Anticipating Jean-Jacques Rousseau: the state of nature in the novel ‟Letters from a Peruvian Woman” by Madame de Graffigny (1747)

The article deals with the novel ‟Letters from a Peruvian Woman” (Lettres d'une Péruvienne, 1747) by Madame de Graffigny, which anticipates many ideas of Jean-Jacques Rousseau, including the notion of state of nature. The main character, a young Peruvian woman, who was taken away to France, embodies the concept of the ‟noble savage”. Unlike civilised Europeans she has high moral qualities, critically evaluates the institutions and customs of her time, and she aspires to the state of nature, though knowledge about this world did not make her happy. Madame de Graffigny uses the Peruvian theme according to the general interest in the age of Enlightenment in the Inca Empire, which was considered as idyllic society, organised under the laws of nature. She tries, like Jean-Jacques Rousseau, to display merits of savages and demerits of civilised Europeans. The intellectual influence of Madame de Graffigny and Jean-Jacques Rousseau on each other is confirmed by their personal contacts. As a result, we claim that the novel ‟Letters from a Peruvian Woman” was influenced by advanced philosophical ideas of the mid-18thcentury – this text stands at the origins of the concept of the ‟state of nature”, which eventually became one of the main terms of Rousseauism.

The language of the empire and the image of the "noble savage" in French travel essays of the second half of the 18th century

В статье рассмотрен образ «благородного дикаря» на примере очерков о кругосветных плаваниях – «Кругосветном путешествии на фрегате “Будёз” и транспорте “Этуаль”» Луи Антуана де Бугенвиля и «Путешествии по всему миру на “Буссоли” и “Астролябии”» Жан-Франсуа де Лаперуза. Показано, как межкультурный контакт привел к возникновению шаблонов восприятия европейцами «других» народов. Отмечено, что эти очерки способствовали определению места и роли европейцев в мире. Данный шаблон включал как положительные, так и отрицательные элементы. Империя могла извлекать пользу из романтизированного образа «благородного дикаря», тем самым стимулируя новые колониальные захваты. В то же время на практике европейцы находили варваров агрессивными, лживыми и недалекими. Автор приходит к выводу, что межкультурный диалог, показанный во французских очерках о кругосветных путешествиях второй половины XVIII в., вряд ли можно назвать успешным, так как эти травелоги привели к возникновению очередного шаблона, рассматривающего «других» сквозь высоту европейского знания, основанного на привычной для европейского мира системе ценностей. In the article we use the round-the-world travel essays "Around-the-world trip on the frigate "Boudez" and the transport" Etoile" by Louis Antoine de Bougainville and "Travel all over the world to "Bussoli" and "Astrolabe" by Jean- Francois de La Perouse to show the image of the "noble savage". These travelogues show that the intercultural contact led to the emergence of patterns of perception of "Others" by Europeans. It is noted that travelogues contributed to self-examination and determined the place and the role of Europeans in the world. Moreover, this pattern includes positive and negative elements as well. The empire could have a benefit from a romanticized image of the "noble savage" thereby stimulating new colonial conquests. At the same time, travel essays could contradict the Enlightenment ideas, when Europeans found barbarians to be aggressive, deceitful and dimwitted. The purpose of this study is to consider the problematic aspects of describing "Others" and to define the role of travelogues in imperial politics. We will argue that the intercultural dialogue shown in French round-the-world travel essays of the second half of the 18th century can hardly be called successful. These travelogues led to the appearance of fascinating pattern of "other". That pattern looked at the “others” through the European knowledge based on system of values typical for the European world.

«You saved her life and she adores you for it»: la buena salvaje en el melodrama inglés de los 1860

El origen del personaje tipo del buen salvaje o «noble savage» se remonta a 1672, cuando John Dryden atribuyó cierta cualidad de pureza o libertad al salvaje que vivía ajeno a la civilización. Más adelante, el filósofo francés Jean Jacques Rousseau (1754), definió al buen salvaje como un ser inocente y no corrupto. Aunque el buen salvaje ha sido principalmente representado como hombre, también existen figuras femeninas que siguen el mismo patrón. El presente artículo pretende arrojar luz sobre la representación de la buena salvaje en el teatro de sensaciones o «sensation drama» de Londres a mediados del siglo XIX. Tras revisar la figura del buen salvaje, sus alternativas femeninas y su consiguiente iconografía, se ofrecen dos estudios de caso: Cahontas, the Delaware’s Daughter (1860) y The Prairie Flower (1860). Las protagonistas de estas obras de ambientación western nos permitirán explorar la representación y percepción pública de la buena salvaje.

To Reveal the Caucasus Cultures of XIX Century: Orientalism in Russian Caucasus War Period Travelogues

The paper is concerned with the issue of textual visualisation of Caucasus in Russian travelogues performed in 1820-1830th – the decades of the Caucasus War escalation. Taken as example entries from the travelogues of I.T. Radojitsky and V.B. Bronevsky published in Russian Empire in early XIX c., the authors show deep connections of the outlook on the region and people inhabited it with the foundation of the Orientalism as an approach to describing native people of the Imperial frontier.The research underlines the importance of scrutinised study of travellers experience they endured on voyages by the Caucasus in deep connection with the political course on “pacifying” the region, proclaimed by the Imperial authorities. Racy images of the Cossacks, Russian settlers, native peoples and “unpacified” highlanders were performed in order to legislate the Imperial annexation of lands and their acquisition by Russian civilisation. Together with the motives of showing huge contrast between the pastoral life of Russian peasants and towns dwellers with the backwardness of the natives, matched the common ideas of European colonialism, the authors show public awareness of the “unpacified” highlanders expressed by the travellers in the image of “a Circassian”. We traced features of Russian literature Romanticism in the travellers depicture of a Highlander as a “noble savage” did for a living by robs and plunders. The authors came to the conclusions that images, elaborated by Russian travellers and righters were utter vivid and influenced on the perception of the region by Russian layman until the early XX c.The paper is concerned with the issue of textual visualisation of Caucasus in Russian travelogues performed in 1820-1830-th. – the decades of the Caucasus War escalation. Taken as example entries from the travelogues of I.T. Radojitsky and V.B. Bronevsky published in Russian Empire in early XIX c., the authors show deep connections of the outlook on the region and people inhabited it with the foundation of the Orientalism as an approach to describing native people of the Imperial frontier. The research underlines the importance of scrutinised study of travellers experience they endured on voyages by the Caucasus in deep connection with the political course on “pacifying” the region, proclaimed by the Imperial authorities. Racy images of the Cossacks, Russian settlers, native peoples and “unpacified” highlanders were performed in order to legislate the Imperial annexation of lands and their acquisition by Russian civilisation. Together with the motives of showing huge contrast between the pastoral life of Russian peasants and towns dwellers with the backwardness of the natives, matched the common ideas of European colonialism, the authors show public awareness of the “unpacified” highlanders expressed by the travellers in the image of “a Circassian”. We traced features of Russian literature Romanticism in the travellers depicture of a Highlander as a “noble savage” did for a living by robs and plunders. The authors came to the conclusions that images, elaborated by Russian travellers and righters were utter vivid and influenced on the perception of the region by Russian layman until the early XX c.

Operationalizing Peirce’s Syllabus in terms of icons and stereotypes

Peirce’s Syllabus is examined and used to interpret metaphoric iconic stereotypes applied to Indigenous people: “noble savage,” “bloodthirsty savage,” “domestic dependent nation,” “vanishing race,” “Indian tribe,” and “ecological Indian.” Efforts on the part of the Indigenous to replace the these stereotypes with different icons such as “Native American,” “First Nations,” and, most recently, “water protectors,” are also examined. The usefulness of representamen categories from Peirce’s Syllabus, “rhematic,” “Argument,” “dicent,” “indexical,” “qualisign,” “legisign,” and “sinsign,” is demonstrated. Greimas’ observations about the functions of modalities are brought in to explain how graphic images and portraiture, fictional and memoir narratives, legal discourses, and popular media representations implement various sections of the Syllabus. Putting Peirce’s Syllabus into action confirms its ability to perform dynamic, diachronic, and diagrammatic functions.