Diderot salons summary. "Ramo's Nephew" (Diderot): description and analysis of the novel

Denis Diderot's brief biography of the famous French writer and philosopher, encyclopedist is presented in this article.

Denis Diderot short biography

Denis Diderot was born on October 5, 1713 in Langres, Champagne, France. His mother, née Angelique Vigneron, was the daughter of a tanner, and his father, Didier Diderot, was a cutler.
At the request of his family, young Denis prepared himself for a spiritual career. In 1723-1728 he studied at the Langres Jesuit College, and in 1726 he became abbot.

In 1732 he received a master's degree from the Faculty of Arts of the University of Paris.

In 1743, Diderot married Anne Antoinette Champion, who ran a linen shop with her mother. For the first time after his marriage, Diderot made money through translations.

In 1747, together with his friend the philosopher and mathematician Jean Leron d'Alembert, he received an invitation to become the head of the publication "Encyclopedia, or Explanatory Dictionary of Sciences, Arts and Crafts." Through the efforts of Diderot and D'Alembert, the book became a comprehensive overview of the current state of knowledge in France. Diderot studied the history of philosophy and crafts.

In 1772, the first edition of the Encyclopedia was completed. The work took 25 years. The Encyclopedia consisted of 28 volumes - 17 volumes of articles and 11 volumes of illustrations. In addition to Diderot, who wrote about six thousand articles, philosophers Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Francois Marie Arouet Voltaire, Charles Louis Montesquieu, and Paul Henri Holbach were involved in its creation.

In his first philosophical works, Philosophical Thoughts (1746) and Alleys, or a Skeptic's Walk (1747), Diderot adhered to deism. In the essay “Letter about the Blind for the Edification of the Sighted” (1749), he switched to the positions of atheism and materialism. He contrasts the teleological proof of the existence of God with evolutionary views on nature. In July-October 1749, Diderot was arrested and imprisoned in Vincennes Castle for his free-thinking writings.

Atheistic materialism was further developed in his works “Thoughts on the Interpretation of Nature” (1754), “Conversation between D’Alembert and Diderot” (1769), “Philosophical Principles Concerning Matter and Motion” (1770), etc.

The story “The Nun” (1760), the novel dialogue “Ramo’s Nephew” (1762-1779), the novel “Jacques the Fatalist and His Master” (1773) - remained unknown to his contemporaries and were first published after the death of the author. They expressed Diderot's rejection of religion and the church, as well as commitment to humanistic ideals.

In 1759 - 1781, as an art critic, Diderot wrote annual reviews of art exhibitions - “Salons”.

In 1765, Russian Empress Catherine II acquired Diderot's library. Having paid for the library, Catherine left the books for his lifelong use and assigned the philosopher an annual salary as a librarian, paying the money for 50 years in advance.

From 1773 to 1774, Diderot, at the invitation of Catherine II, traveled to Russia and lived in St. Petersburg.

In recent years, Diderot continued to engage in literary projects.

XVIII century. He was born on October 5, 1713 in Langres and was the son of a cutler; died in 1784. In Paris, he studied philosophy, mathematics, physics, art, and became friends with prominent representatives of modern movements. For his refusal to study any specialty (at first Diderot was a theologian, then a lawyer), he lost his father’s support and became a writer. Of the national writers, the skeptic had the greatest influence on him Bayle. Diderot found similar elements in the works of English sensualists and freethinkers.

Portrait of Denis Diderot. Artist L. M. van Loo, 1767

He began with translations: in 1743 he published a translation of Stanian’s “History of Greece”, in 1745 “An Essay on Merit and Virtue” (a free translation of the work of the same name Shaftesbury). His tendency towards opposition was expressed in these works in the fact that he took the side of revelation against the preachers of the natural religion of reason and defended its possibility. Diderot expresses a reverse attitude towards the religiosity that prevailed in France already in “Philosophical Thoughts” (The Hague, 1746) and even more so in “The Skeptic’s Walk,” written in 1747 but confiscated before publication. The first of these works, in which Parliament saw an attack on Christianity, was, by his order, burned by the hand of the executioner and that is why it created an extraordinary sensation. The second was published only much later, after Diderot’s death, in the 4th volume of his Memoirs, Letters and Unpublished Works (Paris, 1830). The doubts about theism expressed in these writings from the point of view deism, give way to doubt about deism itself, which in the works that soon followed - “Introduction aux grands principes”, “Letter on the Blind for the Edification of the Sighted” (London, 1749), “Letter on the Deaf and Dumb” (1751) - brought upon him for obvious atheism, a year's imprisonment in Vincennes.

Denis Diderot. Video

In the Encyclopedia, published since 1751, Diderot contributed not only all the articles on technology and crafts, but also some philosophical and even many physical and chemical ones, since his versatile education came to the rescue wherever there was a shortage of collaborators. He expressed his theories about the theater, which he wanted to free from enslavement to the dead rules of classicism, in two dramas: “The Illegitimate Son” (1757) and “The Father of the Family” (1758). Both of these plays, which should have been more exemplary examples than free works, and which, due to their sentimentality and pedantic morality, suffered complete failure, were the predecessors of the so-called “philistine drama.” However, they found more imitators in Germany (Ifland, Kotzebue) than in France. An excellent idea of ​​Diderot’s versatility is given by his “Salons” - reports on the exhibitions of the Paris Academy of 1765-67, in which, in witty essays, he makes fidelity to nature the main requirement, so that for this type of artistic criticism, Diderot can be considered the founder. Most of his novels and stories, with the exception of “Indiscreet Jewels” (1748), were published only posthumously. The weakest of them is “Jacques the Fatalist”, and the best, despite its too harsh naturalism, is the novel “The Nun” (“La Religieuse”); The most famous is Rameau's Nephew. The small genre sketches he entitled “Petits papiers” are real pearls of cute humor and witty, talented presentation.

Diderot's financial situation at this time was poor. He was about to sell his library to provide a dowry for his daughter, when the Russian Empress Catherine II, an enthusiastic admirer of this writer, rescued him from his difficulties in the most generous and delicate way: she bought his library for 15,000 livres, leaving it to him in charge for life with a salary of 1,000 livres , and ordered to pay him a salary for 50 years in advance. Then she invited him to St. Petersburg, where he spent the winter at court near the empress, until his health, upset by the harsh climate, required his return to his homeland. Having rejected Frederick II's offer to visit Berlin, he traveled through Holland and conveyed his impressions in the book “Travel to Holland.” Returning to Paris, tirelessly active until his death, Diderot died, as he had lived, as a philosopher, and was buried in the Church of Saint Roch.

According to Goethe, Diderot was a writer who was more eager to fight antiquity and to revolution than to create something new. Acting promptly in all areas, in none of them did he exhaust the subject to the very root. He himself said about himself that he could only write individual “pages.” Without working for magazines, Diderot was the first journalist of his time, a virtuoso of the word in speech and writing, who transferred into literature the liveliness of conversation, in which he was a master, and therefore preferred the form of writing or dialogue to any other. As a result, his style has a charm that Goethe called “fascinating.” Even his most profound philosophical reflections, like “Conversation with D'Alembert" and "The Dream of D'Alembert" (both 1769), he made, in their clarity and elation, examples of artistic rhetoric.

Diderot's philosophical development went through a series of metamorphoses that led him from theism to deism, and from deism to atheism and materialism. At least in the works that represent the most complete expression of his metaphysical views, he ascribes to all matter the ability of sensation, thus giving it a higher spiritual essence. In his essay “Thoughts on the Interpretation of Nature” (1754), Diderot puts atoms in place of Leibniz’s monads, and just as the former contain dormant ideas, so, according to Diderot, atoms are based on associated sensations. The latter become conscious in the animal organism; From sensations comes thinking. His atheism is expressed in the words that the huge musical instrument that we call the world plays itself, without the help of a musician. However, he recognizes the divine in the law of nature, in truth, beauty and goodness.

Denis Diderot - French writer, playwright, educator, materialist philosopher; founder, editor of the “Encyclopedia, or Explanatory Dictionary of Sciences, Arts and Crafts”; a spokesman for the ideas of the third estate, a supporter of the enlightened monarchy, a fierce opponent of absolutism, the church and the religious worldview in general. On October 5, 1713, he was born in the French Langres, a simple family of an artisan.

His parents wanted their son to become a priest, so from 1723 to 1728 he was educated at a local Jesuit college, became an abbot in 1726, was distinguished by his religiosity, and led an ascetic lifestyle. In 1728 or 1729, to complete his studies, Diderot came to Paris, choosing either the Jansenist College d'Harcourt or the Jesuit College of Louis the Great (versions vary). It is believed that he studied in two at once, and the aggressive confrontation between the two movements led to disappointment in the chosen path.In 1732, Diderot graduated from the Faculty of Arts of the University of Paris, received a master's degree, but, instead of going to work in accordance with his specialty, he made a choice in favor of a free life and free activities.

In 1743, he married and earned money for his young family by making transfers. During 1743-1748. the first philosophical works of Diderot appeared (“Philosophical Thoughts” (1746), “Alleys, or the Walk of a Skeptic” (1747), “Immodest Treasures” (1748), “Letters about the Blind for the Edification of the Sighted” (1749)), indicating the transition to positions first of deism, then of atheism and materialism. Due to his latest work, Diderot was arrested for several months.

Seen the light in the 50s. the plays “The Bastard Son or Trials of Virtue” (1757) and “The Father of the Family,” as well as the stories and novels written subsequently, spoke of a new artistic approach, the desire to talk about the lives of ordinary people belonging to the third estate, loyalty to humanistic ideals, were written in realistic, understandable, devoid of verbal frills manner.

Denis Diderot gained fame for his many years of hard work on the “Encyclopedia, or Explanatory Dictionary of Sciences, Arts and Crafts” (1751-1780), which systematized the scientific postulates of the time and became a powerful educational tool, a kind of manifesto of the French Enlightenment. The original plan of the publisher A.F. Le Breton, which arose in the early 40s, assumed an adaptation of an already existing English encyclopedia. However, in the end it was transformed into the release of an independent publication, which Diderot was entrusted to head. For a quarter of a century he supervised the preparation of 28 volumes, he himself wrote about 6 thousand articles, collaborated with Voltaire, Rousseau, Holbach, Montesquieu, and with recognized specialists in various sciences and arts. The publication of the Encyclopedia was accompanied by various difficulties, but Denis Diderot managed to save his brainchild from closure.

Catherine II offered him to publish the Encyclopedia in Russia, but Diderot refused, continuing to maneuver between dangerous reefs in his homeland. From October 1773 to March 1774, he stayed in Russia at the invitation of the Empress, proposed for consideration a project of a public education system, based on the principles of classlessness and providing for free primary education. A disease of the gastrointestinal tract put an end to his biography on July 31, 1784; at this time he was in Paris.

Denis Diderot was an intellectual of his time, a French writer and philosopher. The Encyclopedia he compiled, which he completed in 1751, brought him the greatest fame. Along with Montesquieu, Voltaire and Rousseau, he was considered one of the ideologists of the third estate in France, a popularizer of the ideas of the Enlightenment, which are believed to have paved the way for the Great French Revolution of 1789.

Childhood and youth

Denis Diderot was born in 1713. He was born in the small French town of Langres. His mother was the daughter of a tanner, and his father made knives.

Parents decided that Denis Diderot would become a priest. To do this, they sent him to a Jesuit college, from which he graduated in 1728. Two years earlier, the boy officially became an abbot. Biographers note that during this period the hero of our article was an extremely religious person, constantly fasted and even wore a hair shirt.

Arriving in Paris to complete his education, he entered the Jesuit College of Louis the Great, and a little later, in all likelihood, the Jansenite educational institution - d'Harcourt. Here he received the profession of a lawyer, since his father encouraged him to pursue a legal career. Presumably, just the conflicts that arose between the Jansenites and the Jesuits turned him away from his chosen path.

In 1732, Denis Diderot received a master's degree from the Faculty of Arts of the University of Paris. Instead of a career as a priest, he seriously thinks about becoming a lawyer, but as a result he prefers the lifestyle of a free artist.

Refusal of a priestly career

In a short biography of Denis Diderot, you need to pay attention to his personal life. In 1743, he married Anne Toinette Champion, who owned a linen shop.

At the same time, it is reliably known that marriage did not prevent him from having affairs with other women. He is believed to have been romantically involved in the mid-1750s with Sophie Volland, for whom he remained attached almost until his death.

After the wedding, Denis Diderot, whose biography is quite interesting and full of all sorts of ideas, initially made money through translations. In the 40s he worked with the most famous works of Stenian, Shaftesbury, and James. His first independent literary works date back to the same period. They testify to the courage and mature mind of a fairly young author. In 1746, his “Philosophical Thoughts” were published, and later - “Alleys, or the Walk of a Skeptic”, “Letter on the Blind for the Edification of the Sighted”, “Indiscreet Treasures”. Apparently, by this time Diderot had already turned into a deist, and soon into a convinced materialist and atheist. At that time, these books by Denis Diderot were classified as freethinking, for which he was arrested in 1749. He served his imprisonment at Vincennes Castle.

Work on the "Encyclopedia"

Diderot first encountered work on the Encyclopedia in 1747. The idea of ​​the capital's publisher Breton to translate the so-called “General Dictionary of Crafts and Sciences” into French appeared several years ago. But no editor could cope with this task.

Diderot worked on the project together with D'Alembert. As a result, one of them came up with the idea of ​​completely abandoning the translation of the English dictionary, and preparing an independent publication that would be unique. In any case, it was thanks to Diderot that the work on the Encyclopedia acquired the scope that turned it into a real manifesto of the Enlightenment.

Over the next quarter of a century, the hero of our article continues to supervise the work on the book of knowledge, which by that time has grown to 17 volumes of articles alone, which are accompanied by another eleven volumes of illustrations. Even considering the biography of Denis Diderot briefly, you need to dwell on the large number of obstacles that he managed to overcome on his way. In addition to the already mentioned imprisonment, this is also the suspension of work for reasons beyond the control of the editor, the crisis due to which D "Alembert left the project, the ban on the publication and its careful and scrupulous censorship.

It was not until 1772 that the first edition of the Encyclopedia was finally completed. Almost all the great minds of the Enlightenment who were in France at that time took part in its creation - Voltaire, Holbach, Rousseau, Montesquieu.

Manifesto of the Age of Enlightenment

The result of their joint work was a universal body of modern knowledge. Separately, it should be noted that in articles devoted to political topics, no preference was deliberately given to any form of government. And the praise that the authors addressed to the Republic of Geneva was accompanied by remarks that such a state structure is possible only for relatively small territories, to which France itself does not belong. Pluralism in its pure form dominated on the pages of the Encyclopedia, because writers in some articles advocated a limited monarchy, while in others they adhered to the absolute option, seeing only it as the basis of social welfare.

At the same time, it was separately noted that subjects have the right to resist despots, and kings must obey the law, help the poor and disadvantaged, and defend the faith of their people.

The authors of the Encyclopedia advocated easing the lot of the common people. However, to achieve this goal, they did not call for the establishment of democracy in the country, but turned to the government, drawing the attention of officials and ministers to the need for reforms in education, the economy (fair taxation, the fight against poverty).

Philosophical views

The basic ideas of Denis Diderot in the field of philosophy were formulated by him back in 1751 in the treatise “Letter on the Deaf and Dumb for the Edification of Those Who Hear.” In it he examines the problem of cognition in the context of the symbolism of words and gestures.

In 1753, he published “Thoughts on the Explanation of Nature,” which he created in the image and likeness of the works of Bacon, polemicizing with the rationalistic philosophy of Leibniz and Descartes. For example, he refuted the theory of innate ideas.

When the philosophy of Denis Diderot was formed, he categorically rejected the dualistic teaching dedicated to the bifurcation of the spiritual and material principles. He argued that in the world there is only matter that can have sensitivity, and all the diverse and complex phenomena that occur in real life are the result of the movement of its particles. Confirmation of this can be found in quotes from Denis Diderot:

Religion prevents people from seeing because it forbids them to look under pain of eternal punishment.

Take away the fear of hell from a Christian, and you take away his faith.

The God of Christians is a father who values ​​his apples extremely and his children very little.

His philosophical views also included thoughts about the influence of various external factors on the individual. Among the ideas of Denis Diderot one can find the statement that a person is solely what his environment and upbringing can make of him. Moreover, every action he performs is a necessary act in the general worldview.

Attitude to politics

Considering the worldview of Denis Diderot, the main thoughts and ideas of the philosopher and writer, it should be noted that, according to his political convictions, he was a supporter of enlightened absolutism, agreeing with Voltaire on this. Diderot also refused to trust the masses, whom he considered incapable of solving state and moral issues.

In his opinion, the ideal political system is a monarchy ruled by a sovereign endowed with philosophical and scientific knowledge. Diderot was convinced that the union of philosophers and rulers was not only possible, but also necessary.

Moreover, his own materialistic teaching was directed against the clergy. The ultimate goal was to transfer state power into the hands of philosophers.

Diderot was wrong about this. As one can judge from history, monarchs respected philosophers, but did not allow them to really influence practical politics. For example, when Diderot came to Russia in 1773, responding to the invitation of Catherine II, they spent hours having sublime conversations, but at the same time, the Russian empress was skeptical about his projects to destroy luxury at court, direct the freed funds to the needs of the people, and also about the organization universal free education.

Diderot received a large sum of money from Catherine for his library, and he was given a salary for its maintenance.

Creation

Diderot began to actively engage in creativity in the 50s. He publishes two plays - "The Father of the Family" and "The Bastard Son, or Trials of Virtue." In them, he categorically rejects the rules of the then dominant classicism, striving to create a bourgeois, bourgeois-sentimental drama, which he ultimately succeeds in. In most of his works, the conflicts that arise between representatives of the third estate come to the fore; their life and behavior in the most ordinary situations are described.

His classic works include the story “The Nun,” which we will talk about in more detail, and the novels “Ramo’s Nephew” and “Jacques the Fatalist and His Master.” For most contemporaries, these books remain unknown, since the author practically does not succeed in publishing them during his lifetime.

It is worth noting that all these works are united by realism, amazing prudence and a transparent, extremely clear style of storytelling. Reading Diderot's works has always been easy because they are almost completely devoid of verbal embellishment.

In most of his works one can find rejection of the church and religion, commitment to humanistic goals, idealized ideas about human duty.

The aesthetic and philosophical principles that Diderot proclaims can also be traced in his attitude to the fine arts. From 1759 to 1781, he regularly published reviews of Parisian salons in his friend Grimm's handwritten newspaper, called Literary Correspondence. By subscription, it is sent to influential princes and monarchs.

"Nun"

This is one of Diderot's most famous works. It depicts the depraved morals that reign in a nunnery. In the book “The Nun” by Denis Diderot, the story is told from the perspective of a young novice who does not realize what feelings she is experiencing.

Critics note in this work an amazing combination of psychological truth with naturalism that was extremely bold for that time. All this makes Denis Diderot's story "The Nun" one of the best prose works of the 18th century, at least in France. In addition, this is an excellent example of anti-religious propaganda.

The impetus for writing this book was a real story that the author learned about. In the 50s of the 18th century, the secrets of the convent were exposed. In pre-revolutionary France, church life was one of the most exciting and pressing topics.

The story itself begins with an episode in which the main character Suzanne, who is an illegitimate child, is forcibly sent to a nunnery. In fact, she is betrayed by her own mother, but the girl still loves her and does not reveal the secret of her origin, although this could help her free herself. Instead, she makes several attempts to escape from the monastery in order to gain freedom, one of which ends successfully.

"Ramo's Nephew"

Another famous work by Diderot is the novel Rameau's Nephew. Many literary scholars consider it the pinnacle of the creativity of the hero of our article.

Catherine II, who corresponded and was on friendly terms with Voltaire, was interested in Diderot's work on the famous Encyclopedia. As soon as she took the throne, she immediately proposed moving the publication to Russia. Behind this lay not only her desire to strengthen her reputation, but also an attempt to satisfy the interest of the educated and enlightened part of Russian society in this work.

Diderot refused this offer, but agreed to sell his unique library to the empress for 50,000 livres. Moreover, the books themselves remained at his complete disposal until the end of his life. He became the custodian of works in his home in the status of the empress's personal librarian.

At the invitation of Catherine, he stayed in St. Petersburg from October 1773 to March 1774. During this time he was elected an honorary member of the Academy of Sciences in St. Petersburg.

When he returned to France, he wrote several essays devoted to the possible introduction of Russia to European civilization. His skeptical statements about Catherine’s policies aroused her anger, but they became known in Russia after the philosopher’s death.

In 1784 he died in Paris at the age of 70.

56. Creativity of Diderot.

Biography: Denis Diderot (1713-1784)

Diderot's mother was the daughter of a tanner, and her father, Didier Diderot, was a cutler. At the request of his family, young Denis prepared himself for a spiritual career; in 1723-28 he studied at the Langres Jesuit College, and in 1726 he became an abbot. In 1728 or 1729 Diderot arrived in Paris to complete his education.

According to some evidence, he studied there at the Jansenist College d'Harcourt, according to others - at the Jesuit College of Louis the Great. It is also assumed that Diderot attended both of these educational institutions and that it was the mutual attacks of the Jesuits and Jansenists that turned him away from his chosen path. In 1732 he received a master's degree from the Faculty of Arts of the University of Paris, thought about becoming a lawyer, but preferred a free lifestyle.

In 1743, Denis Diderot married Anna Champion, who together with her mother ran a linen shop. Marriage did not stop him from being attracted to other women. He felt the deepest feeling for Sophie Volland, whom he met in the mid-1750s; He retained his affection for her until his death.

For the first time after his marriage, Diderot made money through translations. In 1743-48 he translated from English “History of Greece” by T. Stenian, “Essay on Dignity and Virtue” by E. E. K. Shaftesbury, “Medical Dictionary” by R. James. At the same time, his first works were written, testifying not so much to maturity as to the courage of the novice author: “Philosophical Thoughts” (1746), “Alleys, or the Walk of a Skeptic” (1747, published), “Immodest Treasures” (1747), “Letters about the blind for the edification of the sighted” (1749). Judging by them, by 1749 Diderot was already a deist, and then a convinced atheist and materialist. D.'s spiritual formation proceeded from an “aversion to theology” and was based on the results of the development of natures. sciences, philosophy and art in the 16th-18th centuries. Diderot's free-thinking writings led to his arrest and imprisonment in Vincennes Castle (July - October 1749).

Philosopher. D.'s thought affirmed the endless possibilities of knowledge of nature and life. She was full of enthusiasm for discovery. Long before J. Lamarck and C. Darwin, D. put forward a guess about transformism biological. species . Nature was represented by D. in his elemental dialectics. guesses as an infinite variety of individual forms, interconnected, constantly changing in the eternal movement of matter.

Myself process of cognition , associated with the struggle for the material and spiritual enrichment of people. life, acquired an exciting dramatic character for D. aspect became a theme worthy of the artist. Therefore, into a philosopher. dialogues D. philosophizing does not happen in the abstract, but itself turns into subject of the image , as one of the captivating. moments of life, in which everything is interesting, including nature. poses, gestures and remarks of philosophizing characters.

In the early 1740s, the Parisian publisher A. F. Le Breton had the idea to translate into French “Encyclopedia, or Explanatory Dictionary of Sciences, Arts and Crafts...” Englishman E. Chambers - systematic a collection of advanced science of the era and an expression of the hatred of the “third estate” for the despotism of kings and the spiritual dictatorship of the church. In the Encyclopedia articles a picture emerged or was guessed oppressed by the feudal lords of France engulfed in general fermentation. Le Breton and his companions (A. C. Briasson, M. A. David and Durand), after an unsuccessful experience with the first editor-in-chief - Abbot J. P. De Gua de Malve - decided in 1747 to entrust their undertaking to Denis Diderot and D'Alembert It is not known who exactly - Diderot, D'Alembert or the Abbé de Gois - had the idea to abandon the publication of a slightly modified version of the English dictionary and prepare an independent publication. But it was Diderot who gave the Encyclopedia the scope and polemical fervor that made it a manifesto of the Enlightenment.

In Art. "People" D. defended those whose hands create the well-being of the country, and expressed the idea that there could be no other true legislator other than the people. Although private property, including that of the artisan and peasant, was for D. an element of the “natural rights” of man, he guessed its antisocial consequences and therefore charged the legislator with the obligation to change the “spirit of property” to the “spirit of community.”

D.'s articles in the Encyclopedia on issues of crafts and technologies of various industries ; one of the first among Europeans. thinkers he felt the importance material labor for the development of society.

Over the next 25 years (1751 - 1772), D. Diderot remained at the head of the Encyclopedia, which grew to 28 volumes (according to Pakhsaryan’s lecture - 35 volumes (17 volumes of articles and 11 volumes of illustrations)). But there were many obstacles: the already mentioned imprisonment in 1749, and the suspension of publication in 1752, and the crisis in 1757-59, which led to the departure of D'Alembert and a temporary ban on publication, and the actual censorship of the last 10 volumes by Le Breton. In 1772, the first edition The Encyclopedia was largely completed; in addition to Diderot (he wrote about 6,000 articles) and D'Alembert, such Enlightenment geniuses as Rousseau, Voltaire, Montesquieu, Holbach (about 170 people in total) collaborated in it.

In 1751 Diderot published “A Letter Concerning the Deaf and Dumb for the Edification of Those Who Hear "considering in it the problem of cognition in the context of the symbolism of gestures and words. IN "Thoughts on the explanation of nature" (1753), created in the image and likeness of the “New Organon” by F. Bacon, Diderot from the standpoint of sensationalism polemicized against rationalist philosophy Descartes, Malebranche and Leibniz, in particular with the theory innate ideas , seeing in the accumulated by the end of the 18th century. scientific knowledge (the discoveries of Bernoulli, Euler, Maupertuis, D'Alembert, Buffon, etc.), the basis of a new, experimental interpretation of nature.

In the 50s, Denis Diderot published two plays (bourgeois drama) - "Bad Son or Trials of Virtue" (1757) and "Father of the Family" (1758). Having abandoned the normative poetics of classicism in them, he sought to implement the principles of the new (“philistine”) drama depicting conflicts between people of the third estate in everyday life. The plays belong to the genre of serious comedy.

Diderot's main works of art - the story "Nun" (1760, ed. 1796), dialogue novel "Ramo's Nephew" (1762-1779, published by Goethe in German in 1805, published in French in 1823), novel "Jacques the Fatalist and His Master" (1773, published in German in 1792, in French in 1796). Despite the difference in genres, they are united rationality, realism, clear transparent style, sense of humor, and lack of verbal embellishment . They expressed Diderot's rejection of religion and the church, a tragic awareness of the power of evil, as well as commitment to humanistic ideals and high ideas about human duty.

"Nun" shows the desire for freedom with a natural human feeling (sentimental poetics). The story is told from the perspective of a young novice girl who does not understand what she is experiencing; depicts the depraved morals of a convent. A subtle combination of sensitivity, bold naturalism and psychological truth.

Unfinished The novel “The Nun” paints a tragic picture. the story of the “illegitimate” girl Suzanne, who was forcibly imprisoned in a convent. Giving the narrative the form of the heroine’s confession, D. portrayed her daily struggle for liberation from the monastery as heroic; the girl opposes the entire society based on religion. violence, she steadfastly resists attempts to destroy her living connection with people and societies. the beginning, which is natural. the basis of her personality.

"Jacques the Fatalist" - a novel about the travels and adventures of two friends, into which the author inserted a number of episodes. Here is a string of characteristic figures of that time, subjected to criticism of licentiousness, selfishness, vacuity, pettiness and lack of deep interests in the so-called “society” ; this latter is contrasted with examples of virtue, sincerity and sensitivity - qualities acquired by Diderot in a bourgeois environment.

In the novel “Jacques the Fatalist” the content is conveyed not through the plot, but through deviations from it and chapters. arr. through the dialogues of the master and his servant Jacques traveling through France. The topic of conversation between servant and master is French reality 18th century ., presented in an extraordinary wealth of colors, episodes, ideological. problems. The bearer of the philosophy of the novel - servant Jacques, peasant, French. descendant of Sancho Panza, incarnation of people. France, its cheerfulness and humor. Although Jacques poses as a fatalist, this is only ironic. a form constantly refuted by his vital nature. In contrast, the gentleman who presents himself as a supporter of the theory of free will is deprived of personality, the ability to act, even a name. D. draws him only as a impersonal attribute an energetic servant who guides him both in practice and in theory.

The philosophical and aesthetic principles proclaimed by Diderot are also manifested in his attitude towards fine art. Diderot published reviews of the Parisian Salons from 1759 to 1781 in "Literary correspondence" his friend F. M. Grimm, a handwritten newspaper sent by subscription to enlightened European monarchs and sovereign princes. In the "Salons" D. criticized the pompous "historical" painting of epigonian classicism, the exquisite affectation of the degenerate school of Rococo. Artist. decline of the courtly-aristocratic culture D. contrasted the work of painters of the “third estate” - everyday genre . However, own D.'s judgments about realism. art went beyond the boundaries of third-class genre painting, in which he did not find enough poetry, drama. latitude, heroic content. D. demanded from the claim "great idea" Based on the experience of Renaissance art, he called on artists to extract from nature the “idea of ​​mass,” that is, the diversity and greatness of common life, when depicting a particular phenomena are generalized.

Catherine II, as soon as she ascended the throne, suggested that Diderot transfer to Russia the publication of the Encyclopedia, which was experiencing considerable difficulties in France. Behind the empress’s gesture was hidden not only a desire to strengthen her reputation, but also a desire to satisfy the interest of Russian society in the Encyclopedia. They came out in Russia during the 18th century. 25 collections of translations from the Encyclopedia.

By rejecting Catherine II's proposal, Diderot did not lose her favor. In 1765, she acquired his library, paying him 50 thousand livres and giving him the right to keep books in her house for life as the empress's personal librarian.

In 1773 Denis Diderot visited Russia at the invitation of Catherine II. He lived in St. Petersburg from October 1773 to March 1774, and was elected a foreign honorary member of the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences (1773).

D.'s short stories, written in the late period, are interesting in that they foresee and outline themes that were realized in subsequent literature. currents. In the novella "Two Friends from Bourbonnais" tells the story of the friendship of two poor people who became smugglers, defending their independence and the spirit of selfless relationships outside the world of officialdom. legality. J. W. Goethe in his memoirs noted the great influence of this novella on literature. "Storm and Drang" movement. Its ideological seed was developed in “The Robbers” by F. Schiller and in “Jean Sbogar” by C. Nodier. Novella D. "This is not a fairy tale" deeply touched on a topic that later became the property of O. Balzac - topic of cynicism philosophy of success , penetrating into the most hidden spheres of man. relationships and gives even virtue a duality. Balzac considered the short story D.'s masterpiece, placing it among such works as “Manon Lescaut” by Abbé A. F. Prevost, “Werther” by Goethe, “Adolphe” by B. Constant and others.

“The Nun” (summary).

The novel is written in the form of notes from the heroine addressed to the Marquis de Croimare, whom she asks for help and for this purpose tells him the story of her misfortunes.

The heroine's name is Maria-Suzanne Simonen. Her father is a lawyer and has a large fortune. She is not loved in the house, although she surpasses her sisters in beauty and spiritual qualities, and Suzanne assumes that she is not Mr. Simonen’s daughter. Parents invite Suzanne to become a monk at the monastery of St. Mary under the pretext that they were broke and would not be able to give her a dowry. Suzanne doesn't want to; she was persuaded to remain a novice for two years, but at the end of her term she still refused to become a nun.

She is imprisoned in a cell; she decides to pretend that she agreed, but in fact she wants to publicly protest on the day of her tonsure; For this purpose, she invites friends and girlfriends to the ceremony and, answering the questions of the priest, refuses to take a vow. A month later she is taken home; she is locked up, her parents do not want to see her. Father Seraphim (the confessor of Suzanne and her mother), with the permission of her mother, informs Suzanne that she is not the daughter of Mr. Simonen, Mr. Simonen guesses this, so that the mother cannot equate her with legitimate daughters, and the parents want to minimize her part of the inheritance, and therefore she has no choice but to accept monasticism.

The mother agrees to meet with her daughter and tells her that her existence reminds her of the vile betrayal on the part of Suzanne's real father, and her hatred of this man extends to Suzanne. The mother wants her daughter to atone for her sin, so she saves a contribution to the monastery for Suzanne. He says that after the incident at the monastery of St. Maria Suzanne has nothing to think about her husband. The mother does not want Suzanne to bring discord into the house after her death, but she cannot officially deprive Suzanne of her inheritance, since for this she needs to confess to her husband.

After this conversation, Suzanne decides to become a nun. The Longchamp Monastery agrees to take it. Suzanne is brought to the monastery when a certain Madame de Monis has just become abbess there - a kind, intelligent woman who knows the human heart well; she and Suzanne immediately develop a mutual sympathy. Meanwhile, Suzanne becomes a novice. She often becomes despondent at the thought that she will soon become a nun, and then she runs to the abbess. The abbess has a special gift of consolation; all the nuns come to her in difficult times.

She consoles Suzanne. But as the day of her tonsure approaches, Suzanne is often overcome by such melancholy that the abbess does not know what to do. The gift of consolation leaves her; she can't say anything to Suzanne. During her tonsure, Suzanne is in deep prostration and later does not remember at all what happened that day. In the same year, Mr. Simonen, the abbess and mother of Suzanne die. The gift of consolation returns to the abbess in her last moments; she dies, anticipating eternal bliss. Before her death, her mother gives a letter and money for Suzanne; The letter contains a request to the daughter to atone for her mother’s sin with her good deeds. Instead of Madame de Monis, Sister Christina, a petty, narrow-minded woman, becomes abbess.

She is carried away by new religious movements, forces nuns to participate in ridiculous rituals, and revives methods of repentance that exhaust the flesh, which were abolished by Sister de Monis. At every opportunity, Suzanne praises the former abbess, does not obey the customs restored by Sister Christina, rejects all sectarianism, learns the charter by heart so as not to do what is not included in it. With her speeches and actions, she captivates some of the nuns and gains a reputation as a rebel. She cannot be accused of anything; then they make her life unbearable: they forbid everyone to communicate with her, constantly punish her, prevent her from sleeping, praying, steal things, spoil the work Suzanne has done.

Suzanne contemplates suicide, but sees that everyone wants it, and abandons this intention. She decides to break the vow. To begin with, she wants to write a detailed note and give it to one of the laity. Suzanne takes a lot of paper from the abbess under the pretext that she needs to write a confession, but she begins to suspect that the paper was used for other notes.

During prayer, Suzanne manages to hand over the papers to Sister Ursula, who treats Suzanne in a friendly manner; this nun constantly removed, as far as she could, the obstacles placed in Suzanne's way by other nuns. They search Suzanne, they look for these papers everywhere; The abbess interrogates her and cannot achieve anything. Suzanne is thrown into the dungeon and released on the third day. She gets sick, but soon recovers.

Meanwhile, the time is approaching when people come to Longchamp to listen to church singing; Since Suzanne has a very good voice and musical abilities, she sings in the choir and teaches other nuns to sing. Among her students is Ursula. Suzanne asks her to forward the notes to some skilled lawyer; Ursula does it. Suzanne is a big hit with the public. Some of the laity become acquainted with her; she meets with Mr. Manuri, who has undertaken to manage her business, talks with people who come to her, trying to interest them in her fate and acquire patrons.

When the community learns of Suzanne’s desire to break her vow, she is declared cursed by God; You can't even touch it. They don't feed her, she asks for food herself, and they give her all sorts of garbage. They mock her in every possible way (they broke her dishes, took furniture and other things out of her cell; at night they make noise in her cell, break glass, throw broken glass at her feet). The nuns believe that Suzanne has been possessed by a demon and report this to the senior vicar, Mr. Hébert. He arrives and Suzanne manages to defend herself from the charges. She is placed on equal footing with the rest of the nuns.

Meanwhile, Suzanne's case in court is lost. Suzanne is forced to wear a hair shirt for several days, flagellate herself, and fast every other day. She gets sick; Sister Ursula takes care of her. Suzanne's life is in danger, but she recovers. Meanwhile, sister Ursula falls seriously ill and dies.

Thanks to the efforts of Mr. Manouri, Suzanne was transferred to the Arpajon Monastery of St. Eutropia. The abbess of this monastery has an extremely uneven, contradictory character. She never keeps herself at the proper distance: she either brings herself too close or moves away too much; sometimes she allows everything, sometimes she becomes very harsh. She greets Suzanne incredibly kindly. Suzanne is surprised by the behavior of one nun named Teresa; Suzanne comes to the conclusion that she is jealous of the abbess.

The abbess constantly enthusiastically praises Suzanne, her appearance and spiritual qualities, showers Suzanne with gifts, and releases her from services. Sister Teresa suffers and watches over them; Suzanne can't understand anything. With the appearance of Suzanne, all the unevenness in the abbess’s character was smoothed out; The community is going through a happy time. But Suzanne sometimes finds the behavior of the abbess strange: she often showers Suzanne with kisses, hugs her and at the same time becomes very excited; Suzanne, in her innocence, does not understand what is going on.

One day the abbess comes to see Suzanne at night. She is shivering, she asks permission to lie under the blanket with Suzanne, snuggles up to her, but then there is a knock on the door. It turns out that this is Sister Teresa. The abbess is very angry, Suzanne asks to forgive her sister, and the abbess eventually forgives. It's time for confession. The spiritual leader of the community is Father Lemoine. The abbess asks Suzanne not to tell him about what happened between her and Suzanne, but Father Lemoine himself questions Suzanne and finds out everything. He forbids Suzanne to allow such caresses and demands to avoid the abbess, because Satan himself is in her. The abbess says that Father Lemoine is wrong, that there is nothing sinful in her love for Suzanne.

But Suzanne, although very innocent and does not understand why the abbess’s behavior is sinful, nevertheless decides to establish restraint in their relationship. Meanwhile, at the request of the abbess, the confessor changes, but Suzanne strictly follows the advice of Father Lemoine. The behavior of the abbess becomes completely strange: she walks the corridors at night, constantly watches Suzanne, watches her every step, is terribly lamented and says that she cannot live without Suzanne. The fun days in the community are coming to an end; everything is subject to the strictest order.

The abbess moves from melancholy to piety, and from that to delirium. Chaos reigns in the monastery. The abbess suffers greatly, asks to pray for her, fasts three times a week, and flagellates herself. The nuns hated Suzanne. She shares her grief with her new confessor, Father Morel; she tells him the story of her life, talks about her aversion to monasticism. He also opens up completely to her; it is revealed that he also hates his position. They see each other often, their mutual sympathy intensifies. Meanwhile, the abbess begins to develop a fever and delirium. She sees hell, flames around her, and speaks of Suzanne with immeasurable love, idolizing her. She dies a few months later; Soon Sister Teresa also dies.

Suzanne is accused of bewitching the deceased abbess; her sorrows are renewed. The confessor convinces her to run away with him. On the way to Paris, he encroaches on her honor. In Paris, Suzanne lives in some kind of brothel for two weeks. Finally she escapes from there and manages to enter the service of a washerwoman. The work is hard, the food is bad, but the owners treat me well. The monk who kidnapped her has already been caught; he faces life in prison. Her escape is also known everywhere. Mr. Manuri is no longer there, she has no one to consult with, she lives in constant anxiety. She asks the Marquis de Croamard to help; she says that she just needs a job as a maid somewhere in the wilderness, in obscurity, with decent people.