Les Tragiques

Agrippa D'Aubigné's remarkable epic poem, Les Tragiques, was composed in France in the 1570s, and first published in 1616 in Geneva. It sets the recent sufferings of the Protestants in the French Wars of Religion within the overarching context of God's eternal plan for his chosen faithful. Recording the bitter story of the defeated party, the poet movingly combines depictions of a devastated country, vivid tableaux of the worst atrocities of the Wars, and satirical attacks on leading political and religious figures. As he narrates a story which he believes must not be forgotten, d`Aubigné develops an innovative style that deliberately challenges conventions. This is a work of pure baroque, a pearl of irregular shape, making a unique appeal to both the senses and the intellect. The complete work has never previously been translated into English. Valerie Worth-Stylianou's translation of the entire text is accompanied by her illuminating introduction and detailed critical notes. This English version will interest scholars and students of early modern political, social and religious history and of comparative literatures, as well as all readers looking to understand how literature seeks to mediate the pain of partisan struggles. Translated, annotated, and with an introduction by Valerie Worth-Stylianou French Renaissance Texts in Translation volume 2

An introduction to the history of French literature, covering from 842 to 1990.

The popular conception of the Renaissance as a culture devoted to order and perfection does not account for an important characteristic of Renaissance art: many of the period's major works, including those by da Vinci, Erasmus, Michelangelo, Ronsard, and Montaigne, appeared as works-in-progress, always liable to changes and additions. In Perpetual Motion, Michel Jeanneret argues for a sixteenth century swept up in change and fascinated by genesis and metamorphosis. Jeanneret begins by tracing the metamorphic sensibility in sixteenth-century science and culture. Theories of creation and cosmology, of biology and geology, profoundly affected the perspectives of leading thinkers and artists on the nature of matter and form. The conception of humanity (as understood by Pico de Mirandola, Erasmus, Rabelais, and others), reflections upon history, the theory and practice of language, all led to new ideas, new genres, and a new interest in the diversity of experience. Jeanneret goes on to show that the invention of the printing press did not necessarily produce more stable literary texts than those transmitted orally or as hand-printed manuscripts—authors incorporated ideas of transformation into the process of composing and revising and encouraged creative interpretations from their readers, translators, and imitators. Extending the argument to the visual arts, Jeanneret considers da Vinci's sketches and paintings, changing depictions of the world map, the mythological sculptures in the gardens of Prince Orsini in Bomarzo, and many other Renaissance works. More than fifty illustrations supplement his analysis.