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  • Voltaire Historiographer: Narrative Paradigms
  • Edward Ousselin
Voltaire Historiographer: Narrative Paradigms. By Síofra Pierse. (Studies on Voltaire and the Eighteenth Century, 2008:05). Oxford, Voltaire Foundation, 2008. xiii + 283 pp. Pb £55; $115; €75.

Along with his plays and his poetry, Voltaire’s historical works today constitute a largely forgotten segment of his vast textual output, even though he was arguably a notable innovator in the field of historiography. Previous studies of what the philosophe considered to be among his most important work include John Brumfitt’s Voltaire Historian (Oxford, 1958) and John Leigh’s Voltaire, a Sense of History (SVEC 2004:05). Drawing on the theories of Roland Barthes, Michel Foucault and Gérard Genette, Síofra Pierse provides in Voltaire Historiographer the most thorough analysis to date of Voltaire’s 38 historical texts, summaries of which are included in a useful appendix (pp. 245–65). Divided into three parts (‘Narrative’, ‘Story’ and ‘Truth’), her book examines the interplay between Voltaire’s well-known concern for accuracy, veracity and established facts [End Page 338] (hence his concomitant rejection of inherited ‘fables’), and his tendency to integrate the study of history within a broader literary framework that was congruent with his polemical goals. In particular, the campaign against l’infâme is one of the noteworthy narrative threads or ‘paradigms’ that make up the underlying organizational principles of the Voltairean historical corpus: ‘Voltaire clearly chooses the medium of history as a forum for commentary on, and criticism of, intolerance’ (p. 55). In this perspective, intolerance (along with the litany of injustice and violence it generated throughout recorded history) was linked to the accumulation of falsehoods and inaccuracies that had been transmitted through faulty texts and that perpetuated prejudice and hatred. The task of debunking longstanding myths — primarily religious ones — therefore became part and parcel of ‘historiography as an educational and campaigning textual space for an Enlightenment philosophe’ (p. 239). In the course of his research and writing, Voltaire was thus able to perceive few contradictions between his repeatedly stated quest for factual accuracy and his lifelong struggle against obscurantism. Among other issues covered in Pierse’s book, since ‘Voltaire has a soft spot for both Henri IV and Peter the Great’ (p. 231), the distinction he frequently made between the historical héros (the conqueror or military adventurer) and the grand homme (the statesman who brings decisive progress to his country) is in Chapter 5 explored in depth. As for the ever-present authorial voice or ‘author-function’ of Voltaire, its impact on his historical works is discussed in Chapter 2. Some relatively minor quibbles: Chapters 6 (‘Fact and fable’) and 7 (‘Truth and doubt’) seem to cover some of the same conceptual territory. Also, given the high level of writing in this book, it is surprising to find the classic confusion between ‘principal’ and ‘principle’ (pp. 85 and 96). Overall, however, this meticulously researched book offers a comprehensive study of a somewhat neglected component of Voltaire’s work. Pierse persuasively makes the case that his historical texts have retained their literary qualities and can still provide valuable reading: ‘it is the philosophe’s engaging ability to depict the broader picture of mankind’s progress and existence on earth, rather than focusing on minutiae, that continues to make his histories so refreshing to read’ (p. 104).

Edward Ousselin
Western Washington University
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