At the origin of Stendhal's realism: the genesis of a new literary trend.

Abstract

This research in genetic criticism in the field of French literature aims at studying the construction of a theory of the subject. It will be carried out through the analysis of exercise books and original bundles of drafts entitled Pensées (Thoughts), Pensées diverses (Diverse Thoughts), Pensées de Paris (Thoughts of Paris) or even Pensées sur différents sujets (Thoughts on various topics), written by Stendhal between 1801 and 1804, as well as through the sketches of an unfinished philosophical treaty entitled Filosofia Nova, which he wrote in mid-1804 and in which he tried to gather, to test and to order the results of his reflections. During this period, considered by critics as a period of training characterized as such by an intense activity of reading, studying, reflection and observation turned towards the invention of a new literature, Stendhal defines his vision of man on which he will build his work to come, introducing in the history of literature the "subjective realism" which critics attribute to him. Our research will consist in tracing and studying the works of all the essayists, the thinkers and the philosophers commented upon by Stendhal so as to understand how he has a dialogue with these authors through what he writes in his exercise books and how he appropriates the ideas gathered from the most diverse sources in order to elaborate gradually a new aesthetics which will come to transform the panorama of literature in France and in the rest of the world. Stendhal's "subjective realism" will have a considerable influence on Machado de Assis in particular and, and through Machado, on the history of the Brazilian literature at large.