Chateaubriand et le despotisme oriental

Jean-Claude Berchet : Chateaubriand and oriental despotism. It does not matter that the theory of "Oriental despotism" as developed by Montesquieu and reinterpreted by Volney is built on shaky foundations, for it served as a useful mask to denounce, despite censorship, different forms of "Occidental despotism". The same strategy was adopted by Chateaubriand when in 1811 he published the account of his journey to the East. His visit to Constanti¬ nople provides not only an opportunity to reassert his opposition to the Imperial régime, but also a place in which to set out his model of liberal Christianity associating for the first time Athens and Jerusalem. By stressing the political dimension of his Itinéraire, this article aims to show the origin of the principles which, continuing but also breaking with Enlightenment thought, guided the public career of the first Romantic during the Restoration.Berchet Jean-Claude. Chateaubriand et le despotisme oriental. In: Dix-huitième Siècle, n°26, 1994. Economie et politique. pp. 391-421