Тhe peculiarities of autobiographism in “Мon Рortrait” of J.-J. Rousseau

Abstract

A little-known work by J. –J. Rousseau «Mon portrait» is taken into consideration in the following article. The aim is to discover the features of autobiographism of «Mon portrait» and trace their implementation in the subsequent autobiographical artistic works by Rousseau - «Confessions» (1765-1770), «Dialogues: Rousseau, Judge of Jean-Jacques» (1774-1776) и «Reveries of the Solitary Walker» (1776-1778). The term autobiographism is interpreted on the basis of L. Ginzburg's approach: as a form of auto-interpretation and as an artistic way of self-representation.

«Mon portrait» is one of the first attempts of artistic self-representation, which is carried out in the genre of self-portrait. In this unfinished work Rousseau raises questions that will become crucial in his autobiographism: the adequacy of the verbally created image to the original, the poor person’s right of personal individuality and the revision of the established traditions of aristocratic society, solitude as a desired thing and a forced state of the individual at the same time.

There is certain aesthetics of the picturesque portrait In «Mon portrait», which is connected with the fragmentary of the exposition. Each fragment is displayed as the stroke, complementing the previous strokes as well as uncovering a new facet of the depicted «I» at the same time. Their totality forms a certain idea, an unfinished, however, quite clearly defined image of «I» in the reader's reception.

Rousseau introduces a new idea for the 18th century that the value of a person is determined not by his social status or wealth, but by his intelligence and talent. According to Rousseau, money and a title of nobility do not make a person worthy of the others’ respect a priori. Respect can be deserved only by personal qualities and work at self-improvement. That is not connected with the hereditary social status. Rousseau creates the images of the characters in his «Confessions» according to such principle.

Solitude is one more stroke in the «portrait of the soul». Several fragments (# 18, 20, 22, 24) are devoted to it in «Mon portrait». That testifies the importance of this topic in Rousseau’s auto-interpretation. Solitude is considered to be a beginning, influencing positively the inner world of a person and his development. The topic of solitude is complex and painful in «Confessions». It appears both as a natural predisposition of the autobiographical character and as a result of the friends and relatives’ betrayal and misunderstanding. Solitude is represented in the title itself in «Reveries of the Solitary Walker». This provides the topic with a conceptually dominant meaning in Rousseau's autobiographism. Solitude is realized as a voluntary choice of the character, who is aiming at protecting his dignity from unfair attacks of the surrounding people. Nevertheless, this choice is forced, causing suffering at the same time, as it deprives the character of the possibility to communicate with people who used to be dear for him. There arises a topic of expulsion, which was taken up and rethought by romanticists.

Being in the center of the intense reflection, the above-mentioned topics form a complex, multifaceted, at times contradictory phenomenon of Rousseau’s autobiographism. G. de Stael, Chateaubriand, A. de Musset, L. Tolstoy and M. Proust will further appeal to the phenomenon, which will determine the development of the genre of artistic autobiography right up to our time.