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Irony and ideology in rabelais. Structures of subversion
144
Beak Reviews
Some of the difficulties with individual texts obviously derive from their innovative quality. As preliminary analyses, and basic instructional manuals, they go in detail through every step, whereas the modern reader may instinctively jump to the solutions which are eventually proposed, more quickly if less analytically. Some of the problems can be ascribed to the fact that these are translations. One difficulty is grammatical: English is not a latinate language; its grammatical format is different, and to convey the Latin argument precisely often necessitates a mangling of the English language. This certainly serves to make the reader think, if only to try to break through the ambiguities which this procedure tends to generate; but the emergency stop which that imposes on thought processes can be counter-productive. Too often nuances have to be excavated from obscure grammatical constructions (without any guarantee of correct nnderstanding), to the detriment of a developing argument. Other difficulties are caused by the words used by the translators. ‘Something’ does not mean the same as ‘Some (= a particular) thing’; ‘risible’ may mean ‘capable of laughter’ (which is the first definition in the OED), but a contemporary understanding is more likely to be ‘ludicrous’, not necessarily something which is considered an exclusive aspect of humanity. It is difficult, in the end, to know precisely what to make of this compilation. It certainly has its uses, and illustrates-and illuminates-the development of linguistic logic in the period. But when all is said and done, the assumption that the texts will be used in parallel with the major synthesis is a weakness, because it posits a symbiosis which does not in fact exist. Without more detailed commentary, these texts can only stand as illustrations of strands, rather than discussions which have a self-evident importance. It is to be hoped that future volumes will cater more for the needs of users, and produce selections which do not leave the reader wondering how it all fits together. R.N. Swanson
hny and ~d~ol~~y in Rabelais. ~tr~t~es of subvers~~, Jerome Schwartz, Cambridge Studies in French (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1990), viii + 251 pp., E30.00, US$49.50 H/b. Reading Rabelais is always a pleasing, if taxing, process. Much of the humour can be immediately appreciated, but much more needs skiff& expianatiou. Critics in the present century have, as Schwartz highlights, found themselves between the two extremes of the investigative historical approach and that of aesthetic formalism. The critic’s wish to convince either her/himself or/and the reader of the rightness of the approach has led to the emergence of a Rabelais whom they have sought to categorise and, if necessary, to emasculate to fit in with their own ideology or thesis. Yet, most readers of the Pantagruei saga are conscious of the enigmatic, and hermetic, nature of the text: aware of the inconsistencies that one particular interpretation can emphasise. Jerome Schwartz has adopted a perspective for looking at the ~abelaisian corpus which ‘avoids the danger of reducing the text either to a single ideological reading, or to a reading that posits an author having at al1 times recoverable intentions and meanings to convey’ (p. 2). He has limited the study to the first four books and has followed a logical and
Book Reviews
145
somewhat traditionai line of attack. The books are studied in order of composition, each chapter being divided up into sahent ideological areas. Gurgu~j~~, for example, has sections on ‘The prologue, genealogy, Gargantua’s birth, his device, the colour symbolism, old versus new education, the Picrocholine war, the Abbey ofTh&eme’, i.e. the old and familiar chestnuts which have been the source of considerable discussion over the last few decades. Although the structure of this study may appear familiar, the text is full of illuminating and perceptive remarks. In Puntagruel, Schwartz sees Panurge as Pantagruel’s ironic Doppelgiinger (p. 27) and ‘the subversive deviant who is the instrument and metaphor of Rabelais’s challenge to the dominant ideologies, the established hierarchies and authorities and their spokesmen’ (p. 41). I particularly liked his analysis of the liminary texts for the Tiers Livre and the @art Lime which are so open to different interpretations. He brings out well the irony of the prologue to the Tiers Livre, showing how it is ‘associated with intellectual and moral freedom from established models of thought’ (P. 99). Schwartz’s method involves the constant juxtaposition of conflictual materialintra- and extratextual, as the case may be-and he uses the work of other scholars with all due reverence. He illustrates repeatedly how it is impossible to discover Rabelais’s ‘univocity’, the text of the Rabelaisian corpus contains so many ironic and subversive elements that no clear picture of Rabelais’s ideological position appears. The ‘contradictions’ are not necessarily of a purely ideological nature, but rather, come from the author’s style of writing. What should have been stressed is that Rabelais was above all a humourist and humourists have a way of distancing themselves from the surrounding society. Their main aim is to amuse and, in their desire to do so, they can often sacrifice ideological consistency. Schwartz believes that ‘in Rabelais’s ease, strategies of subversion and obliqueness may well have been his chief means of distancing himself not only from the ideology of his protestors and patrons, but also from the philosophical, theological and epistemological paradigms of medieval discourse’ (p. 200). This, then, is a study which needed to be undertaken. It indicates the need for the moderate, reasoned and well-balanced approach to Rabelaisian studies, Rahelais is complex and there is no quick way of explaining his work. Jerome Schwartz’s book will be of great comfort and help to many readers of Rabelais, whether they be readers of the original text or not, for virtually all the quotations are also given in translation. Keith Cameron
Humanism in Renaissance Scotland, ed. John University Press, 1990), ix + 199 pp., E25.00.
MacQueen
(Edinburgh:
Edinburgh
A book of nine essays on this topic may surprise Europeans who see humanism in terms of Italy and France; and possibly some Scottish scholars who only Scotland and Geneva know. But it might be recalled that the Italian humanist Aeneas Sylvius Piccolomini (later Pope Pius II) thought that, while visiting Scotland in 1435, he might find lost works by Livy in the library on the island of Iona. Topically, Scats seeking to put Scotland firmly in Europe without English domination, may appreciate the stress on past continental
Beak Reviews
Some of the difficulties with individual texts obviously derive from their innovative quality. As preliminary analyses, and basic instructional manuals, they go in detail through every step, whereas the modern reader may instinctively jump to the solutions which are eventually proposed, more quickly if less analytically. Some of the problems can be ascribed to the fact that these are translations. One difficulty is grammatical: English is not a latinate language; its grammatical format is different, and to convey the Latin argument precisely often necessitates a mangling of the English language. This certainly serves to make the reader think, if only to try to break through the ambiguities which this procedure tends to generate; but the emergency stop which that imposes on thought processes can be counter-productive. Too often nuances have to be excavated from obscure grammatical constructions (without any guarantee of correct nnderstanding), to the detriment of a developing argument. Other difficulties are caused by the words used by the translators. ‘Something’ does not mean the same as ‘Some (= a particular) thing’; ‘risible’ may mean ‘capable of laughter’ (which is the first definition in the OED), but a contemporary understanding is more likely to be ‘ludicrous’, not necessarily something which is considered an exclusive aspect of humanity. It is difficult, in the end, to know precisely what to make of this compilation. It certainly has its uses, and illustrates-and illuminates-the development of linguistic logic in the period. But when all is said and done, the assumption that the texts will be used in parallel with the major synthesis is a weakness, because it posits a symbiosis which does not in fact exist. Without more detailed commentary, these texts can only stand as illustrations of strands, rather than discussions which have a self-evident importance. It is to be hoped that future volumes will cater more for the needs of users, and produce selections which do not leave the reader wondering how it all fits together. R.N. Swanson
hny and ~d~ol~~y in Rabelais. ~tr~t~es of subvers~~, Jerome Schwartz, Cambridge Studies in French (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1990), viii + 251 pp., E30.00, US$49.50 H/b. Reading Rabelais is always a pleasing, if taxing, process. Much of the humour can be immediately appreciated, but much more needs skiff& expianatiou. Critics in the present century have, as Schwartz highlights, found themselves between the two extremes of the investigative historical approach and that of aesthetic formalism. The critic’s wish to convince either her/himself or/and the reader of the rightness of the approach has led to the emergence of a Rabelais whom they have sought to categorise and, if necessary, to emasculate to fit in with their own ideology or thesis. Yet, most readers of the Pantagruei saga are conscious of the enigmatic, and hermetic, nature of the text: aware of the inconsistencies that one particular interpretation can emphasise. Jerome Schwartz has adopted a perspective for looking at the ~abelaisian corpus which ‘avoids the danger of reducing the text either to a single ideological reading, or to a reading that posits an author having at al1 times recoverable intentions and meanings to convey’ (p. 2). He has limited the study to the first four books and has followed a logical and
Book Reviews
145
somewhat traditionai line of attack. The books are studied in order of composition, each chapter being divided up into sahent ideological areas. Gurgu~j~~, for example, has sections on ‘The prologue, genealogy, Gargantua’s birth, his device, the colour symbolism, old versus new education, the Picrocholine war, the Abbey ofTh&eme’, i.e. the old and familiar chestnuts which have been the source of considerable discussion over the last few decades. Although the structure of this study may appear familiar, the text is full of illuminating and perceptive remarks. In Puntagruel, Schwartz sees Panurge as Pantagruel’s ironic Doppelgiinger (p. 27) and ‘the subversive deviant who is the instrument and metaphor of Rabelais’s challenge to the dominant ideologies, the established hierarchies and authorities and their spokesmen’ (p. 41). I particularly liked his analysis of the liminary texts for the Tiers Livre and the @art Lime which are so open to different interpretations. He brings out well the irony of the prologue to the Tiers Livre, showing how it is ‘associated with intellectual and moral freedom from established models of thought’ (P. 99). Schwartz’s method involves the constant juxtaposition of conflictual materialintra- and extratextual, as the case may be-and he uses the work of other scholars with all due reverence. He illustrates repeatedly how it is impossible to discover Rabelais’s ‘univocity’, the text of the Rabelaisian corpus contains so many ironic and subversive elements that no clear picture of Rabelais’s ideological position appears. The ‘contradictions’ are not necessarily of a purely ideological nature, but rather, come from the author’s style of writing. What should have been stressed is that Rabelais was above all a humourist and humourists have a way of distancing themselves from the surrounding society. Their main aim is to amuse and, in their desire to do so, they can often sacrifice ideological consistency. Schwartz believes that ‘in Rabelais’s ease, strategies of subversion and obliqueness may well have been his chief means of distancing himself not only from the ideology of his protestors and patrons, but also from the philosophical, theological and epistemological paradigms of medieval discourse’ (p. 200). This, then, is a study which needed to be undertaken. It indicates the need for the moderate, reasoned and well-balanced approach to Rabelaisian studies, Rahelais is complex and there is no quick way of explaining his work. Jerome Schwartz’s book will be of great comfort and help to many readers of Rabelais, whether they be readers of the original text or not, for virtually all the quotations are also given in translation. Keith Cameron
Humanism in Renaissance Scotland, ed. John University Press, 1990), ix + 199 pp., E25.00.
MacQueen
(Edinburgh:
Edinburgh
A book of nine essays on this topic may surprise Europeans who see humanism in terms of Italy and France; and possibly some Scottish scholars who only Scotland and Geneva know. But it might be recalled that the Italian humanist Aeneas Sylvius Piccolomini (later Pope Pius II) thought that, while visiting Scotland in 1435, he might find lost works by Livy in the library on the island of Iona. Topically, Scats seeking to put Scotland firmly in Europe without English domination, may appreciate the stress on past continental