Autorités classiques et paratexte au XVIIe siècle

This article examines the place and role of authority in paratexts in order to evaluate the trace of the classical world in the practice of writing in the 17th century. As an ideal site for theoretical developments on the art of literature, the paratext allows us to define with precision the link between authors of the 17th century and the erudition of classical models. Thanks to the study of several paratexts by Lope de Vega, we aim to highlight the strategies of defence and legitimation used in such cases. Multiplying erudite references and Latin quotes while maintaining an ironical distance from vain ostentation, Lope de Vega invented a new form of self-consecration which broke with the past