Political and Affective Disagreement in Rabelais’s Fictional Worlds

• In Event: Reproach, Disagreement, Resistance in Literary Fictions

Abstract

The parliamentary and extra-parliamentary “remonstrance” was a form of political speech that allowed disagreement to be voiced in an institutionally guaranteed way, without expressing overt rebellion. This disagreement followed certain recognized rhetorical and ethical parameters that distinguished it from invective. Remonstrances could be voiced, following A. Tarrête’s categorization, in “descending” or “ascending” form, depending on the relative social status of the speaker and the addressee. My paper will elaborate a definition of the political remonstrance and measure the extent to which this form can be transferred to the “literary” sphere, that is, to fictions in which affective bonds seem to surpass the political. Do friends “remonstrate” each other, in fiction? How do lovers formulate disagreement? My examples will be taken primarily from the books of Rabelais.

Author

• Ullrich Langer, University of Wisconsin–Madison