The old and new regime in manuscript research

Tekst Nathalie Ferrand jest wprowadzeniem do numeru 34 "Genesis" (2012) zatytułowanego Brouillons des Lumières. Z fr. tłum.: Dębowski Marek

The article attempts to outline the history of French genetic research upon 18th-century manuscript collections. Contrary to the stereotypical view of the 18th century as a period when manuscripts were allegedly destroyed in order to hide evidence of the painstaking execution of the fi nal version of a work, this epoch did leave us manuscripts, frequently full of corrections, which suggest that the Enlightenment thought and literature kept searching and experimenting. The Enlightenment philosophical and political concepts had undergone many stages before they adopted the shape we are familiar with. Thanks to the existence of their preliminary, draft versions, enlightenment novels, theatrical plays and poems provide an opportunity to observe the whole process of creation. The fascinating workshop of enlightenment drafts and subsequent versions of written works shows an area of literary and philosophical work marked by aesthetic and ideological confl icts, which shook the authors in their process of artistic creation.