Antoine Furetière (28 December 1619 – 14 May 1688)[1] was a French scholar, writer, and lexicographer, known best for his satirical novel Scarron's City Romance. He was expelled from the Académie Française for seeking to publish his own French language dictionary.
Furetière was born in Paris, the son of an employee of the royal household. He studied law and worked for a time as an attorney and tax assessor. Later he became a Catholic clergyman and, after various promotions, the abbé of Chalivoy in the diocese of Bourges in 1662. Thanks to the leisure he enjoyed as a clergyman, he was able to devote himself to writing.[1] He was admitted to the Académie Française in 1662 by virtue of his satireNouvelle allégorique, ou histoire des derniers troubles arrivés au royaume d'éloquence (1658), among other works.[2]
One of Furetière's most important literary works was Le Roman bourgeois (1666). This satirical novel described everyday life, especially within the legal profession, and ridiculed the fashionable romances of Madeleine de Scudéry[1] and of Gauthier de Costes, seigneur de la Calprenède. Because of its similarity to Paul Scarron's Le Roman comique (1651, 1657), it was translated into English as Scarron's City Romance in 1671. With a self-conscious narrator who comments on his techniques and disregards the conventions of the novel, it anticipates Laurence Sterne's Tristram Shandy (1759–1767).[3]
At its founding, the Académie Française had been entrusted with the task of producing a complete dictionary of the French language. Furetière initially participated in the collaborative project with enthusiasm, but eventually grew frustrated with his colleagues' approach and slow progress and began work on his own dictionary, probably around 1676–1678.[4] When members of the academy heard that Furetière was about to publish his dictionary, they interfered, alleging that he had stolen their material and violated the monopoly they had held on French dictionaries since 1672. In 1685, after fierce recrimination on both sides, Furetière was expelled from the academy, and the French government revoked his permission to publish the dictionary. In 1690, Furetière's Dictionaire universel was published posthumously in the Netherlands with a Preface prepared by his friend Pierre Bayle.[1]
^Walter W. Ross, "Antoine Furetière's Dictionnaire universel," in Notable Encyclopedias of the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries: Nine Predecessors of the Encyclopédie (Oxford: Voltaire Foundation, 1981), 53–54.
^Steven Moore, The Novel, An Alternative History: 1600–1800 (New York: Bloomsbury, 2013), 800 n.253.
^Alain Rey, "Antoine Furetière, imagier de la culture classique," vol. 1 of Le Dictionnaire universel d'Antoine Furetière, facsimile edition (Paris: SNL – Le Robert, 1978), 54.
antoine, furetière, december, 1619, 1688, french, scholar, writer, lexicographer, known, best, satirical, novel, scarron, city, romance, expelled, from, académie, française, seeking, publish, french, language, dictionary, born, 1619, december, 1619paris, franc. Antoine Furetiere 28 December 1619 14 May 1688 1 was a French scholar writer and lexicographer known best for his satirical novel Scarron s City Romance He was expelled from the Academie Francaise for seeking to publish his own French language dictionary Antoine FuretiereBorn 1619 12 28 28 December 1619Paris FranceDied14 May 1688 1688 05 14 aged 68 OccupationScholar writer Catholic clergymanNationalityFrenchBiography editFuretiere was born in Paris the son of an employee of the royal household He studied law and worked for a time as an attorney and tax assessor Later he became a Catholic clergyman and after various promotions the abbe of Chalivoy in the diocese of Bourges in 1662 Thanks to the leisure he enjoyed as a clergyman he was able to devote himself to writing 1 He was admitted to the Academie Francaise in 1662 by virtue of his satire Nouvelle allegorique ou histoire des derniers troubles arrives au royaume d eloquence 1658 among other works 2 One of Furetiere s most important literary works was Le Roman bourgeois 1666 This satirical novel described everyday life especially within the legal profession and ridiculed the fashionable romances of Madeleine de Scudery 1 and of Gauthier de Costes seigneur de la Calprenede Because of its similarity to Paul Scarron s Le Roman comique 1651 1657 it was translated into English as Scarron s City Romance in 1671 With a self conscious narrator who comments on his techniques and disregards the conventions of the novel it anticipates Laurence Sterne s Tristram Shandy 1759 1767 3 At its founding the Academie Francaise had been entrusted with the task of producing a complete dictionary of the French language Furetiere initially participated in the collaborative project with enthusiasm but eventually grew frustrated with his colleagues approach and slow progress and began work on his own dictionary probably around 1676 1678 4 When members of the academy heard that Furetiere was about to publish his dictionary they interfered alleging that he had stolen their material and violated the monopoly they had held on French dictionaries since 1672 In 1685 after fierce recrimination on both sides Furetiere was expelled from the academy and the French government revoked his permission to publish the dictionary In 1690 Furetiere s Dictionaire universel was published posthumously in the Netherlands with a Preface prepared by his friend Pierre Bayle 1 References edit a b c d Chisholm Hugh ed 1911 Furetiere Antoine Encyclopaedia Britannica Vol 11 11th ed Cambridge University Press p 357 Walter W Ross Antoine Furetiere s Dictionnaire universel in Notable Encyclopedias of the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries Nine Predecessors of the Encyclopedie Oxford Voltaire Foundation 1981 53 54 Steven Moore The Novel An Alternative History 1600 1800 New York Bloomsbury 2013 800 n 253 Alain Rey Antoine Furetiere imagier de la culture classique vol 1 of Le Dictionnaire universel d Antoine Furetiere facsimile edition Paris SNL Le Robert 1978 54 External links edit nbsp Wikisource has the text of a 1905 New International Encyclopedia article about Antoine Furetiere Works by Antoine Furetiere at Project Gutenberg Works by or about Antoine Furetiere at Internet Archive Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Antoine Furetiere amp oldid 1176607207, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
