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Les bruits de la nuit dans la fiction érotique des Lumières, ou les résonances de l’ombre
No full textNighttime serving as a shelter to forbidden liaisons is a well-known topos. However, 18th-century libertine fiction reminds us that whilst darkness can conceal bodies, it also forces those it hides to be silent. Nighttime amplifies the slightest sound which can betray clandestine lovers. That libertine topos of night disclosing (rather than dissimulating) erotic secrets bears witness to the Age of Enlightenment’s positive reconfiguration of noise as a sign of human vitality. Crucially, this topos also illustrates the difficulty of silencing desire. As a result, nighttime emerges from this topos as full of sounds rather than as silent, while pleasures appear to be painfully constrained, even for libertines.La nuit servant de refuge aux liaisons interdites de jour est un topos reconnu. Pourtant, si les ténèbres dissimulent les corps, la littérature libertine du XVIIIe siècle nous rappelle qu’elles les soumettent aussi à une dure loi du silence. Le moindre bruit peut trahir les amants clandestins ; or, la nuit amplifie les résonances. Ce topos libertin de la nuit révélant (plutôt que dissimulant) les secrets érotiques exprime une nouvelle conception du bruit comme manifestation de la vitalité humaine au siècle des Lumières. Il illustre surtout la difficulté de réduire au silence la force vitale du désir. La nuit émerge de ce topos comme bien moins silencieuse que bruyante, et les plaisirs comme bien peu libres au temps des libertins
Chant, cri et aphasie dans la rhétorique sentimentale de Jean-Claude Gorgy (1753-1795)
No full textIf singing is made of emotion, according to Rousseau (Dictionnaire de musique), Jean-Claude Gorjy, successful sentimental author of the end of the 18th century, made it the foundation of an aesthetic narrowly linked to nature. True process of writing in his novels, singing songs, ariettas and complaints co-exist in perfect harmony with a sensible romanesque discourse. Singing being linked to the experience of life, Gorjy also sees in it the expression of popular morale, rustic and generous. Dreaming of bringing back men to the virtues of singing, the novelist gives to the singing expression a political value under the French Revolution. Si le chant est constitutif de l’émotion, selon Rousseau (Dictionnaire de musique), Jean-Claude Gorjy, auteur sentimental à succès de la fin du XVIIIe siècle, en fait le fondement d’une esthétique étroitement liée à la nature. Véritable procédé d’écriture dans ses romans, les chansons à boire, ariettes et complaintes coexistent parfaitement avec un discours romanesque sensible. Le chant étant lié avec l’expérience de la vie, Gorjy y voit aussi l’expression d’une morale populaire, rustique et généreuse. Rêvant de ramener les hommes à la vertu par le chant, le romancier donne à l’expression chantée une valeur politique sous la Révolution française
The Resilience of Russian Women in Revolutionary Russia
No full textDuring a small window after the Bolshevik Revolution, from 1917 to the mid 1920’s, women in Russia experienced greater freedoms and gender equality than many other women in the Western World. This essay explores the variety of female roles in Russia leading up to the Revolution and throughout the interwar period to evaluate what influences they had over their newfound freedoms. It also highlights the achievements of Alexandra Kollontai, the Marxist theoretician who worked with Vladimir Lenin to improve legislation for female autonomy in domestic, social, and political life. I argue that women – particularly working-class women – were instrumental in the revolution, but that women’s rights and advocacy differed along class lines
FM 3-24 and Religious Literacy in American Military Operations in the Middle East
No full textIn August 2021, the Taliban’s success in Afghanistan shocked American citizens and foreign policy analysts. Many counterinsurgency experts sought to explain this phenomenon by focusing on tactical and strategic military failures; however, such explanations often neglected to investigate the religious literacy of American troops engaged in counterinsurgency operations in the Middle East. By considering the treatment of religious literacy in General David Petraeus’s landmark field manual, FM 3-24, a startling degree of religious illiteracy is revealed within counterinsurgency operational protocols. While a historically and culturally focused “civilizational approach” is often proposed by foreign policy analysts as a potential solution to the problem of religious illiteracy in counterinsurgency operations, this approach also falls short of addressing the complex realities that confront American “liberators,” whom locals often perceive to be foreign invaders. This article therefore addresses the disconnect between American military strategy, foreign policy, and the tactical realities encountered by military personnel stationed in the Middle East. Resultantly, this article argues that improved mandatory religious literacy training for American troops is critical not only for conducting successful operations in the Middle East but also for ending, rather than reinvigorating, conflicts abroad
