This paper draws an analogy between the early modern definitions of clair-obscur and eighteenth-century libertine literature and libertinism. It is now relatively well acknowledged that libertine authors would rely on veils and linguistic shadows to make their texts more intriguing and all the more erotic. However, their direct references to the clair-obscur technique remain to be investigated. Libertine authors would often draw an analogy between their art, that of their fictional seducers or seductresses, and finally that of painters, through their respective skills in the art of clair-obscur. These authors' references to painterly techniques and to contemporaneous artistic debates can serve as further proof of the libertine desire to bridge the gap between the aesthetic and the erotic spheres. When they discuss the merits of shadows and lights, the libertine authors examined here reveal the union of erotic bliss and aesthetic delectation as the greatest source of jouissance. Clairs-obscurs are thus conceptualised, not only by artists but by libertines too, as crucial factors in one's quest for a superior form of enjoyment. Yet, departing from the painterly tradition and standing out from a century that praised both literal and metaphorical enlightenment, these libertines would make darkness the core and the source of their at once artistic and erotic pleasures.
Nighttime serving as a shelter to forbidden liaisons is a well-known topos. However, 18th-century libertine fiction reminds us that whilst darkness can conceal bodies, it also forces those it hides to be silent. Nighttime amplifies the slightest sound which can betray clandestine lovers. That libertine topos of night disclosing (rather than dissimulating) erotic secrets bears witness to the Age of Enlightenment’s positive reconfiguration of noise as a sign of human vitality. Crucially, this topos also illustrates the difficulty of silencing desire. As a result, nighttime emerges from this topos as full of sounds rather than as silent, while pleasures appear to be painfully constrained, even for libertines.
Les Vanités composeraient-elles l’essence trop souvent oubliée de la littérature dite « libertine » du dix-huitième siècle ? La fiction voluptueuse du siècle des Lumières a observé et problématisé la nouvelle condition humaine à l’aube de la modernité : plus de Dieu capable de remplir le vide ; plus d’éternité à espérer au-delà de la finitude humaine ; plus rien que l’humain, le moment présent et la vérité de la sensation. Les personnages de cette littérature érotique mettent en scène une sagesse de l’homme-bulle qui serait un mécanisme d’adaptation à cette nouvelle réalité. Rien n’est vain pour ces êtres légers, tant que la vanité des plaisirs tient à distance le souvenir de la vanité de l’existence que menace le néant. Cependant, l’ironie de ces narrations libertines suggère, comme dans le modèle classique, que ces jouissances temporelles peuvent ne pas suffire à combler l’angoisse du vide. Une question est posée au lecteur qui surprend, dans la figure du libertin, l’anamorphose de l’humain : toi, te sachant mortel, entre angoisse et insouciance, quelle voie choisis-tu ?
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