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Freedom in Middle French Enlightenment : Interpreted Through a Picturesque Garden

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Freedom in Middle French Enlightenment : Interpreted Through a Picturesque Garden University of Louisville ThinkIR: The University of Louisville's Institutional Repository Electronic Theses and Dissertations 8-2010 Freedom in middle French Enlightenment : interpreted through a picturesque garden. Ning Jia 1977- University of Louisville Follow this and additional works at: https://ir.library.louisville.edu/etd Recommended Citation Jia, Ning 1977-, "Freedom in middle French Enlightenment : interpreted through a picturesque garden." (2010). Electronic Theses and Dissertations. Paper 687. https://doi.org/10.18297/etd/687 This Doctoral Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by ThinkIR: The University of Louisville's Institutional Repository. It has been accepted for inclusion in Electronic Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of ThinkIR: The University of Louisville's Institutional Repository. This title appears here courtesy of the author, who has retained all other copyrights. For more information, please contact [email protected]. FREEDOM IN MIDDLE FRENCH ENLIGHTENMENT: INTERPRETED THROUGH A PICTURESQUE GARDEN By Ning Jia B.A., Shandong University, 2000 M.A., Beijing Foreign Studies University, 2003 A Dissertation Submitted to the Faculty of the Graduate School of the University of Louisville in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy Department of Humanities University of Louisville Louisville, Kentucky August 2010 ------- Copyright 2010 by Ning Jia All rights reserved FREEDOM IN MIDDLE FRENCH ENLIGHTENMENT: INTERPRETED THROUGH A PICTURESQUE GARDEN By NingJia B.A., Shandong University, 2000 M.A., Beijing Foreign Studies University, 2003 A Dissertation Approved on July 27, 2010 by the following Dissertation Committee: Dissertation Director ii DEDICATION This dissertation is dedicated to my family, the handsome and the lovely. iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS First of all, I would like to thank Prof. Osborne P. Wiggins, my major professor, for his constant and insightful support for my project. But for his encouragement and valuable advice, the writing of this dissertation would be much more difficult and unbearable. He embodies a perfect combination of scholarly expertise and inspiring instruction, and is a model for a marvelous professor and mentor. I would also like to thank my other committee members for their help and advice. Dr. Annette Allen is always ready to help in whatever ways I ask. Her love of poetry demonstrates to me the special charm of art and literature, and facilitates a proper understanding of the materials I cover in my project. I am also enormously indebted to Dr. Delin Lai, whose expertise in architecture and aesthetics is irreplaceable for the completion of my project. His comments always shed light on aspects I original ignore. I am grateful to Prof. Mark E. Blum, who gave me helpful suggestions in our conversations about my project. I also benefited a fortune from Prof. Elaine O. Wise and Dr. Pamela Beattie, whose lectures provide me with critical knowledge about the early days of the western culture and therefore are indispensible to the conception of my dissertation. iv ABSTRACT FREEDOM IN MIDDLE FRENCH ENLIGHTENMENT: INTERPRETED THROUGH A PICTURESQUE GARDEN NingJia July 27,2010 Freedom is a critical concept that helps shape the discourse of modern society and corresponding thoughts about people's private, public, cultural and spiritual lives. Standing at the fountainhead of the modern era, the Enlightenment was a critical period when this concept was defined, analyzed and debated in modern terminology with modern questions directed at modern problems. However, despite its importance, scholars in the twentieth century have disagreed about what to make of the Enlightenment liberal tradition. What was not fully discussed were the cultural sentiments and artistic expressions that interacted with the intellectual and political domains. To complement this, this dissertation examines a French picturesque garden which is a typical manifestation of the social and cultural spirits of middle French Enlightenment, and which facilitates understanding of the connotations and features of the concept of freedom. The dissertation adopts a three-layered structure: analysis of the garden, the cultural ideas reflected in the garden, and the concept of freedom constructed in this v cultural background. Each layer is based on findings from the previous one, and elevates the discussion on the garden to the cultural and then the political levels. Specifically, the first two chapters are preparatory chapters that provide background information about the garden and the cultural trends at the time under discussion. Chapter I introduces the garden, its owner and his social circle. Chapter II examines the cultural background by way of a discussion of the competing ideas of aesthetics. Each of the next three chapters is devoted to one outstanding feature observed from the garden that bears a critical relationship to the concept of freedom. Chapter III deals with the epistemological and teleological dimensions of the passion for nature in its natural form. Chapter IV discusses the urge to embrace "all times and places". Chapter V takes up the representation of "otherness" and its implication for the concept of freedom. Chapter VI concludes the dissertation. vi TABLE OF CONTENTS PAGE ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ....................................................................................................... .lV ABSTRACT .............................. ......v LIST OF FIGURES. ....................................................................................... IX CHAPTER INTRODUCTION ... ........................................................ 1 Significance of dissertation ............................................................................................ 1 Content, research questions and methodology ... The metamorphosis of freedom as a concept .................... 4 Evaluation of French Enlightenment in the 20th century. ....... ... ... ... ..... ............13 Desert de Retz: a garden of all times and places .. ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... .............. 19 I. DESERT DE RETZ ...................................................................................................... .29 II. CHANGING TIDES OF AESTHETICS ...................... 53 III. GARDEN OF RESURRECTED NATURE AND RECONSTRUCTED FREEDOM ..... .......................................................................................................... ~ Desert de Retz: A garden of nature ..................................................................... 92 Sentimental representation of nature as social ethos in eighteenth-century France ......................................................................................................................... 105 Philosophical background of French ideas on nature and natural law. ......... 111 French Enlightenment: evolution of the concept of Freedom ..................... 116 IV. GARDEN OF ALL TIMES AND PLACES AND USEFUL FREEDOM ..... 137 vii Fabriques of "all times and places" ... .............................. 137 Embracing "all times and places": intellectual impulse in France since mid eighteenth century.. .......................... 152 Implication of this changed world view for the concept of freedom ............ 165 V. GARDEN OF IMAGINED OTHERNESS AND SELF-CENTERED FREEDOM ....................... 175 Historical Other: the Broken Column ........................... 176 Geographical Other: the Chinese House ... ..................... 183 Implication of the "Other" for freedom .. ............................ 200 CONCLUSION ... REFERENCES ... CURRICULUM VITA ..... .......222 viii LIST OF FIGURES FIGURE PAGE 1. Surrealists posing at the gate of Desert de Retz, 1960 ... ........................ 29 2. Broken Column ... ......................... 33 3. Parc de Ermenonville ... .......................... .35 4. The ornamental dairy and the Marlborough tower at Petit Trianon ............. 35 5. Chinese pavilion of Cas san ........ ....36 6. Pagoda at Chanteloup ........ ...38 7. Pond with Roman columns in Parc Monceau ... .......................... 38 8. Louis-Philippe II, Duc d'Orleans . ......................... 42 9. Madame du Barry. ........................... 44 10. The Bathing Pool by Hubert Robert ... • •••••••••••••• H •••• 45 11. Cenotaph for Newton, proposed design by Etienne-Louis Boullee .. .... ..46 12. The Pyramid Icehouse: after and before renovation .51 13. Alexander Pope's garden at Twicken- ham, plan by John Searle ............................ 83 14. Plan of Desert de Retz. Engraving by Le Rouge. ....................... 93 15. Plans of Versailles and Paris in 1789 ... ........................... 93 16. View of garden from the chateau at Versailles .... ...... ................. 94 17. View of garden looking back at the chateau at Versailles 94 18. View of the Broken Column. Photo by Michael Kenna .95 ix 19. View of the Broken Column ..95 20. View from window of Broken Column .. .97 21. Open-air theater. Engraving by Le Rouge.... ................. 97 22. Broken Column of Desert de Retz. Engraving by Le Rouge... .... 98 23. Grotto Entrance of Desert de Retz. Engraving by Le Rouge.. ..................... 98 24. Grotto entry. Engraving by Le Rouge .. ...l39 25. Satyr and Bacchante, by Claude Michel, known as Clodion.. .. ..139 26. Pan and Syrinx, by Francois Boucher... ................. 139 27. Broken Column House. Photo by Marion Brenner... ....................... 141 28. Temple of Pan .142 29. Little Altar.
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