Sexual/Textual Politics in the Enlightenment
Diderot and d’Epinay Respond to Thomas’s Essay on Women
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 20041476 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Mary Trouille (Illinois State University, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2018 |
| Pages | 163-183 |
| Publication date | 2018-12-07 |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | CHAPTER |
| Venue | Women Writers in Pre-Revolutionary France (SOURCE_BOOK) |
| Publisher | Routledge (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.4324/9780203760833-13 |
| OpenAlex | W2175249687 |
| ISBN | 9780203760833 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 2 |
This chapter aims to compare Diderot and d'Epinay's responses to Antoine-Leonard Thomas's essay as a way of probing the views on women among the French intelligentsia of the period. The debate generated by the essay offers a fascinating glimpse into die sexual and textual politics of the French Enlightenment. Diderot's response was designed to remedy the multiple flaws in Thomas's essay by reestablishing the proper line of demarcation between male and female traits–by showing how "a real man" should write about "real women." Diderot's passionate engagement in his subject and preoccupation with rhetorical effect tend to obscure his reasoning in Sur Les Femmes and cause him to neglect substance and organization. Arguments are clearly secondary for Diderot, who largely ignores the substance of Thomas's essay in order to focus on questions of style and rhetoric. The progressive education given by d'Epinay to her granddaughter forms a striking contrast with the limited education Diderot gave his daughter
Art · Enlightenment · Literature · Political science · Politics · Sociology · Theology · Gender Studies · Historical and Literary Analyses · Historical and Literary Studies · Law · Philosophy · Rousseau and Enlightenment Thought
| Citations per year | 0.1 |
|---|---|
| Citation span | 2005 - 2005 (1) |
| Highly cited | No |