'Mensonge': The Rejection of Enlightenment in the Unreliable 'Souvenirs' of Charles Nodier. Issue 1 (1st May 2016)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Gibson, Matthew
• Is Part Of: Gothic studies. Volume 18:Issue 1(2016)
• Page Start: 34
• Page End: 56
• Publication Date: 2016-05-01
• Subjects: French Revolution -- Fantastic -- autobiography -- Napoleon -- guillotine -- Enlightenment -- philosophy -- science; Gothic revival (Literature) -- History and criticism -- Periodicals; Gothic fiction (Literary genre) -- History and criticism -- Periodicals; Goth culture (Subculture) -- Periodicals; 809.38729
• DOI: 10.7227/GS.0004
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1362-7937

Abstract

Abstract : Charles Nodier (1780–1844), librarian, occultist, entomologist and pioneer of the Fantastic in France was also a consummate liar in his many biographical souvenirs, a fact which led Bryan Rogers to understand him as attempting tofind consolation in a 'superior truth' in his memoirs to that of his own lived experience, while Hélène Lowe-Dupas has remarked more on his use of the language of theatre in these memoirs in order, amongst other things, to render experience less chaotic. By detailing the nature of his lies in two souvenirs 'Les Prisons de Paris sous le Consulat' (1826) and 'Suites d'un mandat d'arrêt' (1834), the current article seeks to locate the falsehoods as being more firmly rooted in his symbiotic rationale for Fantastic fiction, and demonstrate how his lies have a more scientific justification, helping him to extend historical truth before it is shown to be demonstrable.