Restif, Nicolas-Edme

Restif, Nicolas-Edme

▪ French author
byname  Restif De La Bretonne  
born Oct. 23, 1734, Sacy, near Auxerre, France
died Feb. 3, 1806, Paris
 French novelist whose works provide lively, detailed accounts of the sordid aspects of French life and society in the 18th century.

      After serving his apprenticeship as a printer in Auxerre, Restif went to Paris, where he eventually set the type for some of his own works—books long prized by collectors for their rarity, quaint typography, and beautiful and curious illustrations.

      His novels are rambling and carelessly written. While he parades his moralistic intentions and frequently airs his views on the reform of society, his preoccupation with eroticism, tinged with mysticism, has led to his being called “the Rousseau of the gutter.” The author's life formed the basis of much of his writing, as in La Vie de mon père (1779; My Father's Life), a vivid picture of peasant life. But in this work, as in his autobiography, Monsieur Nicolas (1794–97), much of which is set in the Parisian underworld, Restif's vivid imagination has rendered it difficult to separate fact from fiction. Restif left another record of his observation of Parisian life in his own day in Les Contemporaines (1780–85; “The Modern Women”), while Le Paysan perverti (1776; “The Corrupted [Male] Peasant”) and La Paysanne pervertie (1784; “The Corrupted [Female] Peasant”) develop the theme of the demoralization of virtuous country folk in the metropolis.

Additional Reading
Restif's multivolume autobiography is available in English as Monsieur Nicolas; or, The Human Heart Laid Bare, trans., ed., and abridged by Robert Baldick (1966). Analytical examinations of Restif's work include Charles A. Porter, Restif's Novels; or, An Autobiography in Search of an Author (1967); Mark Poster, The Utopian Thought of Restif de la Bretonne (1971); and David Coward, The Philosophy of Restif de la Bretonne (1991).

* * *


Universalium. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем написать реферат

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Nicolas Edme Restif de La Bretonne — Portrait de Nicolas Edme Restif de La Bretonne en 1785. Gravure de Berthet d après un dessin de Louis Binet, parue dans Le Drame …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Nicolas Edme Restif De La Bretonne — Portrait de Nicolas Edme Restif de La Bretonne en 1785 Autres noms …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Nicolas edme restif de la bretonne — Portrait de Nicolas Edme Restif de La Bretonne en 1785 Autres noms …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Nicolas Edme Restif de La Bretonne — Nicolas Edme Restif de la Bretonne. Rétif de la Bretonne auch Nicolas Edmonde Rétif (Restif) de La Bretonne (* 23. Oktober 1734 in Sacy bei Auxerre; † 3. Februar 1806 in Paris) war ein französischer Romancier und Wegbereiter des Verismus und Na …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Nicolas-Edme Retif de la Bretonne — Nicolas Edme Restif de la Bretonne. Rétif de la Bretonne auch Nicolas Edmonde Rétif (Restif) de La Bretonne (* 23. Oktober 1734 in Sacy bei Auxerre; † 3. Februar 1806 in Paris) war ein französischer Romancier und Wegbereiter des Verismus und Na …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Nicolas Edme Restif de la Bretonne — Nicolas Edme Restif de la Bretonne. Rétif de la Bretonne (auch Nicolas Edmonde Rétif [Restif] de La Bretonne; * 23. Oktober 1734 in Sacy bei Auxerre; † 3. Februar 1806 in Paris) war ein französischer Romancier und Wegbereiter des Verismus und …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Nicolas-Edme Rétif — or Nicolas Edme Restif (23 October 1734 – 2 February 1806), also known as Rétif de la Bretonne, was a French novelist. The term retifisme for shoe fetishism was named after him. Contents …   Wikipedia

  • Nicolás Edme Restif de la Bretonne — Nicolás Edme Restif de la Bretonne. Nicolás Edme Restif de la Bretonne (Sacy, 23 de octubre de 1734 París, 3 de febrero de 1806), escritor francés. Biografía Octavo hijo de un rico agricultor de Yonne, tenía una …   Wikipedia Español

  • Restif de la Bretonne — Nicolas Edme Restif de La Bretonne Nicolas Edme Restif de La Bretonne Portrait de Nicolas Edme Restif de La Bretonne en 1785 Autres noms …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Restif de la Bretonne — Nicolas Edme Restif de la Bretonne. Rétif de la Bretonne auch Nicolas Edmonde Rétif (Restif) de La Bretonne (* 23. Oktober 1734 in Sacy bei Auxerre; † 3. Februar 1806 in Paris) war ein französischer Romancier und Wegbereiter des Verismus und N …   Deutsch Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”