"Livre qui traictera de toutes sortes de poëmes": a list of genres of "French poetic art" by Pierre Lodin d'egalier

Abstract

This article is dedicated to the specificity of functionality of normative poetics in France at the turn of the XVI – XVII centuries on the example of “French Poetic Art” by of Pierre Laudun d'Aigaliers. Despite the fact that the author of the treatise raises a wide range of questions, the subject of this research becomes the narrow aspect of gradual systematization of genres in France of the XVI century. The goal is to examine the list of genres of the “French Poetic Art”, determine what makes it unique, as well as find out the role played by this treatise in the process of formation of the system of genres. The novelty of this work lies in an attempt of comprehensive evaluation of the question of gradual establishment and formation of the genre system in French poetry. Laudun’s poetic art did not receive due attention within the Russian literary tradition, thus this research is aimed at broadening the perspective on the theoretical texts of French Renaissance. The author reveals a number of characteristics, which underline a special role of the treatise in formation of the French system of genres: 1) Pierre Laudun d'Aigaliers describes the modern status of genres, which contributes to reconsideration of the meaning of one or another form within the gradually forming system; 2) he includes into the list of genres the solid forms, such as virile, coque à l'âne, blason, rehected by La Pléiade poets; 3) “French Poetic Art” stands out among other treatises due to the desire to capture the actual situation of modern poetry by describing the new genres that have not been previously mentions in the theoretical treatises. Therefore, the “French Poetic Art” by Pierre Laudun d'Aigaliers presents the original list of genres, one of the driving purposes of which was summarization of the evolution of national literature and theory of poetry towards the end of the XVI century.