Nécessité romanesque et démantèlement de l'illusion dans la « Préface-Annexe » à La Religieuse de Diderot

What is it about?

Different editions of Diderot's novel La Religieuse have dealt in different ways with the Préface- Annexe, putting it either at the end or at the beginning of the novel itself . This article suggests that it is an integral part of the novel and that its logical place — and the place Diderot originally itended for it — is after the novel. Its main function is to provide both an acceptable ending to the story of Suzanne's misfortunes and a new external viewpoint which, while revealing the actual mechanics of the writing process and the author's emphasis on the creation of a pathetic atmosphere, reinforces the ideological message of the novel through the naturalisation of the social forces it depicts. The placing of the Préface-Annexe at the end forces the reader to make a second reading of the story which, while destroying the illusion of reality which the novel has created, brings to the foreground the aesthetic intention behind it.

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