Sade, Dissertation and Orgy
Publisher
:
Rivages
Parution date
:
2002
EAN
:
9782743609757
Description
This collection of essays by one of France’s most thoughtful and renowned experts on the Marquis de Sade begins with “Reading Sade” a preface in which the author brilliantly evokes the manner in which she first encountered the eighteenth-century novelist and playwright. Here, Thomas draws us closer to Sade’s universe -- a place where silent meditation goes hand-in-hand with unrestrained orgy, where life, literature and libertinage all coincide. Indeed, as she writes, “Far from reducing us to a base state of confusion, the moments during which we lose our heads help to revive in us the power of language.” The essays which follow are ruminations on the Sadean cosmology, his theories on literary seduction, and his elaborate conceptions of excess and evil. Of particular note is a chapter titled “Juliette, ô Juliette” a reverie on his deepest held principles of democracy and liberty, as well as “Theater”, a reflection on his dramatic oeuvre. Finally, we are treated to a literary interpretation of Sade’s last known work, The Secret Tale of Isabelle de Bavière, a historical novel.
Author
Chantal Thomas : Currently the Director of Research at the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Chantal Thomas has taught literature in France, New York and Arizona, and lectures frequently in the United States. She is the author of several works, including Marquis de Sade, L'Oeil de la lettre (1978), Sade (1994), and Casanova, un voyage libertine (1985). Her most recent book, The Wicked Queen: The Origins of the Myth of Marie Antoinette, was published by Zone Books in 1999.
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