Ideological Tensions in France: Structure Versus Content in Diderot’s Encyclopédie

• In Event: 078 - Section on Sociology of Culture Refereed Roundtable Session
  In Refereed Roundtable 100min: Table 07. Traditions, Ideologies, and Modernity

Abstract

In this paper, I argue that Denis Diderot’s Encyclopédie is a multidimensional cultural object, which exemplifies the tensions between shifting ideologies in pre-revolutionary France. The Encyclopédie was an enormous undertaking for Diderot and his fellow encyclopedists, and one that certainly revolutionized the use of reference books in multiple ways. The structure of the book itself inherently embodies core Enlightenment ideological beliefs: all knowledge is equalized by the alphabet, and is accessed through a complex cross-referencing system, essentially allowing readers to create their own understanding of the world. The content, though, is unreliable, and undermines the ideological claims that the structure of the work seeks to make. I argue that within and around this object exist tensions due to ideology, structure, and the actors involved in the producing and consuming of the text. These tensions, on all three levels, demonstrate the fragmentary nature of the ideological shift in France before the revolution. This case provides a useful example for examining the chaos involved in shifting dominant ideologies because this chaos is contained within the structure and content of the text itself. The example of the Encyclopédie demonstrates the usefulness of examining cultural objects that are produced during times of ideological shift, as it offers a microcosmic look into the intellectual underpinnings of this shift.

Author

• Emily Handsman, Northwestern University