Coleman, Patrick. “The Idea of
Character in the Encyclopédie.”
Eighteenth-Century Studies, vol. 13, no. 1, Johns Hopkins University Press, American Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies (ASECS), 1979, pp. 21–47. JSTOR, JSTOR, doi:10.2307/2738063.
Coleman’s in-depth article attempts to analyze all of the Encyclopédie articles under the title “Caractère” . Starting with Diderot’s theories on encyclopedic organization and classification, Coleman claims that the definition of character is unique and can take on various connotations with each one carrying its own importance. All of the eighteen articles on “Caractère” are studied for their content, organization, and delivery regardless of source material which, as Coleman claims, doesn’t matter as much as the fact that the information was included for a reason. Taken together, an understanding of what “character” meant in 18th century France can give us insight into the true character of the Encyclopédie as a whole and into the relations between strategies described in the “Preliminary Discourse” and the “Prospectus” and the actual practices in the work.
Basic Information
Country of Publication: United States
Language: English
Decade: 1970s
Main Classification: Character
Related Sources
*In Progress*
Notes
None
Updates
7/9/2020: Created page.