Jacques le fataliste et le renouveau du roman carnavalesque

Jacques le fataliste and the renewal of the carnivalesque novel. Bakhtin suggests that until the second half of the 17th Century, the carnivalesque in literature was a reflection of man's direct experience of carnival ; therefore, as carnival itself waned, the literary carnivalesque became an increasingly literary (intertextual) phenomenon. Thus Voltaire's Candide exemplifies certain thematic aspects of the carnivalesque, but stops well short of linguistic subversion. Dulaurens's Le Compère Mathieu is, in contrast, a more fully carnivalesque text, embodying the carnivalesque at the level of theme, of genre and of language. Diderot's Jacques le fataliste goes further still, and may be said to represent a "renewal" of the carnivalesque novel. It derives its inspiration not only indirectly from other carnivalesque literature, but also (and notwithstanding Bakhtin's view that 18th-century authors had lost immediate contact with carnival) directly from Diderot's experience of popular culture.Cronk Nicholas. Jacques le fataliste et le renouveau du roman carnavalesque. In: Dix-huitième Siècle, n°32, 2000. Le rire, sous la direction de Lise Andries . pp. 33-49