Anderson, Wilda. “Encyclopedic Topologies.” MLN, vol. 101, no. 4, Johns Hopkins Press, 1986, pp. 912–29. JSTOR, JSTOR, https://www.jstor.org/stable/2905655.
One of the most important articles in the Encyclopédie is the article “Encyclopédie” where Diderot, the author, describes, among other topics, the science behind creating and editing an encyclopedia. Anderson specifically dives into the art of cross-references and how they are used in the Encyclopédie and what they mean to the work as a whole. First comparing Diderot to his co-editor d’Alembert, then to other theorists, Anderson attempts to find Diderot’s unique theory on the cross-references, which appears to be more materialistic and focusing on societal change. The cross-references in the Encyclopédie, according to Anderson, serve as a conversation between philosophes and general readers, and attempt to teach readers how to read an underlying message in the text. Anderson also discusses other roles the cross-references can play and the different ideas they communicate, ultimately concluding that the Encyclopédie is not a “machine de guerre” (war machine) as it has been labelled, but a “machine de transformation” (machine of transformation).
Basic Information
Country of publication: United States
Language: English
Decade: 1980s
Main Classification: Cross-references
Related Sources
*In Progress*
Notes
None
Updates
7/7/2020: Created page.