| Utopian critics explain that eighteenth century French writers embraced the utopian genre both as political activists, seeking a satirical tool against the ancien regime, and as idealists, convinced that man could improve his lot on earth. This convenient explanation, however, has prevented critics from recognizing that some writers used utopian fiction to critique dominant intellectual trends of the eighteenth century. In his classic utopian novel La Decouverte australe, Retif de la Bretonne satirizes Buffon's natural history taxonomies. With his utopian city, Tamoe, the marquis de Sade challenges contemporary political theory. And Jean-Jacques Rousseau uses utopian moments of regressive pre-ego unity to question the value of attaining progress through reason. Ultimately, my work encourages literary critics to recognize the inherent complexity of utopian fiction, and historians to reexamine the impact of utopian fiction on intellectual movements of the eighteenth century. |
