Stendhal et les problemès de la réception
Stendhal and reception's problems

Summary/Abstract: This article aims at analyzing Stendhal’s interest towards the addressee of his literary and non-literary discourse, as well as the major novelty that his view of literary perception brings to this field. Stendhal was contemporary with the romantic school/current to which he had a major contribution with his essay, Racine and Shakespeare, more exactly to the imposition of the new taste and the new literary norms of romantism. In this essay, he observes the out of date character of Moliere and Racine’s operas, however adapted to the century they representedandin which they were born, but notsufficiently adapted to the public of the first half of the XIXth century. In consequence, Stendhal pledes for the New Theatre. One of the main issues Stendhal analyzed was how a writer of his age may be liked by the public. Even his definition of romantism expresses this point of view, especially emphasizing the obligation for a literary creation to be adapted to its age and to give the greatest pleasure possible for its readers. Stendhal was a great and passionate reader of his age, he had often expressed himself concerning his contemporary works, and regarding his own literature he was absolutely convinced that his work would especially be read by the 1880 public. His intuition was confirmed by the reality.

• Details
• Contents