Campbell, J. (2009) Voltaire's "Racine": the paradoxes of a transformation. Modern Language Review, 104(4), pp. 962-975.
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Abstract
This article highlights some paradoxical aspects of Voltaire's admiration for Racine. He paid little attention to Racine's plays as dramatic entities, followed received opinions, and made many unfavourable judgements, especially concerning Racine's mix of tragedy and galanterie. What he idolized was Racine's use of language and his poetic skill. He thus removed Racine's tragedies from the contingencies of the theatre, and transformed them into an eighteenth-century linguistic and cultural ideal that he used for polemical purposes in a war against Shakespeare and encroaching barbarism, leading the Romantics subsequently to reject the `Racine' he had been so influential in creating.
Item Type: | Articles |
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Additional Information: | Due to publisher embargo the full text of this article is not available until October 2011. |
Status: | Published |
Refereed: | Yes |
Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: | Campbell, Professor John |
Authors: | Campbell, J. |
Subjects: | B Philosophy. Psychology. Religion > B Philosophy (General) |
College/School: | College of Arts & Humanities > School of Modern Languages and Cultures > French |
Journal Name: | Modern Language Review |
Publisher: | Modern Languages Research Association |
ISSN: | 0026-7937 |
Published Online: | 01 October 2009 |
Copyright Holders: | Copyright © 2009 Modern Languages Research Association |
First Published: | First published in Modern Language Review104(4):962-975 |
Publisher Policy: | Reproduced in accordance with the copyright policy of the publisher. |
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