- Jean Rousset
Jean Rousset (1910,
Geneva – 2002) was a Swiss literary critic who worked onFrench literature , and in particular on "Baroque " literature of the late Renaissance and early seventeenth century. He is sometimes grouped with the so-called "Geneva School " and with earlyStructuralism .Biography
Jean Rousset began his studies in law, before changing to literature. He studied under
Albert Thibaudet andMarcel Raymond and after working as a French lecturer in Halle andMunich , became professor at theUniversity of Geneva . His thesis on French literature of the baroque period, published under the title "La Littérature de l’âge baroque en France : Circé et le paon", was an immense critical success. It was one of the first studies to use the term "baroque" – which had been, up to that point, used exclusively in art history – to refer to literary works. Under the signs of the sorceressCirce and the ornamentalpeacock ("paon"), and following the art historical analysis ofHeinrich Wölfflin , Rousset explored movement, instability, ostentation, decoration and metamorphosis in the plays, novels and poetry of the period. He would return to the same period in his "L’Intérieur et l’extérieur : essais sur la poésie et le théâtre au XVIIe siècle".His 1963 work, his book "Forme et signification" explored new theoretical possibilities;
Jacques Derrida has called it one of the principal works of earlystructuralism . Distancing himself from the phenomenological approach of his friends and associatesGeorges Poulet andJean-Pierre Richard , Rousset focussed on formal elements such as narrative structure in determining the meaning of a work. He would continue on this formal and narratological approach in his "Narcisse romancier : essai sur la première personne dans le roman" (which explored the role offirst person narration in novels) and "Le Lecteur intime". In this way, his work of this period shares many characteristics with the work ofGérard Genette .His later works of theory and criticism were however less centered on a purely structural approach. His "Leurs yeux se rencontrèrent" : la scène de première vue dans le roman" explored the common place of "
love at first sight " in the novel. His last book, "Dernier regard sur le baroque", was a final assessment of theory and theoretical debates concerning the baroque period.Works
* 1953 - "La Littérature de l’âge baroque en France : Circé et le paon"
* 1963 - "Forme et signification, essais sur les structures littéraires de Corneille à Claudel"
* 1968 - "L’Intérieur et l’extérieur : essais sur la poésie et le théâtre au XVIIe siècle" - onJean de Sponde andJean de La Ceppède
* 1972 - "Narcisse romancier : essai sur la première personne dans le roman" - onfirst person narration in novels
* 1981 - "Leurs yeux se rencontrèrent" : la scène de première vue dans le roman"
* 1986 - "Le Lecteur intime, deBalzac au journal"
* 1988 - "Anthologie de la Poésie baroque française" - anthology
* 1990 - "Passages, échanges et transpositions"
* 1998 - "Dernier regard sur le baroque"References
* This article is based on the biography published on Rousset's editor's site (see below).
External links
* [http://www.jose-corti.fr/auteursessais/rousset.html Jean Rousset] site on
José Corti editions (in French)
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