A. Lewis, Sensibility, Reading and Illustration: Spectacles and Signs in Graffigny, Marivaux and Rousseau - Novel and Narrative Prose

French Literature Reviews - 2026

A. Lewis, Sensibility, Reading and Illustration: Spectacles and Signs in Graffigny, Marivaux and Rousseau
Novel and Narrative Prose

Ann Lewis, Sensibility, Reading and Illustration: Spectacles and Signs in Graffigny, Marivaux and Rousseau

Oxford: Legenda, 2009, 310 p.

  • ISBN-13: 9781905981960
  • Price: £45.00 ($89.50 US)

Publisher's description:

Eighteenth-century sensibilité has always been controversial. In fact, the term itself refers to complex forms of physical and emotional responsiveness, and Lewis's study investigates the fictional exploration of various key problems of sentimental response. These are analysed in conjunction with some of the actual (often emotional) reactions that the term, its fictions and images have provoked through time, including an indispensable survey of the varying construction of sensibilité as an object of study. Lewis provides a new reading of the theme of sensibility by analysing the 'textual images' in three best-selling novels from the mid-century: Graffigny's Lettres d'une Péruvienne, Marivaux's La Vie de Marianne and Rousseau's Julie. The examination of a largely neglected corpus of illustrations, understood as readings of each text, provides striking new evidence of the complexity, thematic richness and duplicity of these 'spectacles' and 'signs'.

Ann Lewis is a Lecturer in French at Birkbeck College, University of London.

This scholarly study investigates the complex forms of physical and emotional responsiveness central to eighteenth-century French literature and culture. Ann Lewis examines how mid-century fiction explores key problems of sentimental response, engaging with both the textual narratives and the historical reactions they provoked. By focusing on celebrated works of prose fiction, the volume situates itself within broader critical debates surrounding the aesthetics and ethics of sentiment during the Enlightenment.

A distinctive feature of the research is its analysis of a largely neglected corpus of contemporary illustrations, which function as critical readings of the original texts. These visual materials offer fresh perspectives on the thematic richness of works by Françoise de Graffigny, Pierre Carlet de Chamblain de Marivaux and Jean-Jacques Rousseau. The book will particularly benefit scholars and students of eighteenth-century French literature, narrative theory and the intersections between literature and visual culture.