della tesi si concentra, invece, a indagare quanto la sua educazione classica abbia contributo alla formazione della sua personalità e delle sue idee, nonché alla forma stessa del suo pensiero in merito ad alcune tematiche. Lo studio è di conseguenza dedicato all’esperienza umana di Jefferson, in particolare alla sua riflessione sulla morte e sull’eternità, temi fortemente legati alla sua ricezione di idee epicuree e stoiche. Epicureismo e Stoicismo rappresentano, in definitiva, i due sistemi filosofici antichi che hanno maggiormente influenzato la sua personalità e il suo pensiero. / The aim of the present work is to evaluate the impact of the ancient classics on the American Founding Fathers, with a particular focus on Thomas Jefferson. The first section gives a wide portrait of the academic context in which the Founders were educated, comprising not only of Oxford, Cambridge, and the Scottish universities, but also the colonial colleges. The evaluation of the educational practices in use at the time makes it possible to understand better the classical impact on revolutionary Americans. In particular, this analysis studies in depth Jefferson's education. Of the many possible perspectives and approaches to this topic, the present work focuses on the way ancient classics were taught to him, his Commonplace Book, which reports part of the ancient classics he read during his youth, and his correspondence. The latter has been studied especially to understand which other ancient writers he read, valued, and esteemed in his adulthood and old age. As book collector, Jefferson bought an incredible number of ancient classics, as attested by a few manuscripts of his book lists. Despite the dearth of sure evidence, it is very likely that he read the ancient works largely during his retirement. He loved reading them in the original, though he made great use of translations. The second part of this work is dedicated to investigating how Jefferson's classical education contributed to the building of his personality and ideas, as well as how he elaborated specific classical themes in his own life. The study is thus focused on Jefferson's personal human experience, specifically on his reflection on human mortality and the afterlife. These themes, indeed, are strictly linked to his reception of Epicurean and Stoic tenets, the two ancient philosophical systems which had the greatest and most profound impact on Jefferson's personality and thought.