Jean Rousset (20 February 1910,

Geneva Geneva ( , ; ) ; ; . is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland and the most populous in French-speaking Romandy. Situated in the southwest of the country, where the Rhône exits Lake Geneva, it is the ca ...

– 15 September 2002, Geneva) was a Swiss

literary critic A genre of arts criticism, literary criticism or literary studies is the study, evaluation, and interpretation of literature. Modern literary criticism is often influenced by literary theory, which is the philosophical analysis of literature' ...

who worked on

French literature French literature () generally speaking, is literature written in the French language, particularly by French people, French citizens; it may also refer to literature written by people living in France who speak traditional languages of Franc ...

, and in particular on

Baroque The Baroque ( , , ) is a Western Style (visual arts), style of Baroque architecture, architecture, Baroque music, music, Baroque dance, dance, Baroque painting, painting, Baroque sculpture, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished from ...

literature of the late

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) is a Periodization, period of history and a European cultural movement covering the 15th and 16th centuries. It marked the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and was characterized by an effort to revive and sur ...

and early seventeenth century. He is grouped with the Geneva School and with early

structuralism Structuralism is an intellectual current and methodological approach, primarily in the social sciences, that interprets elements of human culture by way of their relationship to a broader system. It works to uncover the structural patterns t ...

Biography

Jean Rousset began his studies in law before changing to literature. He studied under Albert Thibaudet and Marcel Raymond and after working as a French lecturer in Halle and

Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...

, became a professor at the

University of Geneva The University of Geneva (French: ''Université de Genève'') is a public university, public research university located in Geneva, Switzerland. It was founded in 1559 by French theologian John Calvin as a Theology, theological seminary. It rema ...

. 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 sorceress

Circe In Greek mythology, Circe (; ) is an enchantress, sometimes considered a goddess or a nymph. In most accounts, Circe is described as the daughter of the sun god Helios and the Oceanid Perse (mythology), Perse. Circe was renowned for her vast kn ...

and the ornamental

peacock Peafowl is a common name for two bird species of the genus '' Pavo'' and one species of the closely related genus '' Afropavo'' within the tribe Pavonini of the family Phasianidae (the pheasants and their allies). Male peafowl are referred t ...

(''paon''), and following the art historical analysis of Heinrich 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 XVII^e siècle''. His 1963 work, his book ''Forme et signification'' explored new theoretical possibilities;

Jacques Derrida Jacques Derrida (; ; born Jackie Élie Derrida;Peeters (2013), pp. 12–13. See also 15 July 1930 – 9 October 2004) was a French Algerian philosopher. He developed the philosophy of deconstruction, which he utilized in a number of his texts, ...

has called it one of the principal works of early

. Distancing himself from the phenomenological approach of his friends and associates Georges Poulet and Jean-Pierre Richard, Rousset focused 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 of first person narration in novels) and ''Le Lecteur intime''. In this way, his work of this period shares many characteristics with the work of

Gérard Genette Gérard Genette (; 7 June 1930 – 11 May 2018) was a French literary theorist, associated in particular with the structuralist movement and with figures such as Roland Barthes and Claude Lévi-Strauss, from whom he adapted the concept of ''b ...

. 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 Love at first sight is a personal experience and a common theme in creative works: a person or character feels an instant, extreme, and ultimately long-lasting romantic attraction for a stranger upon first seeing that stranger. It has been desc ...

" 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'' - on Jean de Sponde and Jean de La Ceppède * 1972 - ''Narcisse romancier: essai sur la première personne dans le roman'' - on first person narration in novels * 1981 - ''"Leurs yeux se rencontrèrent": la scène de première vue dans le roman'' * 1986 - ''Le Lecteur intime, de Balzac au journal'' * 1988 - ''Anthologie de la Poésie baroque française'' - anthology * 1990 - ''Passages, échanges et transpositions'' * 1998 - ''Dernier regard sur le baroque''

Sources

Jean Rousset
site on

José Corti José Corti is a bookshop and publishing house located in Paris, France, and was founded in 1925. It is named after its founder, José Corticchiato (14 January 1895 – 25 December 1984). José Corticchiato started his business by publishing the ...

editions (in French)

Biography

Works

Sources

Further reading