European University Institute Library

Night in French libertine fiction, Ganofsky, Marine

eng

non fiction

Night in French libertine fiction

electronic resource

dictionaries

1284942143

Ganofsky, Marine

Oxford University Studies in the Enlightenment eBooks

In the age of Enlightenment the concept of night evolved from being a time of dread to a time for pleasure. Between the start of the Régence (1715-1723) and the French Revolution the nocturnal and the erotic became intrinsically connected: shadows and darkness were reconfigured as the object of the philosophes' fascination, while night was increasingly experienced as the realm of the self. Nowhere is this paradigmatic shift better recorded than in French libertine literature of the long eighteenth century.Marine Ganofsky delves into the night scenes of libertine fiction to analyse how the idea of night was reimagined and represented by writers ranging from Crébillon to Sade. Her original analysis of erotic encounters in pornographic novels, gallant stories and sensual fairy tales reveals how they capture the period's emancipation from superstitions and traditions. The nocturnal settings of these libertine narratives were the primary means of staging men and women's hitherto hidden sexual encounters and innermost fantasies, and ultimately illustrate the conquest of night-time terrors in favour of social encounters and amorous intimacy.Libertine nocturnal scenes reflect above all the Enlightenment's re-invention of shadows less as an obstacle than an incentive to discover the mysteries they harbour. Through her innovative research Marine Ganofsky presents the erotic nights of libertine fiction as a sign that the siècle des Lumières, free to enjoy the charms to be found in, or under, the cover of darkness, was also the siècle de la nuit. 'With an engaging narrative arc, Night in French Libertine Fiction shows how the playful dichotomy between celebrating the limits imposed by the night and using the night to transgress social or moral limits (as detailed in chapters two through six) is destroyed by the Sadean extension of the logic of libertinism.' Craig Koslofsky, H-France Marine Ganofsky est maître de conférences en littérature française à l'Université de St Andrews. Ses recherches portent sur le dix-huitième siècle et sa quête de bonheur qu'elle étudie depuis la perspective de la littérature, de l'esthétique, de la philosophie et de l'histoire socio-culturelle. Son premier livre explore le sujet des nuits libertines et elle travaille actuellement sur le concept d'illusion au siècle des Lumières. Marine Ganofsky is a lecturer in French literature at the University of St Andrews. Her research focuses on the eighteenth century and its quest for happiness. She approaches the topic through the lens of literature, aesthetics, philosophy and socio-cultural history. Her first book looked at libertine nights and she is now working on the concept of illusion in the Age of Enlightenment.--, Provided by Publisher