Vers un "Thesaurus" informatisé: topique des ouvertures narratives avant 1800 (review)

REVIEWS 71 Pierre Rodriguez et Michèle Weil, éd. Vers un "Thesaurus" informatisé: topique des ouvertures narratives avant 1800. Actes du quatrième colloque international SATOR, 25-27 octobre 1990. Montpellier: Presses de l'Imprimerie de Recherche, Université Paul Valéry, 1991. 449pp. FFr150. ISBN 2-905397-46-2. This impressive volume contains the proceedings of the fourth annual meeting of the SATOR ("Société d'analyse de la topique d'oeuvres romanesques"), held in Montpellier in October 1990. Brought together by their common interest in narrative fiction and in the use of computers in the humanities, the members of this international research group have set themselves the task of compiling, or at least beginning to compile, a computerized inventory of topoi in French narrative fiction before 1800. The theme of this colloque was a double one: first, the topoi found in various kinds of "ouvertures narratives" (narrative "beginnings" in the form of paratexts as well as the opening pages of novels and nouvelles) and, second, the sometimes complex and always controversial theoretical and practical problems which are being encountered by this international team of researchers in the early stages of putting together the computerized "thesaurus" of topoi which is their ultimate goal. Begun in 1987, this long-term co-operative project has led to colloques in Toronto, New York, Lisbon, and (in September 1992) Winnipeg. The range of texts analysed in the course of the three days of the conference extends primarily from the Conte du Graal to Montesquieu's Lettres persanes and Restifs Nuits révolutionnaires, with occasional excursions into Spanish literature (Montemayor's La Diana) and as far back as the Greek novels, such as Héliodorus's Histoire Aethiopique, which served as the source of many topoi found in the French novel, particularly during the Baroque period. Of the thirty-three papers presented, nine deal exclusively with eighteenth-century texts, and many others deal with concepts and critical problems of major concern to specialists in late seventeenth and eighteenth-century narrative fiction. One of the most interesting papers, by Graham Falconer, is devoted to the paratexts (especially the title-page) of Richardson's Pamela. As often happens at meetings of the sator, a great deal of energy was expended by the participants at the Montpellier conference in trying to define the concept of topos as precisely as possible, and in discussing the development of new and more sophisticated methods of analysis of electronic texts. The studies in this volume of acta clearly demonstrate both the usefulness and the limitations of some of the methods (and programs) which have already been tested. Although there is still considerable disagreement among the members of sator as to how the term topos should be defined, most of the presenters at this conference seem to agree that every topos can be described in terms of a formula (such as "douleur rend muet") and in the form of a sentence which sets out the basic elements of the topos (should these be called toposèmesl): "La douleur empêche de parler puis de rapporter l'événement." In a very clear and concise presentation, entitled simply "Le topos," Henri Coulet sets forth some of the fundamental theoretical and methodological questions with which the satoriens continue to wrestle. To what extent, for example, can a topos be transformed over time and still be considered the same topos? Are there universal topoi which transcend national boundaries and chronological periods? As Coulet insists, such questions will be answered fully only after much more debate and discussion have taken place. "Chacun de nos colloques," he concludes, "est un pas en avant dans cette direction" (p. 330). The way in which these proceedings are organized reflects the dual purpose of the meeting, as well as the great diversity of the novels and novelists represented. The first three sections include papers on texts written "Before 1600," "Before 1700," and "Before 1 800." The second section contains studies of works as diverse as the nouvelles and novel prefaces of Charles Sorel, the romans-fleuve of Madeleine de Scudéry, and 72 EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY FICTION 5:1 the eminently classical text, La Fayette's La Princesse de Clèves. The...