Charles Sorel, Description de l'île de portraiture et de la ville des portraits

Martine Debaisieux (University of Wisconsin)

Ed. by Kathrina LaPorta, New York University
The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 1.5.2.03: French Writing and Culture of the Seventeenth Century: Classical and Baroque, 1600-1700.
Vol. editors: Heather Kirk (University of Western Ontario), Kathrina LaPorta (New York University), Polly Mangerson (DePaul University), Julia Prest (University of St Andrews), Allison Stedman (University of North Carolina, Charlotte), Tim Unwin (University of Bristol), David Williams (University of Sheffield)

Dates

First circulation or publication 1659 - 1659

Places

France (Country of Origin; Publication/ performance)

Genres and Modes

Novel

Resources

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When Charles Sorel published

Description de l’île de Portraiture et de la ville des Portraits

[Description of the Isle of Portraiture and of the City of Portraits] in 1659, he was known above all for his work as an innovative novelist. With his successful

Histoire comique de Francion

[

The Comical History of Francion

] (1623-33), Sorel had experimented with a narrative style that sought to break away from the “absurdités” [absurdities] and “aventures chimériques” [chimerical adventures] of traditional fiction

—

pastoral and heroic romances in particular. “La vraisemblance” [verisimilitude] and “le naturel” [naturalness] remain leading precepts in Sorel’s other two “histoires comiques” [comical histories]. Significantly retitled

L’Anti-roman

[

TheAnti-Romance

…

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3159 words

Citation: Debaisieux, Martine. "Description de l'île de portraiture et de la ville des portraits". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 13 May 2017 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=35718, accessed 19 April 2024.]

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