Nicolas Restif de la Bretonne

Peter Wagstaff (University of Bath)
Download PDF Add to Bookshelf Report an Error

Nicolas Restif de la Bretonne witnessed and drew inspiration from some of the most significant and dramatic transformations of eighteenth-century France. In nearly 250 volumes of novels, plays, essays, reforming projects and utopian tales he captured a society and a culture on the brink of modernity. An acute and critical observer of the world around him, he was equally perceptive in the examination of his own thoughts and feelings, insisting, like his near-contemporary Jean-Jacques Rousseau, on the interpenetration of his life and his writing, and thus helping to lay the foundations for the modern genre of autobiography. By turns realist and fantasist, he saw his writing as a means to record, regret and, finally, escape the impact of a rapidly-changing world. In thinly-veiled…

2281 words

Citation: Wagstaff, Peter. "Nicolas Restif de la Bretonne". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 21 December 2005 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=3751, accessed 28 March 2024.]

3751 Nicolas Restif de la Bretonne 1 Historical context notes are intended to give basic and preliminary information on a topic. In some cases they will be expanded into longer entries as the Literary Encyclopedia evolves.

Save this article

If you need to create a new bookshelf to save this article in, please make sure that you are logged in, then go to your 'Account' here

Leave Feedback

The Literary Encyclopedia is a living community of scholars. We welcome comments which will help us improve.