• About
    • Login
    View Item 
    •   Institutional Repository Home
    • Electronic Theses and Dissertations
    • Electronic Theses and Dissertations
    • View Item
    •   Institutional Repository Home
    • Electronic Theses and Dissertations
    • Electronic Theses and Dissertations
    • View Item
    JavaScript is disabled for your browser. Some features of this site may not work without it.

    Browse

    All of Institutional RepositoryCommunities & CollectionsBy Issue DateAuthorsTitlesSubjectsThis CollectionBy Issue DateAuthorsTitlesSubjects

    My Account

    LoginRegister

    Redefining the “supplement” in 18th-century French travel literature: 1750-1789

    Grenvicz, Lisa Olivia
    : https://etd.library.vanderbilt.edu/etd-12072012-150029
    http://hdl.handle.net/1803/15203
    : 2012-12-14

    Abstract

    While the tradition of 18th-century French travel literature includes many texts that “supplement” another travel text, there are only a handful of titles that specifically identify themselves as such. Through an original set of categories, this thesis closely analyzes the interaction among travel texts of the period in order to identify a wider ranger of travel “supplements.” This exercise is invaluable to the Enlightenment scholar, as the interplay between travel “supplements” proves to be emblematic of the ongoing debates about religion, morality, race, gender, and colonial pursuits which characterize the cultural discourse of the epoch. However, the difficulty that arises from such an analysis comes full circle in light of Derridean post-modern notions regarding origins, as certain texts such as Diderot’s Supplément au Voyage de Bougainville illustrate that the search for source texts is often a convoluted one, muddled with popular Enlightenment topoi and questionable authorial intentions. In spite of these complications, tracing the journey allows the reader to enter the conversation, and ultimately leads to a much higher-level reading of the work. Culminating in Diderot’s “post-modern supplement,” which serves to dismantle a categorical search for origins, this thesis considers different textual relationships among source texts and their “supplements.” The naturalist Philibert Commerson’s support of Louis-Antoine de Bougainville’s glowing testimony of Tahiti enhances the voyager’s credibility in Chapter 1’s “Eyewitness supplement.” Bernardin de Saint-Pierre’s “Fictional narrative supplement” in Chapter 2 juxtaposes the author’s unpopular, factual account of Mauritius in the Voyage à l’île de France with the enormously popular fictional narrative, Paul et Virginie, the latter of which sacrifices accuracy in favor of an idyllic depiction of the island. Demeunier lambasts relativistic approaches to culture in Chapter 3’s “Anthology supplement,” while ironically falling into the trap of creating universal categories of culture in his anthology, L’Esprit des usages et des coutumes des différents peuples. Ultimately, this analysis stands as a testament to the fluid and interactive nature of the travel supplement, which defines it as an artifact of Enlightenment literary culture.
    Show full item record

    Files in this item

    Icon
    Name:
    Grenvicz.pdf
    Size:
    974.0Kb
    Format:
    PDF
    View/Open

    This item appears in the following collection(s):

    • Electronic Theses and Dissertations

    Connect with Vanderbilt Libraries

    Your Vanderbilt

    • Alumni
    • Current Students
    • Faculty & Staff
    • International Students
    • Media
    • Parents & Family
    • Prospective Students
    • Researchers
    • Sports Fans
    • Visitors & Neighbors

    Support the Jean and Alexander Heard Libraries

    Support the Library...Give Now

    Gifts to the Libraries support the learning and research needs of the entire Vanderbilt community. Learn more about giving to the Libraries.

    Become a Friend of the Libraries

    Quick Links

    • Hours
    • About
    • Employment
    • Staff Directory
    • Accessibility Services
    • Contact
    • Vanderbilt Home
    • Privacy Policy