Diderot's Dialogic Difference

This article takes as its focus Diderot's Supplément au voyage de Bougainville, and it contends that its dialogical form embodies Diderot's conceptualization of cultural variation. First, it argues that Diderot's text posits this conceptualization thematically and formally. Second, th...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:The French review 2007-12, Vol.81 (2), p.339-350
Main Author: Pinette, Susan
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
18th century
Anonymous writers. Authors
Dialogism
Ethnography
France
French speaking and English speaking literatures
French speaking literatures
History and sciences of litterature
History of literature
Literary dialogue
Literary form
Literature
Otherness
Primitivism
Self knowledge
State of nature
Textual criticism
Travelers
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:This article takes as its focus Diderot's Supplément au voyage de Bougainville, and it contends that its dialogical form embodies Diderot's conceptualization of cultural variation. First, it argues that Diderot's text posits this conceptualization thematically and formally. Second, this paper maintains that the Supplément presents dialogue as an inherent aspect of ethnographic knowledge. The Supplément enters into the then unresolved methodological quarrel between Jean-Jacques Rousseau and Bougainville. The Supplément changes the focus of their debate, tracing out a middle path that recognizes the importance of scientific observation but marks its limitations, and positing self-knowledge as the ultimate goal of ethnography.
ISSN:0016-111X
2329-7131