Abstract

More than any other eighteenth-century author, Jean-Jacques Rousseau understood the power of the media for the diffusion of his ideas and the creation of a public "self." Rousseau used the media to strike a variety of poses and to create controversy. In order to sell a product, editors of newspapers and journals offered the quixotic philosopher public space to advance his ideas and obtain publicite. Together, then, Rousseau and the eighteenth-century news media gave birth to intellectual celebrity. What set the new breed of authors apart from those who had previously hastened after the "frenzy of renown" was an obsession with controlling the media's representation of themselves and their works. ;This dissertation thus examines the French and British press reception of Rousseau from the 1740s until his death in 1778. It argues, first, that the contemporary press was indispensable to Rousseau's success. Second, this dissertation argues that, for Rousseau, simply being a celebrity was coequal with traditional intellectual endeavors; celebrity itself thus became a new form of intellectual engagement. A third and larger argument contends that Rousseau and the media battled over who would control his public reputation. Once he obtained success, the Genevan philosopher discovered that his public "self," the very "name" he had earned, would itself become the site of contestation. Frequently, the media set the terms of Rousseau's reception. Chapter 2 argues, for example, that Rousseau fought the media reception of his works that cast him merely as a gifted stylist. Over time this critique transformed into a widely accepted caricature of the philosopher as a "sophiste." Similarly, Chapter 4 argues that Rousseau's ability to control the media broke down during his exile in England. By contrast, Chapter 3 demonstrates that between 1762 and 1765 it was the philosopher himself who stage-managed the media discussion of his persecution. Chapter 5 argues that by the time Rousseau returned to France in 1767 the international media had grown tired of him. His subsequent attempts to obtain publicite would consequently prove fruitless. As Chapter 6 shows, only Rousseau's death presented the media substantially new opportunities for critique