Sublime, sublimation et narcissisme chez Diderot

Dominique Reyrache-Leborgne: Sublime, Sublimation and Narcissism in Diderot. Diderot's taste for the sublime, strongly affirmed in the Salons and in his correspondence, is both logical and paradoxical. It is logical as it is part of an apology for strong passions that derives from Burke and is part of the taste of his age. But it is also a paradox as it contradicts his search for philosophical wisdom. Greatness in crime, the terror inspired by religious and sacrifical scenes and, unexpectedly, the energy of erotic scenes, are fascinating elements in artistic representation and history but they are incompatible with reason or morality. The fact that Diderot is unable to theorize this paradox leads us to conclude that his emphasis on the sublime has partly unconscious motives, whose trail leads us to Diderot's dual poetics of sublime egoism and Eros.Peyrache-Leborgne Dominique. Sublime, sublimation et narcissisme chez Diderot. In: Recherches sur Diderot et sur l'Encyclopédie, n°13, 1992. pp. 31-46