The Je-Ne-Sais-Quoi in Early Modern Europe - Encounters with a Certain Something (Hardcover, New)

What is the je-ne-sais-quoi? How-if at all-can it be put into words? In addressing these questions, Richard Scholar offers the first full-length study of the je-ne-sais-quoi and its fortunes in early modern Europe. He describes the rise and fall of the expression as a noun and as a topic of debate, examines its cluster of meanings, and uncovers the scattered traces of its 'pre-history'. The je-ne-sais-quoi is often assumed to belong purely to the realm of the literary, but in the early modern period it serves to articulate problems of knowledge in natural philosophy, the passions, and culture, and for that reason it is approached here from an interdisciplinary perspective. Placing major figures of the period such as Montaigne, Shakespeare, Descartes, Corneille, and Pascal alongside some of their lesser-known contemporaries, Scholar argues that the je-ne-sais-quoi serves above all to capture first-person encounters with a 'certain something' that is as difficult to explain as its effects are intense. When early modern writers use the expression in this way, he suggests, they give literary form to an experience that twenty-first-century readers may recognize as something like their own.

General

Imprint:	Oxford UniversityPress
Country of origin:	United Kingdom
Release date:	September 2005
First published:	December 2005
Authors:	Richard Scholar
Dimensions:	224 x 146 x 25mm (L x W x T)
Format:	Hardcover
Pages:	350
Edition:	New
ISBN-13:	978-0-19-927440-6
Categories:	Books > Language & Literature > Literature: history & criticism > Literary studies > 16th to 18th centuries Books > Reference & Interdisciplinary > Interdisciplinary studies > Cultural studies > History of ideas, intellectual history Books > Children's & Educational > Language & literature > Modern languages (other than English) > General Books > Humanities > Philosophy > Western philosophy > Modern Western philosophy, c 1600 to the present > General Books > Children's & Educational > Language & literature > English (including English as a school subject) > English literary criticism > General Books > Philosophy > Western philosophy > Modern Western philosophy, c 1600 to the present > General Books > Children's Fiction & Fun Promotions
LSN:	0-19-927440-1
Barcode:	9780199274406

Is the information for this product incomplete, wrong or inappropriate? Let us know about it.

Does this product have an incorrect or missing image? Send us a new image.

Is this product missing categories? Add more categories.

Review This Product

No reviews yet - be the first to create one!