Scholarship in Languages Other Than English: French Contributions, p. 443-458

i French Contributions: Françoise Clary

An unusually large number of articles and books marks this year's engagement with 19th-century literature and ecocriticism. Studies on Emerson and Thoreau are supplemented by deep historical and literary work on environmentalism and science, sharpening our interest in the evolving tradition of ecological thought. The quality of scholarship on Kate Chopin has not abated, thanks to a significant new book which makes a case for her expressive individualism. Contributions on 20th-century literature are highlighted by an innovative volume on John Updike meant to draw our attention to the textual, social, and religious contact with experience as well as by volumes of essays on J. D. Salinger, Cormac McCarthy, and Patricia Eakins. In poetry two important book-length studies deepen our understanding of Elizabeth Bishop's self-forgetful style and clever articulation of emotions. Interest in ethnic studies continues to grow, and I note in cultural studies several articles on the American cinema as a rhetorical battleground based on "imagology."

a. 19th-Century Literature

Scholarly interest in the Transcendentalists has been intensified this year with Emerson on the syllabus of the Agregation competitive exam. In their introduction to L'oeuvre en prose de Ralph Waldo Emerson (Paris: CNED), editors François Brunet and Anne Wicke capitalize on the initiation of a new epoch in Western philosophy marked first by the gradual overturning of the possibilities of metaphysical systems—with a reference to the intellectual affiliation between Nietzsche and Emerson—and then by a focus on the liberating, progressive quality of Emerson's thought. In "La religion transcendantale: continuités et ruptures" (pp. 1–18) Yves Carlet attempts to demonstrate, as his title promises, the inadequacy of purely ideological or doctrinal descriptions of Transcendentalism, challenging the reader to understand Emerson's iconoclastic pietism (within a broadened conception of Unitarianism) while also stressing the tension between law-abidingness and what Emerson calls the moral sentiment. François Specq's "Emerson et le mouvement transcendantaliste" (pp. 19–33) is a useful contribution to our understanding of the intellectual climate of early-19th-century New England and of Emerson's political and cultural influence as an anti-slavery spokesman. Mark Niemeyer's "Ralph Waldo Emerson's Intellectual Declaration of Independence" (pp. 34–51) highlights Emerson's engagement with political questions, emphasizing his concern with the links among language, politics, and history. Anne Wicke's "Emerson: l'Amérique à venir et le poids de l'Europe" (pp. 52–64) reassesses Emerson's place in modern intellectual history, Aïssatou Sy-Wonyu's "Le 'Sage de Concord': un intellectuel engagé?" (pp. 65–78) deals with the political significance of Emerson's writings, and Marc Bellot brings the dilemma of success into full focus ("Emerson et l'Amérique moderne: l'idéalisme à l'épreuve du matérialisme," pp. 79–94). The political element of Emerson's work also figures prominently in Michel Imbert's "'Self-Reliance': l'individualisme ou l'infini en personne" (pp. 95–113), which posits a self that perpetuates changes and progress. More concerned with the poetic than the political voice, Mathieu Duplay's "Emerson, l'art, le poète" (pp. 114–29) monumentalizes Emerson's lyrical expression, while Sandra Laugier and Mathias Girel's "Héritages philosophiques d'Emerson" (pp. 130–49) returns our focus to political and cultural influence by demonstrating how William James and John Dewey revitalized Emerson's individualism.

Rejecting the institutionalized Emersonianism and tracing cultural influences is a subject that draws much interest, as illustrated by three interesting articles published in a special issue of QWERTY (12). In "Emerson's French connection: Montaigne, Fénelon, Madame de Staël, Napoléon, and others" (pp. 175–86) Joel Porte traces the contours of the liberal context that modified Emerson's thought. Porte notes the importance of William Ellery Channing, who helped Emerson make connections that would clarify his attitude toward the Catholic Church, and emphasizes Emerson's recuperation of what he judged best in the French spirit. Carolyn R. Maibor addresses issues...